Gillette Stadium Pilgrimage Article on ESPN.com

I'm excited to have my first feature article for ESPN.com go live. It's on Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place for the Travel section of ESPN.com. Right now it's the lead story on that section of the web site. Click here to read the article.

Biggest Parking Gouge in Boston?

It's not exactly a newsflash that parking in Boston costs a pretty penny. (What, next you're going to tell me that rush-hour traffic stinks, too? Stop the presses.) So you know a parking lot is charging pretty exorbitant fees to be considered a "gouge" in this town. 

Last week, I went to a basketball game over at Northeastern's Matthews Arena, and the Gainsborough Garage the next block over was charging $19 for "Event Parking." Price of the event ticket? $10. Geez, makes the $40 parking fee for the $117 average ticket price at Gillette Stadium seem reasonable. 

There are limited metered spots around the arena on St. Botolph Street, Gainsborough Street, and Huntington Avenue, so you can take a shot at those. Not sure how much it costs over at the Renaissance Parking Garage on Columbus Avenue, which wouldn't be a far walk but can't imagine it to be as bad. Taking Green Line is definitely the most cost-effective way to get to the game.

And, guys, just go ahead and charge $20. Believe me, it's not going to psychologically seem like a bigger rip-off. 

Boston Tea Party re-enactment

If you're a history buff, this Sunday you may want to skip the football Patriots (or at least fire up the DVR) for some old-fashioned, colonial Patriots. The Old South Meetinghouse is hosting its annual reenactment of the Boston Tea Party on December 14 at 5:30 PM. Audience members can take on the role of a Patriot or Loyalist and participate in a spirited, interactive town meeting debating the tea tax. Old Souths Tea Party Players will portray the big "stars" such as Sam Adams and Paul Revere. Then, the audience will witness the destruction of the tea in a theatrical storytelling piece that will take them back 235 years to the night of December 16, 1773. And there's a pretty creative free gift for those who buy six tickets or more: a box of Salada tea. Click here for tickets.

Seafarers' Island Holiday cruise

Now that December is upon us, it's not too soon to start thinking about plans for New Year's. Of course, one of the more notable Boston traditions on the first day of the year is the plunge of the L Street Brownies into the icy waters of Boston Harbor. If the sight of people taking a polar dip (and showing off some pasty skin) sends a chill up your spine, you might want to consider another annual tradition on Boston Harbor: the Seafarers' Island Holiday cruise sponsored by the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands.  Boston.com included the cruise on its list of 25 things to do in Boston under $25. 

This year's cruise goes to Spectacle Island, the new jewel in the Boston Harbor Islands national park area. Two boats depart Rowes Wharf at 11 AM and noon and return at 3 PM and 4 PM. It's a rare opportunity to explore the island in winter and take in one of the best views of Boston from atop the island's 157-foot-high north drumlin. The visitor center will be open so you can warm up and get a hot beverage. (And as a little plug, I'll be signing copies of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands.) Tickets are $25, $22 for FBHI members and seniors. Children of FBHI members pay $15. Click here for more information. 

Google Earth article

I'm kind of a Google Earth junkie. I think it's fascinating to zoom in on remote cities around the world (not to mention my own backyard; gee my forsythias look healthy). But Google Earth isn't just for armchair travelers; you can use Google Earth as a trip-planning tool. Check out the article I wrote on the subject, which appeared in the travel section of yesterday's edition of The Boston Globe.

The Heisman and the Hail Mary

Boston College recently unveiled a new statue that honors one of the Catholic school's "patron saints": Doug Flutie. The statue, outside Gate D of Alumni Stadium, immortalizes the singular moment that defined Flutie's career: the "Hail Mary" pass against Miami in 1984. The bronzed quarterback's right hand grips the football as he plants all his weight on his right leg. His arm is reared back as far as possible as he looks up to the heavens for some divine intervention as he gets ready to hurl the football with all his might like Zeus hurling a lightning bolt. This being a Jesuit college, we can say that the prayer was answered as the ball fell into the arms of Gerard Phelan to win the game. On the base of the statue is the radio play by play, which loses a bit of its luster being read rather than heard: "Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown, Boston College! He did it! He did it! Flutie did it!" 

