Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Today we took a whale watching boat out of Barnstable Harbor. The boat left at 9 in the morning and went through P-town and we saw the pilgrim monument which we climbed the day before. As we were leaving the harbor the boat started going really fast. The wind started blowing really hard. Everybody had to put on their jackets and coats. It took about an hour to get to our destination, Stellwagen Banks. When we first got there we saw a whale from really far away. Daddy thought that was gonna be the way we saw whales for the rest of the trip.
But it wasn’t. They came up right to the boat, travelling in pairs, in trios, quintets and eventually a group of seven passed right under the boat. They are so relaxed in their environment, their movements so easy. Commercials had made me think that the whale tail into the water was a splashy, forceful act, but it’s just a nice easy movement that is being repeated again and again and again as you read this, Lebron. I’m telling you, if you want to see majesty in size, grace in a large animal, and the occasional spectacular breaching and splash, go on a whale watching cruise.
According to our naturalist, Katie, we were treated to a bonus sighting of common dolphins, who decided to play in our wake as we headed back to Barnstable. The captain was willing to play the game, so he ran the high speed boat for a while to allow the dolphins to jump into and out of our waves, and then he stopped so we could all watch them change direction and jump across the waves. This may have been my own Katie’s favorite part of the trip.
One piece of advice I would give you is to watch without feeling the need to record your sightings on camera or video. You do this kind of thing so you can relive the enjoyment of a great moment, but when you’re watching the majestic beauty of nature through a camera screen, you’re not enjoying it in the first place. Go unfettered by technology the first time you go, and take your pictures for posterity after you’ve had that first pure experience.
Upon our return, Kate and I headed out for the pool, where I remembered the flips she used to do when she wanted me to throw her from a place where my shoulders are under water. You see, she has a friend, Julia, whose father, my friend Jim, is about 6’2. When we would be standing in the five foot section of the pool, Julia would have a whale of a time while her father flung her about, but poor Katie was surface-bound because of her father’s biology. Well, Daddy had to improvise, so what he did was put two hands in front of his chest under Katie’s butt and heave. The first time, she went flying. The second time, she did a flip. It was hysterical. Here’s was this little blonde head doing a flip when she was getting thrown. So today we reenacted this action comedy after we got bored playing surfboard (another game where the children literally walk all over their father, except this time he’s submerged in four feet of water).
Last notable sojourn of the day/evening: on the downstairs TV, the girls are watching iCarly; upstairs, Mom is working her FitTV thing. So I decide to head over to the restaurant next door to see if there’s a bar and a baseball game there. We had been joking about this place, Pate’s, because it seemed like every car had to include at least one septuagenarian if it was to be allowed a space in the parking lot. While some restaurants forbid heelies, this restaurant requires at least one member of each party to have a walker. OK, that’s hyperbole. Anyway, I had a local beer, Cape Cod Red, watched a little bit of the Sawx game, accustomed my nose to the smell, and decided that we didn’t have to go to dinner there on our vacation just because our house happens to be next door.
So future dining spots will be a mystery, a reason for you to keep reading this blog, Lebron, as if you needed another reason. I know I’ve said Nauset Beach before, and weather.com has been talking to me as if she’s a cheating girlfriend, and all I want to do is believe her reports of partly cloudy or mostly sunny, but I’m starting to get suspicious. All I can say is that I want the waves as much as any other elementary school-age girl in my family wants them. So maybe Nauset Beach. I’ll let you know. Arrividerci.
Today we took a whale watching boat out of Barnstable Harbor. The boat left at 9 in the morning and went through P-town and we saw the pilgrim monument which we climbed the day before. As we were leaving the harbor the boat started going really fast. The wind started blowing really hard. Everybody had to put on their jackets and coats. It took about an hour to get to our destination, Stellwagen Banks. When we first got there we saw a whale from really far away. Daddy thought that was gonna be the way we saw whales for the rest of the trip.
But it wasn’t. They came up right to the boat, travelling in pairs, in trios, quintets and eventually a group of seven passed right under the boat. They are so relaxed in their environment, their movements so easy. Commercials had made me think that the whale tail into the water was a splashy, forceful act, but it’s just a nice easy movement that is being repeated again and again and again as you read this, Lebron. I’m telling you, if you want to see majesty in size, grace in a large animal, and the occasional spectacular breaching and splash, go on a whale watching cruise.
According to our naturalist, Katie, we were treated to a bonus sighting of common dolphins, who decided to play in our wake as we headed back to Barnstable. The captain was willing to play the game, so he ran the high speed boat for a while to allow the dolphins to jump into and out of our waves, and then he stopped so we could all watch them change direction and jump across the waves. This may have been my own Katie’s favorite part of the trip.
One piece of advice I would give you is to watch without feeling the need to record your sightings on camera or video. You do this kind of thing so you can relive the enjoyment of a great moment, but when you’re watching the majestic beauty of nature through a camera screen, you’re not enjoying it in the first place. Go unfettered by technology the first time you go, and take your pictures for posterity after you’ve had that first pure experience.
Upon our return, Kate and I headed out for the pool, where I remembered the flips she used to do when she wanted me to throw her from a place where my shoulders are under water. You see, she has a friend, Julia, whose father, my friend Jim, is about 6’2. When we would be standing in the five foot section of the pool, Julia would have a whale of a time while her father flung her about, but poor Katie was surface-bound because of her father’s biology. Well, Daddy had to improvise, so what he did was put two hands in front of his chest under Katie’s butt and heave. The first time, she went flying. The second time, she did a flip. It was hysterical. Here’s was this little blonde head doing a flip when she was getting thrown. So today we reenacted this action comedy after we got bored playing surfboard (another game where the children literally walk all over their father, except this time he’s submerged in four feet of water).
Last notable sojourn of the day/evening: on the downstairs TV, the girls are watching iCarly; upstairs, Mom is working her FitTV thing. So I decide to head over to the restaurant next door to see if there’s a bar and a baseball game there. We had been joking about this place, Pate’s, because it seemed like every car had to include at least one septuagenarian if it was to be allowed a space in the parking lot. While some restaurants forbid heelies, this restaurant requires at least one member of each party to have a walker. OK, that’s hyperbole. Anyway, I had a local beer, Cape Cod Red, watched a little bit of the Sawx game, accustomed my nose to the smell, and decided that we didn’t have to go to dinner there on our vacation just because our house happens to be next door.
So future dining spots will be a mystery, a reason for you to keep reading this blog, Lebron, as if you needed another reason. I know I’ve said Nauset Beach before, and weather.com has been talking to me as if she’s a cheating girlfriend, and all I want to do is believe her reports of partly cloudy or mostly sunny, but I’m starting to get suspicious. All I can say is that I want the waves as much as any other elementary school-age girl in my family wants them. So maybe Nauset Beach. I’ll let you know. Arrividerci.
posted by Mike McAteer @ 9:56 PM
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