Ballpark Roadtrip: Fenway Park

CBSNews.com's Gordon Donovan tours Boston's Fenway Park in the fourth of a five-part "Ballpark Roadtrip" series.

Fenway Park represents what is great in baseball - team tradition and fan loyalty to America's pastime. Fenway opened in 1912 and one can sense things haven't changed all that much. Lined with pennants and memorabilia shops, you are transported back decades.

We took the Fenway Park tour for $20.00, which I highly recommend. The tour takes you to the new seats in right field and on top of the Green Monster.

They walked us around the park down to the field level and talked about the the ballpark's history and changes made in recent years.

They like to mention their early and most recent successes, along with some Yankee bashing by the tour guides.

Graffiti covers the foul pole on the Green Monster. Signing the foul pole is not permitted. It's the same pole Carlton Fisk's home run ball hit in the 1975 World Series.

Three hours before game time, the area teems with fans waiting for the ballpark to open. Hundreds line up outside the gates for the bleacher entrances.

One drawback of Fenway's old-time charm: The seats are cramped and were made for people in 1912. While the majority of the seats are new, they have kept the original wooden seats in several sections.

The Splendid Splitter statue outside Fenway Park on Ipswich Street.

The only bad seats may be the ones behind the steel girder support beams holding up the second tier.

During batting practice, fans posed with the Ted Williams red seat in right field. Williams hit the longest home run in Fenway, measuring 502 feet, in 1946.

View from the seat that Ted Williams hit the longest home run in Fenway that measured 502 feet in 1946.

The food is a 1912 baseball menu: hot dogs, peanuts, chicken fingers, clam chowder, beer. Bring your own food in or eat before you come in to see a game.

Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster poses with fans prior to the start of the ballgame.

A ball sits in the Red Sox bullpen during batting practice.

Young fans gather on top of the Red Sox dugout seeking autographs from the players.

View of Fenway from the right field box seats. Wish we had a better sunset.

Food of choice for many in the Red Sox Nation, two beers and a bag of peanuts.

The bleacher seats in center and right field are seen from on top of the green monster seats.

Leaving the park, we exit on to Yawkey Way. The street is filled with fans eating and drinking while the game's broadcast on NESN is pumped out over speakers outside the ballpark. There was a great deal of energy on Yawkey Way.

Upon arriving at Fenway we walked down Yawkey Way, where a tiny ballpark sits in the middle of this historic neighborhood near Kenmore Square. You could miss it if you weren't looking for it. Buy tickets way in advance, the Red Sox always sell out. If you to Stub Hub, you pay through the nose. Great baseball experience, never seen a scene like this except in the post season.