Cape Ann Whale Watching

Three days after returning home from our honeymoon we randomly called Brenda and Lorin to ask them a question we no longer remember. What we did glean from the phone call however was that they were in Jersey and were coming to Gloucester, MA for the weekend.

Providential! We didn't have plans so we made arrangements to meet up with them on Saturday, the 20th.

Gloucester is 45 minutes to the northeast of us and since we left at 7am on a Saturday there was zero traffic and we arrived at Cape Ann Whale Watching bright eyed and ready to go by 8am. I don't know why I was expecting a small group of people on an intimate little sailing vessel, but our 115 foot whaling ship, the Hurricane II, had 115 people lining the railings with cameras and binoculars in hand. We boarded with Lorin, Brenda, and the boys along with

Brenda's brothers and parents, two strollers, three cameras, and an assortment of diaper bags, feed bags, and baked goods. It was quite the parade going up the gang plank.

We settled ourselves in the cabin of the boat and headed out to sea. Apparently all whale watching boats go to the same place off the coast of Cape Cod where the ocean floor comes up forming a plateau of shallow (100-150 feet deep) water that is warmer which the whales like

and which their dinner likes. Because the feeding is so good, you are guaranteed a whale

sighting--or your money back.

And boy did we see whale! I don't know who was more excited, Ashton, Eric, or Lorin. I'd like to say it was a three-way tie but I don't know. At first the crew would announce there was a whale are 10 o'clock and all the passengers would rush to one side of the boat only to be

followed by another announcement that there were two whales jumping out of the water at 2 o'clock making us all pivot and go the other direction. We quickly discovered it was best to stay put on one side and yes you might miss something but you would have a great spot on the railing with an up front and personal view.

These guys swam right up next to us.

When a whale jumps out of the water it is called breaching. According to our crew, this is rare so we must have picked a good day or Shamu was itching to put on a show because everywhere we looked there were whales flying through the air.

The whales were impressive. I'm not saying they were cooler than the dolphins but they were definitely impressive. Once we turned around and headed back to Cape Ann, out came the toys. Ashton was in heaven...until he had to give them back.

Once returning to land we headed to the Waterfront Festival where we grabbed some dinner and swam in the water. It was so fun to see Lorin, Brenda, and the babies. It was a great day!

Let it be written, we want to know if you come anywhere close to us...we're not talking east of the Mississippi, but definitely anywhere in New England!