August 29 – Provincetown

 In 2015, we had a family vacation on Cape Cod. One day we went to Provincetown and went whale watching on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The grandchildren had a great experience seeing the humpback, minke and right whales. They talked about it for a long time, and we told them that we would return some day.

Well, that day has arrived.  This afternoon we took the hour drive to Provincetown and boarded a whale watching excursion running out of Provincetown harbour. After about an hour into the ride we were in the middle of the feeding ground for the humpbacks.


I found out that my photographic skills are no match for these whales. By the time I got the whale in the view finder and had it properly focused, they were gone. After a while I just gave up and enjoyed the show.

They put on an amazing display of synchronized swimming and diving. It seemed like a pod of three whales would appear every couple of minutes. Some were at a distance, but many of the breaches were within a couple of hundred meters which is close given the size of these giants. As we left to return to port, it seemed like a planned encore as five whales swam past us and gave us their tail salute as they dove to the bottom of the sea to feed.


Our guide told us that we saw eleven distinct humpbacks. Each has its own name. Interestingly enough, she told us that they still can’t determine how long a humpback can live. Their best estimate is over a hundred years.


The grandchildren, who are now young adults, were very happy to have experienced this display of nature at its purest again. Liam’s wife Shea was downright giddy, but that should be expected as she is a marine biologist. Jase got some wonderful videos, and I think Mckenna was a bit sad to be leaving her newfound friends. Hopefully, if they have children they can repeat this experience of a lifetime with them.

Provincetown is a popular destination for gays and lesbians on the east coast. I think that a couple of the grandchildren were put off by the in-your-face gaudiness of some of the people, as it might be the first time they’ve been exposed to this side of society. After supper, we took a walk down the main street of Provincetown. Even though this our third time in Provincetown, I admit I had to do a double take at some of the outfits on display.

We are staying in two AirB&B homes in Yarmouth, which are about 10 minutes apart. Yesterday, Google maps was so screwed up that it had no idea where it was. It continually told us to make U turns as we returned to our place from Kari’s AIrB&B. Today though it ran smoothly, and we got home from Provincetown without a hitch.

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