New England #6: New England Aquarium and Whale Watch

It was that time again! Our last day in Boston was reserved for our second Whale watch. 

Old Customs House clock

But, first, we visited the New England Aquarium, which benefits from an excellent location on Boston Harbor.

Photo: Betty Stevens

Opened in 1969, the New England Aquarium is both a traditional tourist-attraction aquarium and a world leader in ocean exploration and marine conservation. 

We had bought a combo package that included the whale watch, operated by the Aquarium in cooperation with Boston Harbor Cruises, and entrance to the Aquarium, which features thousands of sea animals, including Penguins, fish, Sharks, Seals, Sea Lions, Sea Stars and beautiful Jellies.

Moon Jellies

We got there early before it got too crowded, but it very quickly filled up with tourists and large groups of children.

Kids at the aquarium

I was pleased to discover that they have somehow managed to deal with what used to be a very nasty smell when you first entered the Aquarium (thanks to the penguins). Now, it's not so bad.

Photo: Betty Stevens

We were pleased to discover that the Aquarium's IMAX theater was showing a film on humpback whales. I can't think of a better way to prepare for a Whale watch. It was a very good film with the best description of bubble net feeding I have ever seen.

Then, after a scallop lunch at Legal Seafoods across the street, we headed back to the harbor for our second whale watch.

Photo: Betty Stevens

It was a big boat and very crowded (I must admit, I preferred the P-Town boat).

Photo: Betty Stevens

The trip out gave us a nice view of Boston's Harbor islands ...

Pretty Houses

... and the Boston Light ...

Lighthouse

But, then, we cruised for a very long time. I sensed Whales were tough to come by that day; I had overheard someone getting off the previous boat say they had seen only four. After our great P-Town trip, I was afraid our luck had run out. 

We were heading back to Stellwagen Bank, which, as I explained in my P-Town blog, is much closer to P-Town. Interestingly, we ended up seeing whales closer to P-Town than our Whale watch there did.

And, we did find some.

Whale

We saw a few at close range that were deep diving. So, they were up for just a minute and then down for five. 

Fluke

We watched for awhile and then moved on. We knew something was up when we say big splashes off in the distance.

Distant breach

It was a male and female who put on quite a show -- tail lobbing and fin slapping ...

Showing off

... rolling over ...

A nice view

... diving ...

A nice dive

... and breaching ...

Breach

Breaching at close range was on Betty's wish list and these guys did not disappoint.

Rolling over

I witnessed several double breaches, but didn't get a picture. You can see it on the video at the end of this blog post. In my P-town blog, I provided lots of information on Humpbacks. Here's some more.

A breaching whale

Both male and female Humpback whales vocalize, but only males produce the long, loud, complex "songs" for which the species is famous. Whales within a large area sing the same song. All North Atlantic Humpbacks sing the same song, and those of the North Pacific sing a different song. Each population's song changes slowly over a period of years without repeating.

Two Whales

Humpback Whales are famous for their aerobic behavior, including breaching. Scientists have a number of hypotheses on why they breach, but no one knows for sure. They may be trying to shake parasites off of their skin. 

Twisting

They may be communicating with each other (Humpback Whales may breach more frequently in rough seas, when their songs will be harder for other Whales to hear). They may breach to have a look around at what is going on above the water (if, for example, they hear something like boat but can't see it) or to help with navigation.

Splash!

The breach may be the end of some complicated underwater behavior that we can't see from the surface. And of course it may just be fun...

What a treat!

Like other large Whales, the Humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, its population fell by an estimated 90 percent before a moratorium was introduced in 1966. While the Whales have since partially recovered, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and noise pollution continue to affect the 80,000 Humpbacks worldwide.

Splash

Humpback’s black and white fluke (tail fin) have unique patterns, which make individual whales identifiable. 

Fin

Humpback Whale lifespan ranges from 45 to 100 years. Females are slightly larger than males.

Backstroke

The humpback social structure is loose-knit. Typically, individuals live alone or in small, transient groups that disband after a few hours. Groups may stay together a little longer in summer to forage and feed cooperatively.

Bye!

Although we didn't see a lot of whales, we did see some spectacular behavior, capping off a great trip. And, on the way back, we had a great, final view of Boston.

Boston

And, here's a video combining both the P-Town and Boston whale watches.

