Whales & Dolphins
Cape Cod Whale Watch:
(These pictures were not taken with a zoom lens. We were actually this close!)
Interested in going on a Cape Cod Whale Watch? Click here.
October 12-18, 1997: I finally got to do the trip that I had planned over two years ago that was canceled. I took a bus tour to Cape Cod for a whale watch. Our first stop was Niagara Falls for lunch—just a quick visit and look at the Falls. The drive through New York and Massachusetts was pretty because the trees had all turned their Fall colors. We stayed in West Sturbridge for four days. Our first night’s dinner was a clambake and lobster feast. I tried the steamers, but didn’t like them. This was my first attempt at dissecting and eating a whole lobster—gee, he was delicious. The next morning we drove around the "strong arm of Massachusetts" to the very end of the cape to Provincetown. The weather held and we were able to go on the whale watch that lasted four hours. We headed out to Stellwagen Bank. I kept looking out my binoculars for whale spout and couldn’t see any. In Hawaii the whales were so far away that was all you could see. Finally, the woman stated that there was a sighting, so I’m looking and looking—WOW!! They were right in front of me! Two young male humpback whales decided to visit our boat for over a half-an-hour and put on such a show—they spun, they spouted, they dove under the boat and came up on the other side, and began all over again. They were so close, I could almost touch them. When they exhaled, I could smell their breath--it was the worst case of halitosis that any human could have—that’s how bad it smelled. But who cares? I got to see them "up close and personal." I was so excited The next day we rode a ferry to Nantucket Island. Nantucket looked like I expected it would—the gray shingled houses. Took a guided tour of the island, went to the whaling museum, ate lunch and shopped. The next day we went to Kennedy Memorial and St. Frances Xavier Church in Hyannis (whoop-de-do). Then we went on the Cape Cod Railroad and viewed cranberry bogs. After that we went to the Heritage Plantation, Sandwich Glass Museum, Pairpoint Crystal and Christmas Tree Shops. I rode a cat on a carousel. In the evening, we drove to Rhode Island to "The Breakers" where all the rich people live and we ate dinner at Belcourt Castle in Renaissance style: with a king, queen, bishop, knights, etc. and had to eat our dinner with our fingers. On the way home, we stopped in Niagara-on-the-Lake for lunch and more shopping (cute town). It was a nice trip.
Hawaii: In Maui (1996), I
went on a whale watch with the Pacific
Whale Foundation, but the weather was really bad--we were the only boat out--so the few whales we
did see were quite far away, which was disappointing. A few people got
seasick--even one of the guides!
This
is the view from the beach on Kauai, where we swam. You can see the whales
about as well as you could from the boat.
Marineland: In 1963, this was the
premier place to see performing dolphins. 
Sea
World-Ohio: Lots of fun!
