Today I left Portland, Maine, and drove to Gloucester, Massachusetts. I started my day by touring the Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House. It is really cool!
The house is open by guided tour only. The guide for my tour was fantastic! Henry Davis Sleeper built the house and he was one of the first career interior designers in the United States. Because his home was his professional calling card, he kept adding additions to the house and each room is designed in a completely different style.
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| Hand-painted wallpaper |
Unfortunately, Henry died young and because his house was mortgaged, his brother had to sell it. However, the lady who bought the home wanted it preserved so she gifted it to Historic New England!
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| Hand-painted wallpaper/mural |
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| View from the backyard |
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| Nearby beach |
The whale watch lasted approximately 3 1/2 hours. It took about 45 minutes to get to our destination and back which left 2 hours for whale watching. A Marine Biologist/Naturalist with 7 Seas was on board. He gave an excellent talk about the animals we would potentially see, their habitat, how to spot a whale, etc. Also, as whales surfaced near us, the Naturalist would identify the whales, tell us their names, and tell us anything unique/unusual about that specific whale.
For example, we met a whale named Owl (in the video below) who is easily identifiable due to markings on her back. She received these markings when a boat unintentionally ran over her. Thankfully she survived, healed, continues to thrive.
We saw 8 Humpback Whales and 1 Harbor Seal!! It was an incredible experience and I would highly recommend going on a whale watch (especially with 7 Seas).
Tips:
- Park in the gravel lot on Rogers Street between Hancock and Parsons Streets. It has plenty of room and it's only $5 for the entire day. There is a paved parking lot next to the harbor, but it belongs to a restaurant and you will get towed if you park there for the whale watching tour.
- Dress in layers. It is typically 10 degrees cooler on the water, but if it's windy it will feel colder. I went in late September and wore a t-shirt, hoodie, leather jacket, and scarf and I was comfortable.
- Like most boat tours, the earlier you get in line the better seat you are likely to obtain. However, one of the perks of traveling solo is even if you don't get in line super early, there is always a single seat on the top deck that you can claim :)
- I recommend getting a seat on the top deck. You can see over both sides of the boat, and theoretically you should be able to move to whichever side of the boat the whales surface.
- I say in theory because that's not exactly how it worked on my tour. Apparently, they had to cancel the whale watching tours 2-3 days before mine due to stormy weather. They rescheduled a lot of the people from those tours onto my tour. Therefore, the boat was at maximum capacity and there wasn't really space to move from the port to starboard sides. That didn't stop people from trying though, lol. Combined with the choppy seas and windy weather it was entertaining to watch people try to rush around. Being on a crowded boat was the only downside to the whale watch, but the weather is going to do what it wants and we have to be flexible.
- If you have a DSLR camera, use it instead of your cell phone to take pictures and videos. I tried taking photos with both my phone and my camera but it was so sunny I couldn't see my phone screen. I switched to only using my camera and was so glad I did! The images from my camera turned out much better.
- Get to know the people sitting around you. You will be sitting with them for 3-4 hours, sharing an amazing experience, and they might be really cool. The couple sitting next to me were from London and they were so sweet! They gave me tips on places to visit whenever I am in London again, and I gave them a list of places to visit in Boston (the next stop on their trip).
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