Good Times Never Felt So Good

Good times never felt so good,

so good,

so good.

- Neil Diamond

&

Red Sox Nation

I didn’t think that anything would ever compare to my last trip to Fenway Park.  

Then I went to game 6 of the ALCS.

I mentioned in my last post that Andy ran into an old friend at his meeting in San Francisco who offered us ALCS tickets if we made our way up to Boston for it. As soon as we were guaranteed a game 6, we booked some cheap last minute flights, got in touch with a dog-sitter and packed our bags.

Who says spontaneity is dead once you become a parent?!

We only had 3 days at home after we got back from the west coast and we were off again.  Andy, Tess and I woke up at 4am for our flight and landed at the Hartford airport just before 10am on Saturday.  We then headed to my mom’s house in Western Mass to get Tess settled there before heading to Boston. The Sox game had been moved to 8pm because the night before the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, ending the NLCS.  Because the networks like to have a primetime game, our game was moved to 8pm.   We were dreading the late night that was ahead of us, but were also glad to have plenty of time to make our way to Boston.

Jenkinses "shipping up to Boston!"

Flying in during peak foliage!

Side story: While we were getting Tess’ pack n’ play set up and handing over the bottles of breastmilk, some woman called and asked my Mom if she had a dog named Rylee.  My mom’s first thought was that she must have won a doggy beauty pageant or something, but unfortunately Rylee had apparently escaped from the fenced-in yard. She was at the local police station with this good samaritan that rescued her from the busy street where she was wondering around.

Mom and I drove up to get Rylee who was sitting in the front seat of this woman’s BMW having just finished an orange coolata from Dunkin Donuts! She gave us a look like, “This is my new family. We drive beemers.” She  definitely looked disappointed to see us.

Sorry, Rylee.

After that little bit of excitement, we put Tess down for a nap and decided to head right out.  The game wouldn’t start for 8 hours, but I was anxious about finding a parking spot and was desperate to get out there to feel the magic! 

We got to Boston, got stuck in some serious Head of the Charles traffic going to Cambridge – or maybe just typical Saturday afternoon Boston traffic, not quite sure – and drove down to Fenway to look for parking. We usually park outside of town and take the T in to Kenmore, but I was nervous about the game running late and needing to leave early to get the last train. Couldn’t bear the thought of risking that, so we needed to have the car close-by.  We stopped at a Shell station right next to Fenway where it would cost $60 to get a spot where we would be blocked in by other vehicles.  No thanks. We drove around to find a better option and parked in a garage at the Boston Symphony, a short walk through the fens for less than half the cost.  Lady Luck was already with us!

Me & Yaz.

Andy & Ted.

And some kid.

Fisk is my mom's favorite player.

Red Sox history!

Hopefully gonna add another one of these bad boys this week!

Yawkee Way wasn't even closed off to traffic when we got there.

We were a bit overeager to get there!

We walked to Fenway, took some pics with the Yaz and Ted Williams statues, looked at the overpriced t-shirts at the pro-shop, decided to buy them on Amazon instead, and headed to our favorite bar, Boston Beer Works, by around 3:30pm. With each sip we would toast to Ken, the man with the tickets.

Boston Beer Works fine brew.

Beard Beer 'Stash.

Ken.

A scholar and a gentleman.

My mom made sure to text me frequently with Tess updates.  I noticed she was wearing a new outfit in some of the pics – apparently mom caved and gave Tess an early Christmas present (my mom is the queen of early Christmas presents!)

My parents live right on this lake.

I spent ALL my time here as a kid. 

Swimming, fishing and boating in the summers, ice skating in the winter.

Mom took Tess there while we were in Boston.

They also spent some time in what 

remains of my mom's summer garden!

We finally made our way over to Fenway around 7pm and it was, in a word, electric. There was just an energy in that place – we knew something big was going to happen that night.  As we walked out to our seats, they were playing Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, an odd choice for a sporting event we thought, but it was actually perfect. It provided this perfectly eerie atmosphere that almost gave you goosebumps.  The stadium was actually a little quiet, despite being packed. It was like everyone was just soaking it all in, not talking, not cheering, just… soaking it all in!

Approaching our seats.

The Dropkick Murphys sang the National Anthem and played their Fenway Anthem, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” as well.  I was hoping they’d play “Tessie,” but you can’t have everything I guess.

