Massachusetts
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Boston Public Garden
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Remember "Make Way for Ducklings"?
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This is a frequent sight in New
England
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The sea breeze was cold
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The wake from the jet-powered
whale-watching boat
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The back of a fin-back whale
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Lois was inside feeling very
sick as the boat rocked in the swells-she didn't see any whales
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Tip of Cape Cod where the Pilgrims
first landed before Plymouth Rock
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Our stopping point in Massachusetts was a campground on Cape Cod. We were about one hour from Boston and went into town one day to visit with a classmate of Ryan's. He is a senior at MIT. Boston is full of colleges, MIT, Harvard and Boston College to name a few. The big ongoing debate is that the colleges are taking over all the available apartments and not leaving room for the regular population.
We walked to a park area called "Boston Commons"--it is a park area that was purchased from the Indians to make sure there was a place for people to go and relax. The pond and "Swan Boats" are the subject of a book for children, "Make Way For Ducklings"; Lois remembered the book as we approached the pond. The story is about the Mother Duck and her ducklings and how they would follow the Swan Boats around the pond catching food thrown by the passengers.
Our big adventure was to go out on a "whale watching boat". Our boat left from Barnstable Harbor on Cape Cod. The boat was 130 ft.powered by 5 jets of water and cruised at 27 kts. The trip to the whale area took about 1 hr. The run out was smooth as the boat cruised and only moved a little as it hit the swells. When we finally got to the watching area, they slowed down and began looking for whales. We were expecting to see whales just waiting on the surface to show off for us. What we saw that day were "fin-back whales" about 80 ft. long. You had to look closely as the guide pointed them out. What you would see is the very top of the whale as he came up, you would see the spout of air and water, then the whale's back would come out as he began his dive back under the water. I guess we were expecting to see whales coming out of the water about 30-40 ft. then crashing back in with a huge spash. But if you think about it, seeing a mammal about 80 ft. long slowly coming to the surface and then arching his back as he dived back down is a wonderous site in its own right.
This whole trip has been an education for both of us as we learn new facts. The Pilgrims did not land at Plymouth Rock as we are all taught; they landed on the inside tip of Cape Cod and only went down to what is now Plymouth Rock later the next week. When they landed on Cape Cod, they did compose and sign the first document in the "New World" that stated rules and rights that became the basis for our Constitution--The Mayflower Compact. The weather was so bad the first winter that about half of the group died.