Final Beerchaser Cruise Destination – Boston

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post # 1)

Our final destination on the eight-day May cruise originating in Montreal, was Boston. We debarked from the ship on Saturday morning and our flight back to Portland, Oregon wasn’t until early Sunday evening. So, one and one-half days to enjoy this great city.

As mentioned in the previous post, we decided to hit historic Fenway Park for a 4:00 PM Saturday game – Red Sox vs the Washington Nationals.

But we had all morning and so (with some reluctance on my part) hit the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art – less than one-half mile from our hotel. My aversion to art relates back to my childhood when I took classes at the Cincinnati Art Museum. (Both the instructors and I were elated when my instruction ended.)

The Institute is housed in an impressive building and the exhibits were creative and expressive even though I didn’t understand many of them. (#2)

For example, one exhibit displayed the works of Firelei Baez, Dominican artist based in New York City, who wrote on an explanatory poster:

“My works are propositions, meant to create alternate pasts and potential futures, questioning history and culture in order to provide a space for reassessing the present.”

I contemplated what that meant as we were drinking beer before the Red Sox game and in between innings. (#3)

On to Fenway

The hotel maître d’ gave us directions for using public transportation to get to Fenway. First, take a bus to South Station (officially – The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center) of Boston’s MBTA – “T” – transit system.)

South Station

There are three levels to South Station and for help, we groveled and got a grumpy edict from a Transit Authority Officer:

“Take the Red Line to Park Street then the Green Line to Kenmore. Don’t screw it up or you’ll end up at Boston College.” Then he grinned (a little) and said, “Worst case is you’ll never return and your fate will be unknown….” (#4)

Don’t screw it up!

Well, after a bus trip and two subway lines, I flashed back to the Art Institute and wondered if we had just “created alternate pasts and potential futures.” We then walked about four blocks to Fenway and joined an excited throng about two hours before game time.

When I say, “excited throng”, I have to clarify because I realized that a significant portion of the crowd – lined up for several blocks – was waiting for a concert at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway.

“(It’s) a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose live performance venue that occupies roughly 91,500 square feet on four levels and accommodates 5,005 patrons.” (#5 – #6)

Not the kind of beer I was looking for,,,,,

It was somewhat chilly and I wondered why most of the adolescent girls in line were dressed in tutus – in many cases supplemented by capes and tiaras without coats. I asked a security guard and he said they were waiting for a Madison Beer concert that was scheduled to start at 7:30.

I thought Madison Beer was a medium-bodied, low-carbonation pilsner brewed in Wisconsin, but I found out that she’s a twenty-five-year-old singer- songwriter with ties to Justin Bieber.

Fenway was one of sixty-three concerts on her 2023-2024 “Spinnin” world tour. These hardy kids had lined up five hours (or more) early for the evening concert for which they paid an average ticket price of $143.

Janet laughed and said, “Well, that’s one event at which you’d be way out of place even though you are Thebeerchaser!”

We just wanted general admission tickets to the game and an outgoing and well-dressed guy approached us and said that he had tickets in the Green Monster (left field), but unfortunately couldn’t make it. (Janet said, “No way,” as I was about to dig into my wallet for cash and she was the wise one on that scheme.)

So, at the Red Sox box office we got bleacher seats in the right field grandstand – each for $40. (#7)

We still had adequate time to check out a bar and brewery, so we popped into the famous Bleacher Bar – in the bowels of Fenway Park:

The Bleacher Bar has a great history and character:

“Situated beneath the bleachers in Fenway Park’s centerfield, a few feet away from the Ted Williams Red Seat, is Lansdowne Street’s greatest attraction….With a huge garage window that looks directly into the stadium, Bleacher Bar has earned its title as one of the most exceptional sports bars in the world.

“Bleacher Bar officially opened its doors in 2008 but, upon entering, you’ll think that we’ve been around a lot longer. Previously used as the visiting team’s batting cage for several years in addition to field storage, there’s an intimate, nostalgic vibe about our bar that almost needs to be experienced in person to be fully understood.”

As you can see below, however, trying to get a beer right before a game would be as challenging as scoring front row seats at a Madison Beer concert. But we enjoyed seeing it.

We walked around the stadium, down David Ortiz Drive – renamed in 2017 for Big Papi – the Red Sox legend who played there for thirteen years and passed figures and statuettes of famous baseball icons such as No 42 – Jackie Robinson.

We then had a beer at Mighty Squirrel Brewing’s Fenway Brewery and Taproom – one of three locations for the brewery. The Fenway location at 1 David Ortiz Drive opened in 2017 and is sleek and impressive:

“The two-story, 13,000-square-foot space will feature four bars, a lineup of beers, hard seltzers, and hard smoothies, and a full kitchen serving pizzas, salads, tacos, and more.”

