Did you know that in April 1912, the first game at Fenway Park was played?  That made today the 100th Opening Day at Fenway Park in the same stadium that game was played in back in 1912.  What a historical day for any baseball fan.  I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I got to be a part of it.  Thanks to my friends who held me accountable for my love of baseball and convinced me to buy tickets after initially gasping at the price; this experience was worth every penny!  And thank you to a sweet friend and her husband who made sure that Michal and I were appropriately dressed for a Red Sox game.

My day today started with several text messages from one of my best friends (also a die hard Red Sox fan) about how beautiful the sunrise of Fenway Park was earlier this morning along with words of wisdom to soak up every amazing moment that was to come my way today.  Today was an absolutely perfect day! It was a warm and gorgeous spring day – perfect baseball weather.  My outfit today consisted of a Red Sox t-shirt, a Red Sox hoodie (my own recent purchase) and a Red Sox cap. I was ready for the game!

As soon as we left the house we are staying at, we began to see more and more people dressed in Red Sox attire and heading in the direction of Fenway Park.  As we got closer and closer to Fenway Park, I found myself having a hard time breathing and almost wanting to run the rest of the way to Fenway.  The energy in the air was contagious and at that moment I started to realize just how incredible this experience was going to be.  As we turned the corner and Fenway Park came into view, I lost my breath.  This was already the most amazing baseball park I have ever seen.  I suddenly began grinning like a small child at Christmas.  I could not wipe that grin off my face for the next several hours.

As we walked in through the gate and actually entered the park, I was captivated by how authentic the inside of the park is.  I stopped dead in my tracks to look all around me and try to soak everything in.  Everything from the vintage signs to the smell of the hot dogs to the fans to the noise of the vendors to the architectural details. I soon realized that I actually had tears in my eyes.  At that moment I was wishing that my friends and family members could be there with me to experience this day.  Michal and I were just two of over 37,000 people who got to experience Opening Day at Fenway today.

And it just continued to get better from there.  Our seats were way out in the outfield and in the second to last row.  However I had been told that there is no such thing as a bad seat at Fenway and I found that to be true. Sure we were far away, but we had awesome seats!  The game began with The Star Spangled Banner performed by the Boston Pops that concluded with F-16s flying over Fenway Park.  The starting pitches were thrown by beloved former Red Sox players Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek.  And then it game unfolded.  The park was packed and the crowd was rowdy the whole time.  It was almost as entertaining to watch the crowd as it was to watch the game. The 8th inning was by far the best because it contained everything from the fans singing Sweet Caroline at the top of their lungs to the Red Sox starting the inning with 4 runs and concluding the inning with 12 runs! Needless to say, the Red Sox cinched an Opening Day win over Tampa Bay! Baseball and the Red Sox are a staple of the culture here.  Even if you’re not much of  a baseball fan, I truly believe that you can appreciate what baseball means here from a cultural perspective.  I personally felt like I was in heaven while at Fenway.

After we left the game, we meandered through areas of Boston we had not yet explored.  We had a great dinner at the Hub Pub and wrapped up the day over a cup of coffee at a local coffee house.  Today has been an absolutely perfect day.  I am going to sleep tonight basking in the fact that life is good and I am such a lucky girl.  And for those of you who could not be at Fenway today, know that you were in my heart and I was thinking of you all.