Murphys!

Bill Mueller threw out the first pitch of the game.  Bill Mueller is a Red Sox hero. In 2004, when the Sox were down 3 games to 0 against the Yankees in the ALCS, and an out away from losing the pennant, Bill Mueller singled to get Dave Roberts home to tie the game, forcing extra innings where the Sox eventually won.  They then went on to win the next 3 games to go on to the World Series. Which they also won.

The mellow atmosphere we walked into was long gone by the time the game started. You could barely hear yourself think for the screaming.

Having this red sox legend throw out the first pitch was cool enough, but what was EVEN MORE cool, is that right before we left Atlanta for the game I was given a Sox jersey with #11 on the back – Bill Mueller was #11. Coincidence?  Or a sign?

On top of that, Clay Buckholtz was pitching. Also #11.

Finally, the number 11 also had some major significance to my brother. 

This wasn’t a coincidence. Magic was about to happen!!!

However, the first few innings were relatively uneventful, a single there, some walks, a few strikeouts.  No score after 5 innings. 

Finally, in typical Meag-visits-Fenway fashion, I had to go to express some breastmilk in the ladies room in the 5^th inning. While I was in there, I could hear Joe Buck’s play-by-play over the loud speaker and the sox got their first run! And I missed it!  I quickly finished up to get back to see some additional runs, and I got back just in time to see the third out. 

Then, the next inning, the Tigers got 2 runs!  Of course I was there for that.

I couldn’t decide if I had to swear off any more trips to the bathrooms so I wouldn’t miss any more excitement, or if I should hide out in a stall for the remainder of the game because clearly things were going better for us when I was in there.

But suddenly we started to rally.

Gomes double. Bogaerts walks. Ellsbury gets on base from an error. Bases loaded, 1 out. People were on their feet, it was time for some magic.

Then Victorino gets up.  Andy leans over and mentions how this is the guy who has been hit by more pitches than anyone else in the major leagues… hinting that we might get lucky and get someone home on a hit pitch. 

But I honestly thought to myself, “But that would suck.” There is already so much criticism of Victorino for getting hit by pitches, that he leans in on purpose. And that’s kind of shitty. I didn’t want to tie up the game or win on something shitty. I wanted a hit!

As I was thinking, “just don’t hit into a double play, Victorino” I hear the crack of the bat. I see the ball soaring out towards the monster. When you are actually at the game and not watching on TV, it’s hard to see where a fly ball is exactly. There isn’t a camera man zooming in on the ball, highlighting its trajectory through the sky. At first I couldn’t tell, is it fair? Did it go over? Pedtroia just had a hit a few innings prior that was literally inches away from being a homer over the monster so I was afraid the same thing happened.

But then the crowd erupted. It went over! Homerun!!! GRANDFUCKINGSLAM!!!!!!!

I have never experienced anything like it!  Andy, Ken and Ken’s friend whose name I can’t even tell you right now threw our arms around each other and jumped up and down in our row in a solid mass. We were high fiving and hugging everyone around us. People were shouting “THIS IS THE GREATEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!!” Actually, that might have just been me. It was electric.

Everyone was on their feet for the remainder of the game. The energy in that ballpark was like nothing else. I’ve never been to a playoff game, maybe they are all that way, but it was amazing.

Mom texted me this pic during the game.
Tess woke up because she needed to see the magic happen too.

There were a few times where I really felt that my brother Ron was there with us. I’ve mentioned many times how Ron was a serious sox fan – there was the #11 thing and a few others.Then they played Chariots of Fire – Ron was a runner and that was one of his songs and favorite movies. I guess maybe it’s not that weird that they played Chariots of Fire at a sporting event, it’s a sporty song… but it’s not really a “psych up” song.  It seemed oddly out of place, but it made me feel very close to my brother. What he wouldn’t have given to be there at that game! It was an emotional moment.

The game ended with Uehara’s incredible MVP-worthy pitching and exuberant celebrations.  We stuck around to watch the trophies being handed out, and we went right down to the field level. The guys came back out and were spraying champagne on the crowd. It was surreal honestly.

Tessie!

Ellsbury! So close!!!

Drool...