We split a pint of their flagship beer Cloud Candy IPA (6.5% – 60 IBU). “Tropical aromas and notes of papaya, mango, and star fruit dominate this juicy IPA.”

This is an accurate description of the brew and we liked it. We also enjoyed our conversation with personable Jack, a new and enthusiastic employee. (#8 – #9)

The Game

Fenway Park broke the all-time Major League record for consecutive sellouts with 456 on September 8, 2008, was the site of the first open-air boxing show in Boston in 1920 and has hosted the World Series eleven times. It lived up to its reputation as one of the most well-known sports venues in the world and a symbol of Boston. (Wikipedia)

Just walking in and mingling with the crowds as they hit the refreshment stands (we were surprised to see Vodka and Lemonade among the choices…) to heading up to our seats in the grandstand and taking in the expansive structures surrounding the diamond and outfield was worth the journey there.

I have to note that the only disappointment was going down to the beer concession under the grandstand and being forced to enter a tip for the guy drawing me a draft Budweiser. (At least the guy at the turnstile when we entered the stadium didn’t put his hand out….)

The Red Sox beat the Guardians, and while the game wasn’t exhilarating, the experience was. Standing and singing with a united crowd “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at the seventh inning stretch in America’s oldest active baseball stadium, made us forget the divisions in America and is an experience that neither of us will forget. (You’ll hear it if you click on the photo below,)

The Seventh Inning Stretch on May 11, 2024

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (File:Boston Seaport (36318p).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Rhododendrites – 13 November 2019.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Institute of Contemporary Art.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Smart Destinations – 29 November 2006.

#3. Wikimedia Commons (163 St-Amsterdam Av (44235641874) – Firelei Báez – Wikipedia) By Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York from United States of America – 163 St-Amsterdam Av, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73140807. Author: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York from United States of America – 27 September 2018.

#4. MLB.com (Take the T to Fenway Park | Boston Red Sox (mlb.com).

#5. Wikimedia Commons (PXL 20220924 014854178 – Category: MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Fearthez – 23 September 2022.

#6. Wikimedia Commons (File:Madison Beer @ The Wiltern 11 28 2021 (51783561891).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Justin Higuchi – 28 November 2021..

#7. Wikimedia Commons (File:Red Sox Hat Best.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Andrew Lindquist – 11 February 2022.

#8. Mighty Squirrel Brewing Facebook Page. (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122119505012250304&set=a.122108644058250304).

#9. Mighty Squirrel Brewing Website (Image-empty-state.webp (515×499).

Hop Aboard with Thebeerchaser – Bar Harbor and Boston

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

In several previous posts, I’ve covered our seven-day Holland America cruise from Montreal to Boston in early May that Janet and I made accompanied by our good friends, Jeff and Susan Nopper. (External Photo Attribution at the end of the post #1.)

I told you about Three Brassieres – a great brewery in Montreal, how a walking tour of Quebec City captivated us with visits of the impressive Fairmont LA Chateau Frontenac Hotel and the majestic Notre-Dame de-Quebec Basilica Cathedral (#2) in the historic city.

Then our day in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island – home of another splendid edifice – St. Dunstan’s Cathedral Basilica. (Clockwise – left to right below)

You saw pictures from our bus tour on the Cabot Trail out of Sydney, Nova Scotia and I vicariously let you raise a mug with us in the Garrison’s Brewery in Halifax (#3) after visiting scenic Peggy’s Cove. Wilken, our bartender at Garrison’s was friendly and helpful.

I shared how we didn’t even try to quaff our daily quota of fifteen drinks each – as unbelievable as that Holland America gimmick sounds – but I could have actually downed three Americanos, seven beers and five martinis and not paid extra based on the cruise package we had.

Even with the outstanding and plentiful food available, I wouldn’t have fulfilled that daily beverage quota. But for the first time, I discovered the wonders of a Smokey Boulevardier cocktail. (#3)

And the people we met were memorable ranging from 87-year-old electrician, Sonny, and his educator wife from Florida to Jennifer and JD – middle aged Texans who had recently ridden their Harleys to South Dakota for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and singer Anne Cochran.

We met Anne at breakfast. She is the superb vocalist from Cleveland (with a trial lawyer husband she met after serving on one of his juries) who, besides her own singing career for many years, has accompanied her friend going back to their teen years, Grammy-winning pianist, Jim Brickman, both in his albums and on tours. (#4)

A Stellar Spectacle

Late in the evening of the sixth night as were cruising in the Atlantic Ocean from Halifax to Bar Harbor, Maine, we were leaving the bar (not even close to our quota that day) after listening to the great combo featuring a talented female vocalist.

