Whale watching off of Plymouth to the Rock to Newport, Rhode Island - Friday, July 17, 2009

Whale watching off of Plymouth to the Rock to Newport, Rhode Island - Friday, July 17, 2009

We wanted to go whale watching, but weren't sure we could wake up to do so. We would have to wake up by 8:30 a.m. I thought for sure we wouldn't make it because we haven't slept in several days. Miraculously, we all woke up and made it to the whale watching boat. We went out offshore for 1.5 hours to get to the feeding area. The whales are beautiful creatures. We saw about seven different whales, and they did give us a show. They were swimming and going up and out of the water, and they breached a few times, but not too much.  They also sprayed water and made noises. They were amazing and much larger than you would think.

We enjoyed it so much and my daughter was thrilled, but my son got tired of the same thing over and over again.  We had to go another 1.5 hours in after the "show," so the whole event lasted about 4 to 4.5 hours. It was a LOOOOONNNNGGG tour.  If I do it again, I'd do it from someplace closer, so they don't have to take us out so far. The guide told us that if you drive to the tip of Cape Cod, which is Provincetown, the whale watching tours are shorter.  After the whale watching, we went back to the hotel to check out and pack our stuff.

We drove around Plymouth and took the kids to see the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock. They were impressed to see it as they have studied it in school.  In addition, we crossed the street to see the view of Plymouth Rock from up high and it was small.  The kids were amazed at how small it was and we explained that it is a piece of the original rock.  We drove a little more around Plymouth and then headed for Newport, Rhode Island.  I wish I would have planned better to stay there longer as this place is beautiful! They have a cute little town with lots of shops and restaurants, etc. They have a beautiful marina/harbor area and then they have the amazing, amazing mansions.  I remember coming here as a child, but I didn't remember how beautiful it was. We walked a little on both ends of the "1/2 mile Cliff Walk" behind all these mansions on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was spectacular. It reminds me a little of Palm Beach, but these homes are directly on the ocean with this Cliff Walk trail behind them open to the public. There was a thunderstorm with lightning going on, so although there was very light rain, we were scared to be out there and cut the walk short. We did a good portion of it and want to go back one day to spend more time.
We continued on our drive to Mystic, Connecticut (CT). We actually stayed at a new Marriott in Groton, CT. The hotel was nice, but appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, as there was a lot of fog, hardly any street lights, and dark winding roads.  Again, I didn't sleep very well. I ended up watching "What Not to Wear" and a show about brides choosing their wedding dresses. Entertaining...yes...but I needed to sleep.