Thanks, Betty, for a fun trip.

Betty

Trip date: July 12-25, 2015

New England #5: Boston

Back south to Boston to finish up our trip. One of the biggest challenges of this trip was finding affordable accommodations in Boston proper in an area that wouldn't require a great deal of walking. In July, hotel rooms range from $350-$650 per night and most were already booked. The one affordable big hotel I tried to book had rooms with only one double bed and would not do a rollaway. I wanted to stay in the North End for accessibility to the harbor and to great restaurants.

One of my favorite places

Continuously inhabited since the 1630s, the North End has is less than a square mile but has nearly one hundred businesses and many stops on Boston's Freedom Trail. It is known for its Italian American population and fine Italian restaurants.

I found an affordable and adorable boutique hotel with only one drawback: no elevator. Remember, Betty is 88. I didn't really want to force her up and down stairs. I called and talked with the owner and he assured me that he would put us on the lowest floor, that the stairs weren't difficult and that his staff would help with luggage.

My plan was to drop Betty and the luggage off and immediately drive to Boston Logan Airport to return the rental car. I used to work in Boston and I lived briefly in the North End; No way was I having a car there.

The North End has narrow streets and most parking is limited to residents. Our hotel was on Hanover Street, the main street. I called ahead to find it and had to double park to unload luggage (to add to the fun, the opposite lane was closed for repairs -- with a large truck blocking traffic -- and the temperature was almost 100 degrees). So, it was a frenzied drop off -- with some nattily dressed young Italian guys from the restaurant next door helping with luggage. Bricco Suites is owned by the same person who owns the Bricco restaurant and the "front desk" is the hostess station in the hotel.

So, I  dropped off the car and hurried back (fortunately, the trip to Logan was very easy -- new signage is much better than when I lived there). I called Betty, who told me she was in safely, but she didn't have a key.

When I got back, the desk said they could find only one key, which is needed to open both the door from the street and the room door. So, that meant that we couldn't go places separately without one of us going up and down the stairs twice or asking for help in the very noisy restaurant.

Then, I went in ...

Ay-yi-yi such stairs!

Slightly over two flights. Very tough for Betty.

Nice, but unequipped, kitchen

The actual hotel was lovely. Really an apartment with a separate bedroom, very nice bathroom, living room and kitchenette. Oddly, there was a stove, dishes, silverware and glassware, but no cookware (we had to improvise later when using the stove).

My rollaway

Plus, they had forgotten the rollaway we ordered and we had to request more towels. Later, when we checked out, they tried to charge us an extra $50 per day for an "extra person" because we had a rollaway. I got them to take that off the bill since there was no discussion of an extra charge when I booked the room. There seems to be an odd conspiracy in Boston against two adults sharing a room in separate beds!

In short, the hotel could be great, but they have lots of kinks to work out. It was as if they didn't have any hotel experience, but had taken advantage of adjacent property to tuck in a few rooms.

Still, the location was good. Despite the 97 degree heat, we walked over to the harbor ...

Baaahstan Haahbah

.. where we took a late afternoon Duck Tour.

Just Ducky

The Duck Tour uses an amphibious vehicle to tour the city on streets and on the Charles River. Normally, it's an open tour, but this one had a roof -- probably because of the extreme heat, although I think it made it hotter. While interesting, it wasn't as good a tour as I remember. We passed lots of landmarks ...

State House, Customs House, Charles River Bridge

The view from the river was lovely, with lots of people enjoying the cool of the river on that hot, hot day.

Boating on the Charles

We got a great view of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, which was part of the Big Dig project.

A modern bridge in a historic town

Oh, and the tour passed seven Dunkin' Donuts.

After that hot, hot tour, we dragged our damp selves back to the North End, where we had a rather disappointing dinner (I think we picked our restaurant too quickly because we were tired). My spinach ravioli was good, but a bit tough, and Betty's carbonara was very heavy. She ate just a little and we took the leftovers home. We checked out Modern Pastry and Mike's Pastry for potential breakfast treats, but both were too crowded and everything looked overly sweet. Fortunately, there was a lovely bakery across the street where I bought some delicious croissants and fruit salad.

Better than Dunkin'

And, our room was air conditioned.

