Next day morning, we stepped out at 7:40 am and beating hours of Boston bound traffic, we made it just on time for whale watching at Plymouth, MA an hour north of Cape Cod. The town had a small town feeling and we really like such European touch to towns. After a hurried lunch of beans baaji and Chinch baath, we went out into the sea for a wonderful whale watching experience. It was awesome to be in the middle of the ocean about one and a half hours away from the land on a small steamship and surrounded by these huge mammal creatures in black and white.
We saw a large number of humpbacks and a few of the different genres. It is one thing to see such animals in a protected and a trained environment like the Sea World and such, where the animals perform really entertaining acrobatics; but it’s an entirely different thing to come to its natural habitat and see it in its own wilderness. These guys perform far less stunts but they are far more compelling as it appears when you least expect it. We also saw some mother-calf couplets – calves are far more energetic and lithe. We spent about an hour doing the watching in Stellwagen Bank. Supposedly, this is the feeding ground for the whales and they put on a few tons of body weight to sustain the next few months in the equatorial Atlantic. And that is the breeding ground – :)
So most of the day’s work for mother whales is to find food for itself and its calves. Calves don’t go in search of food until it is a few years old. Whales make these uncanny noises to communicate and remain within calling distance of the family. These noises are really loud and possibly much louder under water, as sound travels faster under water. The naturalist on board made an interesting comment that the minerals, planktons and other fish essential nutrients in the ocean gives it a characteristic dark greenish color and that it is not a sign of polluted water. Apparently, the super clear waters we find in the Carribean is a sign of lack of nutrients and fish food.
On the way back, it was super cold, with winds zipping past you, it was a phenomenal experience. But we could not sustain it for long and went indoors to doze off the remainder of the ride. Back in the seaside town, after being in the large expanse of America’s countryside, we were able to appreciate the closeness and compactness of street side shops. After about an hour ride to the hotel, we enjoyed the boxed dinner again and retired for the day. The high intensity Djokovic's 4th round match against Cilic was not enough to keep us up.
Next day morning greeted us with a decent breakfast spread that included eggs, bread toasts, cereal, little cartons of milk, bagel and cream cheese, muffins and pastry, fruits, waffles and coffee. After a healthy and filling breakfast, we headed to the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The parking lot for the ferry station was a good 45 minutes away and they had shuttles going back and forth. After about a 45 minute slow ferry ride, we were on the island. There are mopeds that you can rent here and use it to explore the island.
And hence we promptly rented one and set on a bon voyage. Some of my best experiences of my life ensue here. After about twenty minutes, we stopped briefly in a beach to get our first soak. Then we headed further south to the Edgartown lighthouse, which is on a man-made island some quarter mile from the coast and is accessible by a foot bridge.
After another brief stop at a little town-like ice-cream shop, we headed west. It was miles and miles of nothingness and forests on either side; actually to the south should be the coast and some wonderful beaches that we could see through the forest at certain points, but they were private beaches and some public farms in between. One of these public farms looked interesting and the board said “pony rides” and we took the left. After about a mile on dirt road, we came face to face with a small stable and two horses. It was a beautiful sight in the backdrop of a ever-extending blue ocean. There were no people around and the last car that passed by us was a good 10 minutes back when we were on the highway. In this secluded and scenic spot, we wanted take in for posterity with a good canon shot; and just as we pulled the camera out, the horse started speeding towards the gated end of the stable. Before we could think about anything, we ran for our lives calling the Gods to save us! I still do not know why it suddenly stopped at the end of the gate- the gate was a mere 2 feet high and the horse could have trampled us if wanted to.
In a jiffy, back on the moped and back on the highway, we were sweating and puffing with the increased adrenalin rush and we knew that was the most insane thing we have done in a long long time. Riding further west, with sun exactly ahead of us, we reached another light house in Aquinnah called the Gay Head Cliff light house. And there was also a public access beach nearby. It was a nice view from the cliff and some pictures bear proof to the adventurous exploration of the territory. On the way back, we stopped at a very nice little coffee place and I could not help but notice that I ordered a small latte but said “Tall” latte! Starbucks Rules ! We went to yet another lighthouse in OakBluffs called the East Chop light house for more pictures and more beaches. Rest of the evening was uneventful and we bade good bye to the moped after we made every penny spent worthy of it.
With the better part of the long weekend behind us, we went to check out the Cliff Side walk and the adjoining mansions in Newport, RI. This place houses some of the biggest family residential structures displaying grandeur on the majestic coasts of a blue ocean. There is a little 3.5 mile walk way all along backsides of these mansions bordering the ocean. Apparently the waves in this part of the ocean makes it a good spot for water skiing and we saw some skiiers in action. There are about 15 mansions taken over by the Presevation society of Newport and we saw the insides of one of them- The Breakers - the Vanderbilt mansion.
The architecture was true to the inspiration; rich with influences from the East, and yet consistent; with great emphasis on finer details of ceiling design, wall decor, fittings and fixtures.
The view of the ocean from a certain balcony like looking area on the second floor of the house was magnificent. It was whooping 17-bedroom house with living room of 50 feet cube design.
After a long and tired ride, we still had the energy for the US open on Tuesday ! Again Djokovic's and Fed's five setters made it all worth the while. Though our seats on the center court was closer to the sky than to the court, we could sneak in to better parts of the stand for great views of the game. Fed's game was definitely sub-par, but that is what took it to five sets and the emergence of the champion. Looking forward to Djokovic vs Fed today to see if the epic finals of French and Wimbledon could be repeated for a different finish!
Go Federer !!
2 comments:
i thought you would be dedicating one blog to the us open outing.
yep, I thought so too.... but towards the end, i think I got tired looking at the length of the blog :) Did you actually read the whole thing?
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