DAY THREE: Sunday September 10th Boxford to Foxboro

​Awoken at around 7.15am by the sounds of the kids and the Wiggles, once again. Shower and shave first, then write-up yesterday’s journal entry before joining the Troake family downstairs for coffee and a perusal of the Boston Globe Sunday newspaper. Then, while Julian and Karen shower and Caroline naps, Henry and I watch Sagwa the Chinese Cats on PBS Sprout.
 
Karen takes Henry and Caroline off for a walk in the big stroller while Julian and I climb into the Mustang for a trip to Foxboro's Gillette  Stadium and the opening day game for the New England Patriots. It will be mine and Julian’s first live NFL game. Julian’s father-in-law, Dick Collari, has given us two $125 tickets for the game, donated by a contact, which Karen is a little miffed about as she is a big Patriots fan too and her Dad has never offered her any tickets!!!
 
We leave around 10.45am and stop at the Boxford Store/Post Office/Diner to grab two coffees which I almost spill when a big dog in a station wagon that I hadn’t seen barks at me in the car park through an open window. It is a good journey all the way down the Interstate 95 from junction 52 almost to the junction 9 turning for Foxboro. But from there it is very slow with all the vehicles heading to the stadium, taking us almost an hour to travel around 5 miles and Julian is worried about us getting to the game for the 1.00pm kick-off. We manage to find a parking space in the official car park – at $35 for the day – by 12.55pm and rush to the ground. Arriving just as a US Air Force Stealth bomber flies low overhead – very fast and very loud.
 
We find our seats in the big stadium – with no help from a local police officer – just as the Patriots score a first touchdown. However, we have already missed a similar move by the opposition, the Buffalo Bills, and the score is now 7-7. Having already grabbed a bottle of Budweiser ($7.50) on the way in, at the end of the first quarter, with the Patriots losing 7-10, we get lunch of a burger ($6.00) and a 22-ounce Sam Adams on draft ($10). The second quarter is just as bad for the Pats, but the third brings some relief. Star Quarterback Tom Brady is getting his throws in and the Bills make a poor strategic decision – throwing on a fourth down rather than kicking a field goal. Dessert of pretzels and peanuts is accompanied by a Pats touchdown to tie the game at 17 all. The Pats are very much in charge in the fourth quarter and score two points after sacking the Bills QB in the end-zone. After that they run-down the clock to hold on to a 19-17 victory.  At the end Minute Men shoot their muskets in the air and cheers ring out around Gillette.
 
We leave the stadium promptly and manage to get back to the Mustang quickly. It is a great journey back to Boxford, taking just 1-1/4 hours with few traffic jams, even though we get passed by a 1960’s Austin Healey. Arrive home around 5.15pm – the game only lasted three hours, albeit for four quarters of fifteen minutes each! Karen and the kids are out at a children’s party, so Julian and I have tea on the deck until they return, all very tired but still hyperactive. We then watch the US Open Men’s final – Karen is also a massive tennis fan – in which Roger Federer easily beat Andy Roddick in four sets.    
 
After a BBQ chicken dinner, the kids are put to bed and we settle into watch a documentary on 9/11. I had seen it before but it was still very harrowing, especially with all my memories of that day. Watching the planes flying into the towers in the Artillery Arms pub near work and being unable to contact the six AFX New York staff in their World Trade Center office or on their cellphones for so long. I had only visited them there the month before the attacks and was even being considered for the position of bureau chief in NYC at that time. The office’s were low enough down, and the attacks early enough for half the team not to have reached the area, so we had no casualties, thankfully, though some of the team were still suffering from stress and trauma. We head to bed around 10.30pm, where I write up this journal. Car Mileage at end of day: 2,496.