Objective: Take an adventure up to Manchester, NH from Boston and see a AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats game and get back to Boston that night.
The Adventure: I have been working on my goal to now see every minor league baseball park. I had accomplished the major league parks back in 2013 and now with the love of baseball still hot, it is time to take on the minor league teams. Click here to read Inside Northeast Delta Dental Stadium– Arty 84 Baseball Park Reviews MILB Addition #1.
Growing up in Boston, I never really got a chance to explore Manchester, NH. I had a day off from work and since I am moving to DC in a few weeks, I figured her is my chance. I figured I would take a bus up there for a couple reason. 1) by the time I parked and drove, it would cost about the same as it was for a round trip bus ticket, $44 dollars. 2) I don’t have to worry about driving 90 minutes both ways and falling asleep or getting pulled over for a DWI. 3) a bus is more of an adventure.
I am a cheap person at times, and wanted to do this on the low end. I work at a hotel that has a free shuttle service to the airport. The airport now has free silver line trips into Boston’s south station, where the bus terminal is. So i got to the hotel, jumped on the free shuttle and off to south station. I picked up my ticket for the 2PM bus that will get me into Manchester around 3:20PM, giving me a few hours to explore before the 7PM Fisher Cats game vs Richmond. Richmond is the AA team for the San Fransisco Giants. The Fisher Cats are the AA team for the Toronto Blue Jays.
I started the day off with a beer at this new little Mexican place at south station called Tavitas. I had of course a Harpoon IPA, after all I am in Boston, right kids? My beer adventures didn’t stop there. I got up to Manchester around 3:30PM and heading over to a fine place call The Thirsty Moose Tap House with several beers on tap. I went to my old school favorite of a Yeti Imperial Stout from the fine folks over at the great Divide Brewery, then I went to the 603 sampler ( 603 is New Hampshire’s area code) which included brews from Kilgore, Stone Face, Tuckerman, White Birch, Great North and Able Ebenezer. I also had my favorite bar food, chili cheese fries.
After the nice beer tasting and snack, I headed over to the game. There was a happy hour going on at the Sam Adams Pub over there. 1$ off beers, so I had a few. Stupid be went all the way to New Hampshire wearing shorts and a T-shirt and forgot my sweatshirt in my van. I froze my ass off up there with the temperature about 59 degrees with a wind. I managed to watch 5 innings sitting in the stands. 14$ bucks got you in and I made my way down a row behind the home team dugout. After about the fourth inning and a couple more beers, I made myself back to the Sam Adams pub and watched the rest of the game while it was a tad warmer. I left the game in the 8th inning. The Fisher Cats were loosing, but from what I read they made a little comeback in the 9th, but still ending up loosing 5 runs to 6.
I left the stadium freezing my ass off and made my way to the bus station that was about a quarter of a mile a way. I get there and the place is closed! Good think I bought my round trip ticket, otherwise I would of been out for the night. I had an hour to kill and wasn’t going to be sitting outside with the crazy homeless people, so I walked to a bar at the end of the street called called Queens Pub and Grill and had myself another one. Mind you the whole time I have only had a little buzz going on. I felt fine, until I walked back to the bus station and sat on the bus and I felt like a rock just hit me. Plastered I was. I feel asleep and woke up an hour later still in Boston, still drunk, YIKES! After getting on the wrong red line train, falling asleep and missing a stop and then barely making it to the last train on the blue line, I was hopping that Pete’s Roast Beef was still open, but it was not. I managed to get back to the hotel to get my van and hung out there for a little while until I was sober enough to drive. That was my day to Manchester New Hampshire. I spent about 100$ that day. My budget was about 75$ for this adventure, but I had a couple more drinks than I planned, hey it happens. If your in Manchester, check out a Fisher Cat game and explore the city, its a good old New Hampshire time.
Stadium Name: Northeast Delta Dental Stadium
Team: New Hampshire Fisher Cats
League: MiLB – AA Eastern League
Years Visited: 2016
Opposing Team: Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF Giants AA)
Date Opened: 2005
Date Closed: NA
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
From MiLB.com:
| Triple-A | Double-A | Class A | Short A/ Rookie | |
| Adult Ticket | $8.12 | $7.15 | $6.99 | $6.13 |
| Child Ticket | $7.07 | $5.95 | $5.89 | $5.23 |
| Hot Dog | $3.30 | $2.91 | $3.03 | $2.63 |
| Soda | $2.94 | $2.86 | $2.89 | $2.58 |
| Beer | $5.47 | $4.76 | $4.86 | $4.37 |
| Program | $2.77 | $2.58 | $1.96 | $2.17 |
| *Parking | $4.83 | $4.43 | $4.32 | $3.72 |
Beer Price Rank (2016): above average
Ticket Price Rank (2016): above average
Baseball, Bars & Bedlam Visit Order: MiLB Park #5
Notable Award: Like its big league brother, the Blue Jays, this stadium also includes a hotel in center field where you can rent a room for the night and take in a baseball game from your own room or a patio setup with heat lamps on the main level of the hotel.
Review: I got to the park about an hour before the game. The park had said something about a pregame happy hour, but they didn’t have many drink specials or any that I could see. Prices for tickets and beer is above average, but it is located in the biggest city in New Hampshire so I will give it some wiggle room for that. The game was a good time. I had got dinner and a few drinks down the road before I got to the park so i had a nice little buzz going on. The temperature that day dropped dramatically to the point where I had shorts and a t-shirt on and was shivering. There is a little bit of a breeze in the mountains of New Hampshire. There was a decent crowd for a Thursday night and the fans seem to really get into the game. Its a newer stadium with everything updated. It was a good time and if your ever in Manchester (or Manchs Vegas as they call it) check out a game.
Pictures from the Park:
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