In the passageway heading to our stateroom, some crew members were excitedly running to the bow of the ship with their cameras.

We heard one shout, “It’s the Northern Lights” and figured if the crew thought it was extraordinary, we should take a look. And it was amazing, although interestingly enough, not as visible without looking through your camera.

This phenomenon was actually a powerful solar storm that appeared across the globe according to news reports including this one from The Oregonian. I guess we could have seen the same show from our own house, but it was still a thrill on the bow of the ship.

“Brilliant purple, green, yellow and pink hues of the Northern Light were reported worldwide. In the U.S., the lights pushed much farther south than normal….In the Pacific Northwest, they could even be seen from the Portland area.

…..the best aurora views may come from phone cameras which are better at capturing light than the naked eye.”

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor was the only port where we had to use a tender – or small boat to transport us to shore from where we anchored.

Bar Harbor is a charming city, and we had visited it and toured Acadia National Park several years ago. We enjoyed lunch there and a van tour around the beautiful Park – one of our favorites.

And when visiting in 2018, we had excellent beer at Atlantic Brewing – the Midtown location, so before returning to the ship, we looked forward to returning:

“Atlantic Brewing is a family-owned brewery located in Bar Harbor and surrounded by Acadia National Park. The brewery was founded in downtown Bar Harbor inside the Lompoc Cafe.

As demand grew, and the company outgrew its space, it moved down the road to an estate brewery built on the site of a 19th century Bar Harbor farmstead…

In 2017, the Midtown Brewery opened in downtown Bar Harbor, a block away from the original location. Midtown is a modern brewery and taproom focusing on pilot and specialty batches.”

Given the good selection, we couldn’t decide so had a small sampler. Afterwards, we had a great chat with Thomas who manages the Midtown location. The lower left picture shows a sampler we had in 2018, so we moderated in 2024 (No. Not because we had fifteen drinks waiting for us back at the ship…..)

Our three four-ounce samples, shown above, were Blueberry Ale, Mountain Hopper IPA and Atlantic Summer Ale – all excellent brews.

Boston – Our Debarkation Port

We sailed from Bar Harbor with scheduled Saturday arrival at around 10 AM in Boston. With some regret, I realized that I didn’t participate in several cruise activities – “Coloring for Adults”, “Origami Folding – Paperbomb” or the “Art of Flower Arranging.”

Walking around the third deck multiple times daily, however, and a few fitness center workouts at least kept me from gaining any weight notwithstanding the excellent food. (Janet also pointed out that alcohol has calories….)

Now Janet and I had been to Boston multiple times on work trips and once since my 2011 retirement. Jeff and Susan were catching the one non-stop Alaska Air flight to Portland that evening at 7:30. Before the trip, I had negotiated with Janet asking:

“When are we going to get back to Beantown again? Let’s stay over Saturday night and eat at Giacomo’s – our favorite restaurant in the North End and explore the City on Sunday until we hit Logan Airport.” (#5)

She agreed and we booked a room at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in the impressive Seaport District in South Boston – within walking distance of where we docked.

“The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that has undergone an extensive redevelopment effort in recent years…As of 2017, it was the fastest growing part of Boston and has stimulated significant economic growth in the city. The restoration of the Seaport began with the completion of the Big Dig.”

I reassured Janet that it was good that we were seeing it now as according to Wikipedia, “The Seaport District is at risk of climate-related flooding over the next 30 years.” (#6)

Our Boston Weekend

In the slim hope that we’d get to see the Red Sox play at historic Fenway Park, I googled their schedule and found that they had a home game at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon. We debated just relaxing at the hotel given that we would require public transportation.

Remembering our visit to another historic stadium – Wrigley Field on a 2008 business trip to Chicago, which was fantastic, however, we decided on an adventure. I’ll share that in the final post on our cruise, but before the game, we had to check out a brewery.

We walked to nearby Harpoon Brewery and Beer Hall. It has a distinctive exterior and expansive and attractive interior. In 1986 the Harpoon Brewery received Brewing Permit #001 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

It has a commonality with the Northwest and the origins of craft beer because:

“Harpoon was the first brewery in New England to brew an India Pale Ale….and first sold as a summer seasonal in 1993 and quickly became the brewery’s flagship beer. Harpoon IPA quickly became a staple of the American India pale ale style and was found on tap at bars and restaurants in Greater Boston.

In July 2014, while then the twelfth-largest craft brewery in the United States, the company became employee-owned.” (Wikipedia)

We had just consumed a bowl of New England Clam Chowder in a nearby bistro, so didn’t get to try one of Harpoon’s signature pretzels. Tim, our server, who attended college nearby was friendly and briefed us on the history. (#7)