What was equally as surreal was leaving Boston at 2am to drive back to Western Mass. O.M.G. I have literally never been so tired. I was practically hallucinating I was so tired. I had to pull over at the Charlton Rest Stop on the pike to sleep for 20 minutes! The real mindf&*k was when the alarm on our phones went off at 4. Because that’s what time we woke up the day before.  Gross.

We got back to my Mom’s at 4:30 in the morning. It was very nice, at 6:30 when Tess woke up, to be able to call out “Moooooom! Help!” And after feeding her, handing her off to Gramma so I could sleep in.

The rest of our short trip consisted of visiting with family, doing a corn maze, taking a drive up to Historic Deerfield and even going to the place where Andy and I got married 6 years ago! Our anniversary was October 26, so it was nice to be there at the same time of year. 

Lurking in the corn maze.

Stuff like this makes my mom nervous.

We made her go in with us though.

She was pretty terrified.

You can take the girl out of the country, but can't take the country out of the girl.

We got married here in 2007!

Nothing is prettier than New England in the fall.

3 generations!

The Pioneer Valley

Tess in her Halloween costume at Historic Deerfield

Leaves!

About 2 hours before our flight on Monday Andy’s friend asked if we wanted to go to game 1 of the World Series.   

Um. What?

Unfortunately, Andy had a couple of important meetings, we had to get back to our dogs, and we just couldn’t cancel our flights and face another long drive back from Boston at 2am so soon. 

We turned them down and flew home.

Beard up!

Then we got home and were like, “WHAT THE F DID WE JUST DO?!??!”

We spent game 1 on the couch, practically in tears that we missed the 8-1 blowout.

This morning we got another text from Ken.

"Game 6?"

We learned our lesson last week. We're going.

Besides, we brought them good luck in the ALCS. They need us.

We burned some Delta skymiles and are sitting in the bleachers Wednesday night.

TO BE CONTINUED…

GO SOX!!!!

To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars

"One day, if I go to heaven...

I'll look around and say, "It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco."

-Herb Caen

Sometimes being married to an academic has its perks. 

Last week Andy had an anesthesiology conference in San Francisco, so Tess and I tagged along for some fun.  Much like most people, Andy and I love San Francisco.  We have been there more times than any city we haven't lived in, actually.  The first time we went was about 6 months after we met.  Andy flew from Atlanta, I flew from Hartford, and we met in Dallas to carry on to SFO together.  Andy had some first class upgrades to burn so I had my first first-class experience on that flight from Dallas.  We drank about a dozen gin and tonics between the two of us. While in San Francisco, we went out to fancy restaurants, we drank incredible wine, we did some sightseeing. It was a pretty epic trip, especially for a 21 year old college student. I barely knew what to do with myself.

This trip was slightly different but honestly, even more memorable.  

We didn't fly first class this time and there were no gin and tonics. But we had something even better: A baby who didn't cry!  Tess was seriously amazing on this flight - it was 5 hours and she was totally chill.  She got a little bored by the end, but getting up to do some laps of the plane satisfied her boredom and she was fine.  We are seriously lucky to have this kid.

Someone was excited.

Flying over some pretty cool mountains.

Approaching SFO.

Seriously amazing.

Since Tess goes to bed so early, we knew that we would be stuck in every night while we were out there.  Andy and I don't mind staying in, we enjoy just chilling, cooking some dinner and hanging out - but a hotel isn't exactly conducive to that. Staying in a hotel with Tess involves sitting in the dark, no tv, whispering to each other while we silently shovel take out pizza in our faces. Not fun. We've done it.  So for this trip we decided to rent a little apartment rather than get a hotel. Since hotels in SF are so damn expensive anyway, it was actually far cheaper to rent the apartment anyway. We also seriously lucked out on this property I found, because the homeaway.com website did not do it justice! It was enormous! I also felt like I stepped back in time with this place, the building was 100 years old and it was all decorated to be all vintage and old timey, there were fireplaces and a clawfoot tub in the bathroom and besides the flat screens it could have been 100 years ago.  On top of that, it was in a swank neighborhood on the panhandle - right beside Golden Gate park. It was so excellent! 

Hitting the road after checking out our sweet palace.

Someone in the street told me they thought I had a teddy bear in my bjorn.

Tess is certainly as cuddly as a teddy bear.