If you want to relive the moment even more, check out the Hajjar Family Football Museum in the adjacent Yawkey Athletics Center. Inside, you can go to the video screen and watch the Hail Mary play and other great moments in BC football history (the grainy black and white film from the undefeated 1940 season is great). Display cases include individual and team trophies and memorabilia from the college's football programs. Also on display are the bowl game trophies won by the team. You'll notice the elaborate Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl and Carquest Bowl trophies dwarf those of the simple Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl trophies proving that the garishness of bowl trophies is inversely proportional to its importance. 

The highlight, though, is Flutie's Heisman Trophy, which greets you as soon as you enter the museum. The trophy may be the most iconic in American sport with its throwback leatherhead clutching the ball under his left arm as he gets ready to deliver a textbook stiff-arm with his right. Even though he's barely more than a foot tall, the trophy, which was awarded to Boston College along with another one for Flutie himself, still looks like he can punch a wallop. 

Huntington Avenue Grounds and South End Grounds

Now that the baseball season is over and the Hot Stove League is warming up, you may find yourself in need of a hardball fix sometime in the next few months before pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers. If so, head over to the campus of Northeastern University. 

If you get off the Green Line's E branch at the Northeastern stop and cross Huntington Avenue and wander behind the Cabot Center, you'll come across a small courtyard area that feels like a typical college quad with its trees, benches, and flanking collegiate buildings. Inside the quad, you'll find a singularly focused man. He's crouched over, fiercely staring straight ahead at something. He's unflinching; not even the constant stream of co-eds that hustle and bustle by on their way to class can avert his laser-like gaze. No matter what time of day, what time of year, the bronze figure of Cy Young is always in that crouch, five-fingered glove on his left knee, waiting for the catcher to flash him a sign to deliver his next pitch.

The statue of Cy Young, the gold standard when it comes to major league hurlers, stands on what used to be the mound of the Huntington Avenue Grounds, home to Boston's American League franchise before they moved about a mile away to Fenway Park. The Huntington Avenue Grounds are notable not only for being the first home of the Red Sox, but for being the site of the first World Series in 1903. Boston defeated Pittsburgh in eight games (it was best of nine at the time) to capture the inaugural fall classic and usher in baseball's "modern era." From the ballpark's mound, Cy Young spun some of his record 511 wins and pitched baseball's first perfect game of the twentieth century on May 5, 1904. 

Embedded in the ground sixty feet away from Cy Young is a granite marker shaped like home plate that commemorates the first World Series. That marker is laid at the spot where batters dug in at the ballpark. Imagine what they must have felt looking out at Cy's steely gaze and digging in for the next pitch from the flamethrower.

Back on the Huntington Avenue side of the Cabot Center, you'll find a small plaque that commemorates the Huntington Avenue Grounds and the 1903 World Series. The plaque is located approximately on what was then the left-field foul line. The left-field fence ran along the Huntington Avenue sidewalk. 

Inside the Cabot Center is a display case on the second floor, next to the entrance to the basketball court, that houses a very small collection of artifacts related to the old ballyard, including old photographs and replica wool jerseys. You'll need to check in at the front desk to get into the gym, but the collection is pretty small and sports fans might actually be more interested in the adjoining display cases that honor some of the greats of Northeastern athletics. 

While the Red Sox were playing at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston's National League franchise was playing just a tape-measure shot away at the old South End Grounds. The ballpark was first home to the first professional team and the first baseball dynasty, the Red Stockings, who won four of five National Association pennants between 1871 and 1875. Over the years, the team's name would evolve until it became the Braves, who played at the South End Grounds until 1914. Between 1888 and 1894, the ballpark featured a grand pavilion that looked like a fairytale castle with its medieval-style turrets. Unfortunately, the grandstand was destroyed by the Great Roxbury Fire of 1894, which started in the right-field bleachers during the game. 

Today, the Ruggles T station stands on the site of the South End Grounds. It's just a short walk from the Cy Young statue. Go down Forsyth Street, go up into the station, and just past the turnstiles for the Orange Line is a small green marker on the left-hand side. The marker, erected by The Bostonian Society, is the only sign connected to the old ballyard. 

More on these two ballparks will be included in the forthcoming book, The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston.