Final moments in Boston: Whale-watching and yet another Lobster Sandwich

On our last (half) day in Boston, our plans was simple - Whale Watching and Lobster Sandwich.

Let's start with our lovely whale-watching trip. The trip itself started pretty early in the morning (8+ a.m if I can recall), took us out into the Atlantic Ocean where they guaranteed we will be able to spot whales. We were skeptical at first (the price was around S$60), given the fact that none of us had been to anything similar.

Whale-spotters

The journey to the whale-spotting site was around 1 - 1 1/2 hours and unfortunately for me, it was a bumpy ride there. I got hit by a huge bout of sea-sickness and was basically incapacitated for the remaining journey (Credits to Dawn for the photographs). After a chat with the rest of the group, I found out that the ride was indeed worse than usual (we were riding against the wave and going at a really fast speed). So anyone who wants to go through this, remember to take your seasickness pills before embarkment.

An opportunity to catch the city line of Boston

The journey into the sea wasn't really exciting (except having to entertain my sea sickness). It was a straight journey without any incidents or sightings. From a conversation that I overheard from one of the staff, the way they are able to ensure 100% sightings is that they have a network of ships (be it fishermen or whale-watching crew) and boats that will give live updates on where the school of whales is spotted. So the moment any activities are reported, the boat would rush there and hopefully get there in time before the activities ceases or the whales have moved on.

Approaching the whale watching site

Read on to check out more pictures of our Whale-watching experience and the excellent lobster sandwich that followed.



Once the Captain has decided that the boat was closed enough to the whales (without scarring them), the boat stopped and the commentator did her job in guiding our vision to where the whales were. I managed to get up from my seat for a few moments (the boat was pretty much stable at that time) and caught a few glimpses of these magnificent creatures. Here are some shots:

One of the first few sightings

Two of them

Though we didn't catch any breath-taking shots of the ENTIRE whale, I would say that being able to get close to these beautiful creatures was an experience worth every penny and minute of travel. These majestic whales are really the beautiful works of Mother Nature and is definitely an experience I would recommend to anyone in Boston. Here are some closer shots Dawn took when some whales went by our boat.

School of Whales

Close-up

The entire whale watching experience took up almost 4 hours (so plan ahead when you do whale watching) and we only had time for lunch before having to catch our flight to Los Angeles. So what was for lunch? Obviously, more Lobster Sandwich before we leave this place for good.

James Hook Lobster Sandwich

We ended up (after failing to get a table at Neptune Oyster Bar) at the James Hook + Co for our lunch. Kudos to Andre for finding this place as the meal proved to be more than satisfying. The place itself wasn't much - a simple makeshift container with the simplest of decor, perfect for take-outs. Dawn and I took our pick and decided to share a large Lobster Sandwich and a portion of their Stuffed Clams.

Selection of sandwiches...

...and stuffed clam

I'll start with the Stuffed Clams. The clams itself was really huge and the stuffing made it look enormous. Naturally I would say the portions pretty generous and it was a wise choice to share. There was nothing really special about both the stuffing and the clams, just that both went really well and they were both baked perfectly. Nicely done!

Lovely stuffed clams

The Lobster Sandwich was definitely better than what we had at Quincy Market. The lobster was equally fresh but the portions of lobsters were so much more generous. I came out so much more satisfied then both my trips from the Quincy Market.

Hot sandwich with chunks of cold lobster fillings

Overall it was a good mistake that we ended up here. The sandwich is really fulfilling and the stuffed clams was the icing on the cake. Lovely place and I would recommend anyone to check it out if you are in Boston.

Check them out at 15-17 Northern Avenue Boston MA 02210 or visit their website here.


That's marks the end of our East Coast Travels as we head to West Coast to join up with the rest of our group. Stay tuned to see the Best of West Coast, which includes Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Costal Drive and San Francisco.

Visit my Facebook photo albums to check out more photos of the whales:
Boston 2012 Whale-Sighting Album