In 2012, I visited Boston and one of the great opportunities I was able to take advantage of was to visit Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, on its 100th anniversary. I love baseball and I love going to games when I visit cities in the United States because it is great to be surrounded by people who live and breathe baseball. The day after I arrived for my weekend trip, I was able to take in a walking self-led tour of the park and it was amazing.

It started early in the morning and you could walk the grounds. As a visitor you could stand on the field, see the bullpen and dugouts up close, and check out some neat behind-the-scenes stuff as well.

Line up to get into the ballpark.

You enter the park and you can walk the concourse, but then you can enter the field through any gate and make your way to the field.

It is amazing to stand on the field of a major league park. On television some ballparks can appear smaller than in-person. There are some that appear huge like the SkyDome and Comerica Park. They have naturally large fields. Fenway Park is one of those parks that appear on the smaller side.

Standing on the warning track and taking in the park was a great experience. You can see how special baseball players are because of the area they have to cover as part of their roles, or how close the pitching mound is to home plate, for example.

And then you see “the Green Monster”…

It is a massive wall. It is amazing how much power is needed to hit a ball over this wall. The scoreboard on the wall, including the standings, is one of the last manual scoreboards that are updated by someone behind the wall. We were allowed to see what it looks like behind the wall.

The workers in this area have a lot of area to cover in a cramped area. The walls are signed by all sorts of employees, players and others, so that is also cool.

Then you could move to the bowels of the park. You make your way to the dugout and pretend you are on the team by sitting on the benches. The view of the park from the dugout is pretty neat as well. You see the batting cages and player amenities.

Then you make your way out and you can see the bullpen and retired numbers. The foul pole in right field signed by everyone over the years.

While I am a Blue Jays fan, it was a baseball experience of a lifetime. I will cherish the opportunity to take in this special anniversary and walking tour of Fenway Park. If you have a chance to visit Fenway Park and watch a game, do it.

Have you visited Fenway Park? Tell me about your experience in the comments below.