R is for Rolling Rally

You may think that I was just procrastinating on getting my next Alphabet Adventure activity out of the way, but in reality I was simply waiting for the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup. Now that they did, I could do my “R” adventure – which was to go to the Bruins Stanley Cup Parade, otherwise known as the Rolling Rally!

Ever since the Red Sox won in 2004, the city of Boston has put on “rolling rallies”, which are parades through the streets of Boston with their famous Duck Boats. This way, more people can see and thank the players, instead of everyone having to squeeze into one area to see and hear all the players speak. Since the tradition began, there have been rolling rallies for the Red Sox (2004 and 2007), the Patriots (2005), and the Celtics (2008), but none for the Bruins – until this year, when the team jumped on Tim Thomas’s back and won their first Stanley Cup since 1972. Sage and I did not want to miss this parade, so we cancelled all our other plans for last Saturday and decided to head downtown to see the Cup.

The parade was going to be on a Saturday morning, and warnings began the day before to use transportation to the parade. With over 500,000 people expected, the city urged everyone to take public transportation and to arrive early. Sage and I usually stay away from Boston’s subway (known as “the T”), as in the past we’ve had horrible experiences with them. They usually are way too packed and very unorganized for major events, and we’ve had to wait upwards of 20 minutes for trains. So whenever we can, we prefer to drive. This time I took the warnings to heart, and we decided to drive to my office in Brookline and take the T from there.

The parade was going to start at 11 am from the Garden, and then wind its way through Boston, go by the Common, and then end in Copley Plaza. Our plan was to get off the T somewhere on Boylston St. near the Common, then walk down Boylston until we found a good spot. We figured the beginning and end of the parade would be the busiest, so we hoped the middle would be emptier. We arrived at my office around 8:30 am, got breakfast at Cutty’s, then went down to the Brookline Village T stop around 9. There were a few people waiting for the trains, but not a ton, and many were wearing their Bruins gear. The MBTA website promised that they’d be running on a “rush hour schedule”, so we thought we wouldn’t have to wait much more than 5 minutes for a train. It ended up being about 15 minutes before the 1st train arrived, and when it did it was packed to the gills. No way anyone was getting on, so the train left and the people on the platform begin to grumble. The next train was only a couple minutes later…but this one was ALSO completely packed. No one on the platform could squeeze on, and the driver yelled, “Trains are stacked up and coming!” and took off. We waited another 5 minutes, but no other train arrived. We talked and realized that even if they had a train every 2 minutes, they’d probably ALL still be packed, so we said let’s try to drive close to the parade route and walk. (We found out later that before 9 am they had to close the exit from Rt. 128/I-95 to Riverside Station, the end of the Green Line that we were trying to get on, because so many cars were trying to park at that station. I think that commuter lot filled up before 9 am, which is why that train was so packed. Way to go, MBTA. You knew it was going to be a HUGE ridership day, and you STILL weren’t prepared.)

So back to our car, and we drove through Roxbury and up Tremont St. My plan was to head through the South End and get as close to the Theater District/Boston Common as possible, and then walk. As it turned out, everyone seemed to heed the warnings about not driving, as there was NO ONE on the roads! We zipped right up Tremont, got a parking spot about half a mile from Boylston St., and walked right up Arlington to the Common. At this time it was about 9:45 am, and the crowds were already forming along the parade route, although they were only about 1-2 rows deep. There were lots of trees along Boylston, so we walked up, looked for a spot where the view wouldn’t be blocked by trees, found one with a really short guy next to the barricade (so Sage could see fine), and set up shop. We knew the parade would take a while to get to us, and I guessed it would arrive around 11:45 am. Sage thought 12:15 pm. Either way, with it not being even 10 am yet, we had time to wait. It actually seemed to go by pretty fast, as there was always something to look at (banners, signs, a guy with a homemade papier-mâché bear head), stuff to listen to (plenty of chants of “Let’s Go Bruins”, plus a few “Yankees Suck!”), and even beach balls to bat back and forth. Excitement started to grow as we got closer to 11:45, and the crowds kept swelling and growing larger as well. Sage nailed the time perfectly, as the first Duck Boat, with Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Cam Neely came into view right at 12:15 pm.

The crowd filled up the streets of Boston early.

The Duck Boats are a great idea for the parade, as they’re up high so even those 5 or 6 deep behind us could see easily. But they also are a little annoying, as they are covered for the most part, and only the small, back part of the boat is open to the air. This would be okay if they only kept 2-3 players back there, but in addition to the players on each boat they also had all sorts of riff-raff hanging on the back; family members, team personnel, photographers, etc. It really made it hard to see the players sometimes. But that’s a small pet peeve, and for the most part we had great views of many of the players, as well as the Stanley Cup itself as it was hoisted above the crowd as it came by. There were 18 Duck Boats total, and it all lasted about 15 minutes. The roars were huge, especially for Thomas and Patrice Bergeron, and afterwards everyone walked away with huge smiles on their faces.

Cam Neely, Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara

Patrice Bergeron seemed awed by the crowd

Adam McQuaid showed off Lord Stanley's Cup

Even Blades made an appearance

We walked straight back to our car, hopped in, and made it out of town in no time at all. After a great lunch at O’Hara’s Pub in Newton Highlands, we headed home with sore feet, full bellies and a great experience. Sage is now back on the clock for her “S”…hopefully she won’t wait for October and a “Sox Celebration”.