Thar she blows

I keep hoping I'll sleep late on this vacation, but I'm up every day somewhere after 7, which is 6 Texas time, about the time I'd be getting up for work.

But today I'm probably up because I'm excited. We're planning to go on the whale watching tour, and the weatherman, excuse me, meteorologist, promises a wonderful day. Light winds, fairly calm seas at 1 to 2 feet, and temps in the 70s, which the weathe ... meteorologist describes as summerlike. Hah.

One of the places in town to eat breakfast is supposed to be Cafe This Way, so we hop on the bus and head for the Village Green. Although the cafe seems to be in yet another converted house, the interior space is wide open, light and airy. Bookcases line the walls, inviting customers to sit a spell and enjoy their time there. And unlike most of the places we've been, guys make up the bulk of the waitstaff.

I'm trying to be good, so I order turkey bacon with my meal and am pleasantly surprised. Thick cut and cooked to just short of crispy, it almost tastes like real bacon. If I were asked to write a recommendation, I definitely would. Actually, I guess I just did.

We walk down to the pier to purchase our tickets for the afternoon trip and are warned by the ticket seller that we should be sure to dress warmly. The day is turning out to be just as advertised so the advice seems unwarranted, but we're going to buy the coats anyway.

A tourist who stands out.

Crowds throng the streets. The cruise ship tenders ply back and forth from the ship to the pier, bringing ever more old people. We decide to explore the shopping south of the Green and discover that there's not much. But in the process we encounter one woman who is decidedly not old and not dressed like a tourist. She stands out so much from the crowd, I just have to sneak a picture.

Finally we make our way back to the park across from the pier to wait for our whale watching trip. We notice that people are lining up much earlier than we'd been told to report and then see that passengers appear to be about to be boarded.

We buzz over and take our place in line, and it starts moving within minutes of our arrival. By the time we board, passengers have taken all the best seats on the open decks and line the rails in the bow. We take up a position on the rail outside the cabin as close to forward as we can get.We'll have to stand the entire trip, which is supposed to last 3 to 3.5 hours.

 I've read reviews of this company that said if a whale is sighted the crew makes sure watchers on both sides of the boat, but I'm convinced the whales will always wind up on the other side of the boat.

We'll be heading some 20 odd miles out into the Gulf of Maine. The boat is a jet-powered catamaran, very stable and fast, capable of speeds up to 30 knots. Even with the bow crowded with people and blocking some of the wind, we're glad we have the coats.

A marine biologist who either is or used to be affiliated with the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor keeps up a steady stream of informational patter on our way to the prime whale-watching area. Along the way we see gannets, large sea birds with a 6 to 7 foot wingspan and watch as they spot fish from a hundred feet up, then fold their wings and plummet beak first into the water to catch their prey.

One of the Minke whales we saw on the trip.

The biologist points out dolphin, but they are almost always on the other side of the boat or I just can't see them if they're on our side. We see some seals, but they're way off from the boat. Suddenly he announces that a whale's been spotted.

The boat slows to a snail's pace and begins a sweeping circle. We'll keep our distance, we're told, and it'll be up to the whales to decide if they want to come close to the boat. The biologist decides our whale is a Minke whale, which doesn't usually blow a big spout like some whales and rarely jumps out of the water. The whale dives, then comes up 5-6 minutes later.

 Eventually it surfaces on our side of the boat, but I'm not ready with my camera. It dives again, and when it comes up, I just point my camera in the general direction and press the shutter. Fortune is on my side. I'll get a deliberate shot of another whale later, but I've seen a whale, and I've taken its picture.

We motor up close to Mount Desert Island, site of the lighthouse farthest east from the mainland. The lighthouse now belongs to the College of the Atlantic, which uses it a a whale-watching station. Big seals loll on the rocky shore and swim in the waters nearby.

Seals chillaxin' at the Mount Desert Island lighthouse.

The captain resumes the search for whales, and we will see two more Minkes before we head back. The biologist says the whale received its name because an old-time whaler named Minke kept confusing the whale with a blue whale, and whenever he'd see one, he'd point it out. The whalers would chase the animal down and discover it wasn't the more highly prized blue whale. Eventually they would say, "Oh, it's just another of Minke's whales," and the name stuck.

Seal pups swim up close to the boat, more birds are spotted, and the afternoon begins to draw to a close. The boat heads back. Along the way we spot another, larger whale swimming ahead to starboard, a finback, which the scientist says is the second largest of the whales. The captain shuts the boat down as the whale dives and begins trolling. It reappears to port, and the biologist says it appears to be traveling, which will take it away from us. After it dives, the captain turns back for the harbor.

Now people eschew their bow perches, and the wind strikes us more directly. Because of the increased exposure to the wind and the time, we grow cold fast and eventually take refuge in the cabin. All the seats are occupied so we hang onto poles and pipes like bus commuters.

Mount Desert Island lighthouse.

By the time we return to the pier, it's after 5. We've been out more than four hours, Sharon standing the whole time, me grabbing a seat for a few minutes on a step for one of the bow viewing areas. But the trip was worth every dime, every minute on our feet.

We'd missed lunch, so by the time we plopped down on a bench back at the pier park, we were hungry and tired. We picked out a gift shop/restaurant across the street, mostly because it was close. The food was acceptable but nothing to write home about.

Back at the hotel, we fall asleep soon after packing for the trip home, visions of sea creatures dancing in our heads.