A Road Trip South To Fenway South aka JetBlue Park, Boston Red Sox Spring Training

I have been traveling to Fort Myers, Florida for about 30 years or so. I started visiting this Gulf Coast spot back in my college days circa 1990 – 1994. My father lived and worked in the Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach area of Southwestern Florida, so it was a no brainer to spend Spring Break vacations from college there. After college and into my parenting years, I revisited Fort Myers often with my children during their school vacations in either February or April. All the while, taking in the beauty of the beaches, enjoying some much need sunshine after long New England winters, and attending a few Boston Red Sox games in the process.

In my college years, I made the Fort Myers journey the old-fashioned way – driving nearly 24 hours, with a few buddies, straight south from Springfield, Massachusetts to land in Southwestern Florida. In my parenting years, I used more a more convenient and practical mode of travel – a short flight from Providence’s TF Green Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport, which shortened the travel for my kids and I by about 22 hours. We, the kids and I, would step on the plane in 30-degree temps and land in 80-degree temps about 2 hours or so later, not bad. I actually love both modes of travel. The road trips in my college days were awesome and never a dull moment. The plane trips with the kids were memorable and got us into Florida faster and into their vacations faster. So, armed with the memories of both modes of travel to Southwest Florida, which mode did I use recently to visit Fort Myers with Rachel? Yep, you guessed it…

A good old-fashioned road trip – 14 plus hours, 940 something miles from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Fort Myers, Florida. Nice rental car, plenty of waters and snacks, decent weather, taking turns driving and before we knew it, we cruised through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and almost all the way down the Gulf Coast of Florida to land in beautiful, sunny, 75-degree Fort Myers, Florida. The nexus of the trip was to see the Gulf Coast, visit the beaches, get in some rest and relaxation, and potentially see a Boston Red Sox Spring Training game. And Monday afternoon, we accomplished one of those goals – attending a Boston Red Sox game.

Getting from our hotel just on the outskirts of Fort Myers Beach to JetBlue Park seemed almost as daunting as the 14-hour trek south from VA Beach. The traffic along the roughly 12-mile journey via Gladiolus and Summerlin Drive and Lee Daniels Parkway was filled with vacationers, Red Sox fans, and locals all seemingly going the same direction. 12 miles or so should take about 20 minutes on local roads, our trip took nearly an hour. Once we made it into JetBlue Park, parked, scanned our game day tickets, Rachel and I breathed a giant sigh of relief. All we had to do now was trek around JetBlue, find a comfortable standing room only spot, and watch the Boston Red Sox take on the Philadelphia Phillies. And in short order, we landed an awesome spot in the left field area next to the steps of Fenway South’s version of the Green Monster.

JetBlue Park was packed. The seats for this particular game were 100% sold out. So, standing room seats/tickets were the only way to go and get into the game. No problem for us, as we found a comfy table to lean against and a wicked cool couple to chat baseball, kids, Florida, and life with. Sean and Courtney were so funny and personable and easy to get along with. Sean was a former MILB player, an FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University) star player with a very impressive baseball resume. So, Sean and I lobbied baseball stuff back and forth for about 5 or 6 innings, while Courtney and Rachel chatted and maybe even goofed on the two baseball nerds. The game was playing in the background of course, but this afternoon belonged to meeting and getting to know these really cool folks from the area. Rachel and I were both really psyched to spend part of our trip with them.

This is now my fourth or fifth Red Sox experience in Fort Myers, Florida. Back in my college days, I used to attend games at City of Palms Park which was the former Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox. When JetBlue Park opened, I made it point to visit with the kids while I was in Fort Myers visiting my Dad. The kids and I actually took a guided tour of JetBlue and got some amazing photos on the field, next to the Green Monster, and in the Sox dugout. Monday’s game vs. the Phillies was my first time attending a live game at JetBlue, so chalk up another memory and Red Sox experience.

As I do with many, many baseball experiences, I seek out if the stadium I am visiting as a seat of honor located inside or around the baseball stadium, park, or field. JetBlue Park has their seat of honor located right as you walk into the main stadium area, just to the right of the home plate viewing section. This seat of honor is always a special spot for me to pause, pay tribute to our military heroes, and be a proud American. I hope you will join me the next time you are at JetBlue or any other stadium that has a seat of honor and do the same.

I did want to take a minute to mention that Boston Red Sox star LHP Garrett Crochet was on the mound for the first few innings of Monday’s game. Crochet is a massive human being. He is built like a New England Patriots Left Tackle and throws the ball with such anger and precision and athleticism – he is a special talent. I got to watch a few tosses behind home plate before this nice usher asked me to move along. Still, it was a memorable few pitches and yet another cool experience from the day.

Thanks to the great conversations with Sean and Courtney, an exciting game on the field, and just being so calm in the moment Rachel and I actually stayed for the entire game. Typically, we stay anywhere from 5 to 8 innings, sometimes even 9 innings depending on if we are staying after the game for fireworks. The weather was gorgeous – mid 80s, light breeze, tons of sunshine, no humidity, no bugs, no complaints whatsoever. The game had Garrett Crochet on the mound for the Sox, Red Sox fans everywhere the eye could see, and all the cool extra Boston Red Sox stuff that fans like me love to check out. Traffic aside, it was a nearly perfect day of Fort Myers baseball experiences at JetBlue Park, aka Fenway South, the Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox.

What are some of your great memories of Fort Myers, Red Sox training camps, or attending Spring Training games in Fort Myers, Florida? I would love to read about them!