After getting settled in our new home for the long weekend, we went out to grab a bite to eat. We found this place called the Magnolia Brewery and we didn't want to leave! Back in the day Andy and I would have settled in and spent the entire rest of the day and into the night at this place - they had cask conditioned ale and the most amazing food. Tess liked it too, but wasn't much interested in spending the  entire day there unfortunately.

Scotch quail eggs! Amazing!

Speck and cheese plate. Drool.

Lamb meatball sandwich with feta and spinach.

Tess ate some of the pickled veggies and the Cheerios we packed for her.

She preferred the Cheerios.

We have some work to do on her palate.

The next day we went wine tasting in Napa.  

I'll be honest, I was a bit nervous how this day was going to play out, but I was determined to go wine tasting so I thought, "screw it, we'll just see how it goes." I was super organized about it, decided what region I wanted to go to, found some family friendly wineries and made a couple of appointments. We timed it so Tess would get her naps in the car and hoped for the best.

I think Tess has a future as a world class sommelier because she was AWESOME on our wine tour! She was so good I was seriously shocked.

The first place we went was called HdV wines (Hyde de Villaine), and it was amazing. It was a private tasting in a really small incredible winery. They were processing some of their grapes, so we got to meet some cool people who were sorting the grapes, pulling off the stems, etc. We saw some other wines being processed and fermented. There was a cool dog running around. We met the head wine maker.  Our guide was super relaxed, not at all pretentious like so many wine people can be and didn't mind that Tess was dropping her Cheerios all over the floor while we drank wine. Their dog was happy because he got a few snacks out of it.  He even went out and grabbed a bunch of grapes so we could taste them, even Tess got to try some and LOVED them. They are super sweet so it wasn't terribly surprising. I didn't want to leave - in fact, I wanted to stay and ask for a job.  For any of you who live in the Bay area or who plan on visiting, you HAVE to check this place out!  hdvwines.com. Make an appointment and go!  

We then went to this Oxbow Marketplace for lunch, we sat outside, I had champagne. We ate. It was amazing.

Then we went to another winery called Judd's Hill. Also lovely. Then we went to another called Chimney Rock. We had gone to this one about 7 or 8 years ago on my first trip to Napa. We bought some incredible wines that we had saved and drank for special occasions or celebrations. The last when I defended my PhD.  We decided to go back and stock up again! 

After 9 months of pregnancy, and 10 months of breastfeeding... 

my tolerance is pretty weak. I think that shows in this photo after 3 tastings!

It was honestly just a magical day. That's all I can say. Napa is a truly special place, I decided I need to become a millionaire because I want to retire there. Me and half the world, I know, but still. I love it. 

 

Is there anything more beautiful???

The drive back to the city.

We also got to visit with some Smithies while we were in SF. My friend Emily and her husband Mike now live in Boston, but went to grad school at Berkeley and just happened to be in town visiting with their 4 month old angel, Elowen, while we were there.  Another Smith friend of Emily's was also over with her 14 month old son Winston.  We introduced the kids and just hung out - Tess doesn't have a lot of baby friends so it was great to see her crawling around inspecting these other little people. 

Tess clearly needs some friends.

Look at this poor girl!

Making friends with herself in the mirror.

Sad.

The government shutdown, unfortunately did try to put a damper on some parts of our trip. Firstly, one place we were planning to go was Muir Woods - a national park. Closed. Another place was the Cliff House. Back on our first trip to San Francisco all those years ago, Andy tried to take me there, an amazing restaurant on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. We decided to walk over - despite the fact that it was clear on the other end of town from where we were - but we would make a day of it, we both liked to walk, we would stop in the Haight on the way, see the park, etc. Well, 6 hours later we were still walking. I was tired. And hungry. It was basically our first fight. I had only known this guy 6 months and didn't want to freak out on him, but damn!!! My feet hurt! We finally made it to the coast and it was literally a sand storm! The wind was BLOWING like woah. We had to walk backward to keep the sand from our eyes. We finally get there and the Cliff House was CLOSED for renovations!!!  We are honestly lucky our relationship survived that day. Andy felt terrible and embarrassed. I felt sore. iPhone maps would have come in very handy back then, but alas... It makes for a good story now. We thought we'd go back to the Cliff House on this trip, but because they are technically located on National Park territory the restaurant was closed on this trip too!!!  Fortunately, we didn't trek across town before discovering that - we are wiser in our old age, but still disappointing.

The Cliff House is the white building in the distance.

The nude beach was even closed!

