Lets talk about Maine

I could write tons, but I will try to keep it brief.
Why did you go to Maine, you ask? One of the sucky things from this past year is my dad's company got bought out by a larger one and he got laid off, after they made him fire all his tech associates. Nice hey? After many months of searching and interviews he was offered a job….in Maine. Many prayers and discussions later he decided it would be best for the family if he took it. His job allows him to work from home so he is able to come back to WI about once a month for a long weekend and my mom tries to get out there for a couple weeks at a time. He was fortunate enough to find a great apartment on the ocean in Old Orchard Beach, ME. I finally got some time off of work and decided to head out there when my mom was going to be there too. I left early on a Friday morning and landed in Boston at 10:30 a.m. Our first stop was Cambridge and visit Harvard University. Wow, what a gorgeous college. I felt really smart just standing in the middle of campus by the library. I bought a Harvard Track and Field t-shirt on campus just to pretend that I ran for the team. What I love about that side of the country is that it is so old, that is where the history of the United States began. After some gulf shrimp and Sam Adams beer we head north to my dads place. He lives in this cute little ocean side holiday town and I like to describe it. About a mile walk on the beach is The Pier where many shops and restaurants are located. Adjacent to The Pier is an amusement park. I felt like I was in a movie from the 80's, like Karate Kid. The next day we were going to Gloucester to whale watch. Gloucester is the setting of the movie Perfect Storm so that night my parents made me watch the movie. Have you seen the movie? If not, go rent it. I was afraid to watch it because I knew it was a sad movie and I knew the ending since it was a true story. I am so glad they made me watch it. The next day we headed south into Massachusetts and visited the two cities Rockport and Gloucester. The day was foggy and misty, perfect setting for a fisherman's town. We walked the streets of Rockport and this is where I got some of my best pictures. After filling up on coffee and clam chowder (chowdah as they say it) we headed to Gloucester. I had chills all over when we drove by the Crows Nest Inn (setting of Perfect Storm). Gloucester is the oldest fishing port dating to 1623. My dad booked us to go Whale Watching and I was so excited to test out my new camera. Still foggy and misty, we weren't sure what we were going to see out in the ocean. What I liked about the whale watching company we went with, "Captain Bill's & Sons Whale Watching", was that they had a field biologist and Director of the Whale Center of New England on board. He has been studying the Humpbacks in that particular region for 20+ years. It took about an hour to get to the spot where they know the whales come to eat. As we approached the spot we saw a whale slapping his tail in the water alerting other whales that he was coming into their territory. I was so excited because I knew we were going to see at least one whale. Not only did we see one whale but we saw two sets of three whales including one calf, three sets of two whales, including another calf and some random singles. At the end of the two hours a calf decided to play with our boat, he was swimming all around, splashing, blowing air, going under our boat and back up again. It was so amazing and beautiful. Finally the mom and her friend had to come back and get the calf, the calf didn't want to go so mommy had to jump on her. It was so surreal.
I will post more about my trip later........