The next morning dawned overcast, but cooler. We took a cab to Betty's next objective: The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

This is a fascinating facility, opened in March, that uses interactive displays and "games" (every visitor is given a thinkpad and is logged in as a "senator-in-training") to "educate the public about the role of the Senate in  government, encourage participatory democracy, invigorate civil discourse and inspire the next generation of citizens and leaders to engage in the civic life of their communities."

Posing in front

It is located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). Many of the displays and activities change with the "topic of the day," which is related to actual bills before the Senate that day. Our topic was civil rights, with focus on police bodycam legislation. While we play, they collect data from us. Pretty clever. 

The institute features a replica of Sen. Kennedy's office

Mock Senate Chamber where we participated in a debate and vote on the legislation

After our visit, we walked next door to visit the JFK Presidential Library.

More Kennedy history

Through lots of displays, memorabilia, films and audio recordings, the museum portion of the library chronicles President John F. Kennedy's life.

It brought back many memories for two life-long democrats

The floors above the museum house actual archives.

 It is a beautiful building ...

... with a beautiful view of Boston across the harbor

When we left, we were pleased to discover the oppressive heat and overcast had lifted and the day had become a very pleasant 80 degrees, which held for the rest of our visit. We headed back to the North End, to fulfill another Betty wish: to visit the Old North Church.

The church is famous as the site from which lanterns were hung on April 18, 1775, to signal Paul Revere to alert the Patriots that "the British were coming." The courtyard that leads to the church passes by a statue of the man himself, Paul Revere astride his horse.

The man and the church

The oldest standing church building in Boston, the Old North Church is still an active Episcopalian Church. Built in 1723, it is now one of 16 stops along the Freedom Trail. The church is simple, but features an ornate pipe organ.

Interior

The pews in the church follow the old style of private "boxes" that were purchased and decorated by individual families. 

Trying out the pews

Now open to any worshippers, they have plaques indicating which families owned them.

The original steeple of the Old North Church was destroyed by a storm in 1804 and a replacement steeple, designed by Charles Bullfinch, was toppled by Hurricane Carol in 1954. The current steeple uses design elements from both the original and the Bullfinch version. It is 175 feet tall and features the original weathervane.

After visiting the church, we walked up the hill to Copp's Hill Burying Ground, a historic cemetery established in 1659. 

Old, old stones

The second oldest cemetery in Boston (second only to the King's Chapel Burying Ground founded in 1630), it contains more than 1,200 marked graves, including the remains of various notable Bostonians from the colonial era into the 1850s.

Really, really old

Notable burials include: Shem Drowne, a coppersmith who made the grasshopper weathervane atop Faneuil Hall;  Prince Hall, an abolitionist and the father of Black Freemasonry; Ministers Samuel, Increase and Cotton Mather; Robert Newman, the patriot who placed the signal lanterns in the steeple of Old North Church; and George Worthylake, the first keeper of the Boston Light.

Then, we walked back through the North End, past the places I used to pass as I walked to work from my apartment when I first moved to Boston in the late 90's. This included Boston Engine #1 Fire Station ...

I used to pass here every day

... and St. Leonard's Church Catholic ...

Catholic churches abound

Then, on past the Green Dragon Tavern (established 1773) ...

No time to eat this visit

... to Faneuil Hall ...

Stately

... and Quincy Market ...

A great place to hang out

... where we watched an amusing street performer/unicyclist/juggler ...

Summer entertainment

Then, on our way back, we walked along the beautiful Rose Kennedy Greenway, built when the "Big Dig" (which was in full dig while I worked in Boston) moved 1-93 underground and made Boston infinitely more walkable and pleasant. 

That's not the Eiffel Tower, that's the Zakim Bridge in the background

The flowers, fountains and parks are beautiful and are attracting residents to relax and enjoy the city.

Pretty gardens

It is such an improvement over the creepy tunnels you used to have to walk through to get from the North End to the Financial District, Government Center or Faneuil Hall.

Pretty flowers

On our way home, we wanted to get some bread to enjoy with our leftovers and we found a delightful little market tucked in the alley by our hotel (owned, I believe, by the same people). We bought focaccia, stuffed piquillo peppers, olives and tomatoes.

More goodies

Then, we doctored up the previous night's carbonara (using the takeout dish as a pan because we had no cookware) and had a delicious dinner.

Betty liked it!

Trip date: July 12-25, 2015