whales, tails and trails

Okay, let's be honest and include ales in that little rhyme... My sister came to visit for a week and we had lots of fun.  So much fun that she decided to stay with us until we move!

On Memorial Day we took a day trip to Cape Cod with the dogs.  Race Point Beach allows dogs year round, so that's where we headed.  The dogs had a lot of fun!

Thursday we headed downtown to walk the freedom trail.  It was HOT, but we enjoyed the sights including some nesting swans at the Public Garden.  We have some swans of our own in our backyard that marched up the driveway yesterday!

Sassy Sam Adams, Cold Sam Adams, Make Way for Ducklings, and nesting Swans

backyard swans

After the freedom trail we stopped by a market in Chinatown to get some ingredients to make hot pot - a favorite food from recent travels to China.  Sarah did a great job making the deliciously spicy broth to cook meat and vegetables!

Hot Pot!

Friday we headed up to Gloucester ("Glosta" for the locals - they never pronounce anything how it's spelled!) for a whale watch.  We saw 3 different humpback whales up close, a handful of minke whales, and one fin whale off in the distance.  Our captain didn't pursue the fin whale, as they are known as the greyhounds of the sea - they are one of the fastest whales in the ocean.  They are also the second largest animal to ever roam the planet!  The Minke whales are small as far as whales go - "only" 25 feet long.  All we saw of those was just a few dorsal fins poking out of the water.  The humpback whales flip their tails out of the water when they dive to help propel them downwards, so we got the best views of them.   Our captain also spotted a basking shark on the way back in - the second largest fish in the ocean!

Humpback whales and the basking shark