Boehner had officially gone too far...

The rest of our trip involved watching the Red Sox, enjoying some walks in Golden Gate park, eating oysters at the Ferry Building, we drove around and took in the beautiful vistas that literally surround San Francisco, Tess stuck her toes in the Pacific ocean (toes unfortunately that were contained in tights that were subsequently soaked. Oops!)  Andy did have to sneak off to go to his conference here and there (boo!) but mostly it was just us enjoying the city and each other. I kept pinching myself thinking I was in a dream. 

Walking in the park.

Rocking her sox gear.

My 2 favorite sox fans.

Andy was telling Tess what was on the other side of the ocean.

By 10 months this baby has touched Pacific and Atlantic waters.
Not bad going!

Evidence of toes in the Pacific.

Jenkins' love the beach.
Even cold ones.

Selfie.

We found a sports bar to watch the Pats.

Tess couldn't understand why this beer wasn't for her.

Tess decided she was sick of the bar in the final quarter of the Pats game.

Andy tried walking around with her.

We finally had to leave with 7 minutes to go.

We later learned this was one of the greatest ends to a Pats game. Ever.

Damnit, Tess!!!

The balcony at our apartment.

View from Twin Peaks.

"One day, this could all be yours, Tess"

Lest you think our life is all moonlight and roses, I should tell you that I almost didn't even go on this trip.  The night before we were due to leave, I was basically in a pit of despair about these failed job opportunities that I mentioned in my last post.  I was just feeling lost.  I was asking the big tough questions - what do I want to do with my life? I sacrificed so much for my education, as did my parents, and now what am I doing with it? I'm happy being at home with Tess, but I certainly don't need a PhD to do that.  I also don't want to go back to work just to go back to work, I want to be fulfilled in my work and enjoy doing it. I just can't figure out what that is. I was feeling sorry for myself and I could not face the idea of going on this trip. I was tired and wanted to wallow. I didn't want to be around other people who were successful and happy in their work. Andy and I never argue but we argued that night.  It was awful. But we got over it, and I went on the trip. 

It's going to be difficult finding something that 

brings me as much fulfillment as this little face. 

Thank god I did because it was exactly what I needed - an incredible few days that really pulled me out of the bad place I was in. It made me really thankful for the situation I'm in, that I was able to go on this trip. If I had a job with no vacation time, I wouldn't have been going. For a long time in grad school I didn't go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas or go on trips like this because I was always playing catch up and couldn't afford the time away from the lab. I have had the chance to do those things since staying home with Tess. While we were out there, Andy and I also had some time to do some thinking and talking about what I can do to try to figure out what I want to do with my career. It was a really pivotal week for us in a lot of ways.

How could this amazing scenery not bring a smile to my face?

Still can't believe I was ever feeling sorry for myself.

Life is beautiful.

The final incredible thing that happened on this trip was Andy spent some time with an anesthesiologist friend from Boston who was also there for the meeting. He told us he had 2 tickets for game 6 of the Red Sox ALCS game for us if they A) made it to 6 games and B) if we wanted to make our way up to Boston for it. This man is officially my new favorite person. Well, last night the Sox lost, guaranteeing a game 6! We went online, miraculously found some cheap flights and we are off to Boston for the game!  Who says spontaneity is dead when you become parents??? I honestly can't believe our luck. We'll barely be back on EST and be on another plane.  On top of that, it's my mom's birthday. Part of me feels bad that she'll have to cancel her birthday plans to babysit Tess, but somehow I think she'll find a way to enjoy herself...

One final story!

Most of you have probably heard the story about "Horganing." For those that haven't, David Ortiz hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th inning of the Sox game last Sunday. The right fielder tried to catch it, but flipped over the wall into the bullpen. Behind him, Officer Horgan, who was guarding the bullpen, celebrated the grand slam as seen below:

This is now known as "Horganing." 

Andy, Tess and I reenacted this move while enjoying the view from Twin Peaks:

I thought the photo was so funny I posted it to Reddit. Apparently MSNBC picked it up there, because the other night my friends texted me saying they just saw us on All In With Chris Hayes!

They did a story on Horganing and chose to use our photo! Our second 15 minutes of fame because of the Red Sox! Well, more like 5 seconds of fame, but still pretty cool.

Here's to hoping we have some more celebrating to do this weekend!!!