Maine, whales and more lobster

It was a fun day today that saw us spotting a number of fin whales off the coast of Boothbay Harbor in the Gulf of Maine.  I have never seen a whale up close before so needless to say it was quite an experience.  We saw a few not too far from our boat but it was the last sighting that really caught everyone's eye.

A fin whale came up for air just within 30 yards of the boat giving us an up close viewing that I never saw coming.  It was so close that everyone on the bow of the boat could literally feel the spray of the water that he/she exhaled.  It was great.  However, because I was caught off guard and busy taking in the experience, there is no photo to record the moment.  But, take my word for it ...  it was awesome.

Afterwards it was time for dinner and my last Maine lobster for the weekend.  Therefore I decided to go all out and get the 3-pounder.  I know what you're thinking.  I should be carbo loading for my race tomorrow.  Well, take a look at the photo below and you tell me if you could resist a lobster like that.

Race day tomorrow and more pics to close the weekend.

Our boat the Pink Lady II

Pushing away from the coast

LOOK IT'S A WHALE!

And another

Yep another

No more whales but I just like this pic of the ocean

Heading back to land

More lobster

Awesome

Dinner view

Three pound lobster to prep me for some marathoning

In case you need to see it from another angle

Maine day 1

I'm almost inclined to let the photos just speak for the day.  But, I'll put a little down here to get things started.

A great first day in Maine.  It started with a drive over to historic Camden to see what was described earlier as "a small iconic Maine town."  And they weren't lying.  It's a quaint little town.

Afterwards I wanted to see how long the drive would take from the Inn to Tenants Harbor for race day.  It was pretty quick.  Once at the camp where the race will start, we decided to take a walk down to the water for some pictures.  From there we drove over to Port Clyde to see the famous Marshall Point Lighthouse.  For those of you who are fans of Forrest Gump, it's the lighthouse that he runs up in the running portion of his life.  It's pretty cool.

At that point it was time for dinner so after a quick stop at the Inn to rest we went over to Miller's Lobster Deck.  As you can guess, the lobster was delicious and the views memorable.

Tomorrow we're doing a boat tour to see if we can see some whales.  Then it's race day on Sunday to cap the weekend, before heading back to DC.  More pics to come.

The view I wake up to in the morning

Lunch time

Where the marathon will begin

We found a beach

Marshall Point Lighthouse

Rich and I

Dinner time

Soft shell lobster which we were told was "sweeter" than hard shell.  They were right.

View for dinner

Sun setting

Maine arrival

We've arrived in Spruce Head this evening after a nearly eight hour drive from NJ.  Damn that NY traffic.

The Inn is very nice and ocean views awesome.  We've already settled in and even had some Maine lobster.  Looking forward to visiting a vineyard tomorrow and a little whale watching before race day.  More pics to come.

Heading to Maine

Almost there



We've arrived

Taking a stroll around the grounds

A Maine sunset

Kansas booked

A while back I registered for the Johnston's Half Marathon taking place in Wichita, Kansas.  I had the month of September open with no races scheduled so figured this would be a good time to start chipping away at the heartland. 

The course will be scenic starting at Riverside Park and taking me through parts of downtown Wichita.  An added bonus here is that 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Wichita non-profit organizations through the Johnston’s Charitable Foundation.  I feel completing another half marathon while supporting a good cause is a pretty good deal to me.

A fun side note ... the flier miles I've logged in are finally paying off.  I was able to book this flight for just $10.  Yes .. $10!  Not bad.