Hello again!
This weekend, my mom visited me. She hadn’t visited Boston since my fall semester first year, so it was nice to show her around again with more knowledge of Boston. She flew in Thursday afternoon, and we headed to the commuter rail station to go to Cambridge for dinner. We took a quick bus connection and arrived at the Maharaja, an Indian restaurant. I had been there before, but it was delicious as always. We also got gelato then wandered back to the train station.
On Saturday, we got an early start to catch the 8:04 commuter rail into South Station. Our reservations for whale watching were at 11, so we went to a cafe called Phin Coffee House to grab a bite to eat beforehand. I got a delicious latte, and my mom got an almond croissant. Luckily, since I’d been to the aquarium recently, I knew the way to the harbor. We walked by a flea market, which we kept in mind for later. Before we boarded the boat, we double checked our tickets. The first time I ever came to Boston, the summer before ninth grade, I was going to go whale watching but we got the time wrong, so this experience was six years in the making. This time, we got the time right and boarded the boat after a short wait and got window seats. The boat was pretty large, which was good because I’ve gotten seasick in the past, but I felt fine the whole time.
Public Beach Island in Boston Harbor
After a short wait, we headed into Boston Harbor. I wasn’t aware of how many islands there were, and we saw one with a lighthouse built in 1716 and another where all the sewage from the city is processed. There were also several that were privately owned or public parks. We traveled out to sea for about 45 minutes while our guide told us a lot of interesting facts. Finally, we reached Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which is 842 square miles of protected waters. As we entered, we saw two dolphins on the right side of the boat. We then approached another whale watching vessel, and they told us there was a group of humpback whales around us. Humpback whales are pretty solitary creatures but they come together in groups called associations to feed. We were all very excited at this point, and everyone was running around the boat to whichever side the whales surfaced on. They would typically dive for 5-7 minutes, then come to the surface to breathe. We could see the ridge on their backs and their tails very well. For about an hour and a half, we circled around the same area to watch the whales. There were also a lot smaller personal boats, which surprised me. I was worried a whale was going to hit a boat when they surfaced, but luckily the whales seemed very aware of everything around them. Our boat also had food and a bar, so my mom and I both got shirley temples and salted pretzels.
Whale diving to feed
My mom taking photos
After eating, we watched the whale a bit more then headed back to the harbor. We exited the boat and went towards the flea market we had seen earlier. I bought a pin with Batman on it and a print of the French Broad River which is in North Carolina. My mom got a coaster with a snowboarder on it. With that our Saturday morning was over! I’ll talk about the rest of our weekend next week!
View of Boston from the Harbor.
Happy August,
Elise