SUMMER VACATION, Day 2: The deep blue sea

We awoke to this view on our first morning in Bar Harbor.

We ate breakfast at our hotel and then walked practically next door to the whale watching boat for the "whales and puffins" tour, as you can see posted. Nope, we didn't waste much time on this trip!

Standing in line, we came across this open window. Mmmmm.

Here we go into the boat...

And away we went!

That island behind Mom is a home for puffins, among other birds. It's called Petit Manan Island and is a Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, where scientists spend the summer studying birds. Unfortunately, the puffins are too small and weren't close enough for us to get any good shots.

By the way, Mom looks good there, doesn't she? That's before she got sick to her stomach. So much for the Dramamine.

But we did get a good view of this freaky animal, an ocean sunfish.

And there's a whale!

Really, it is a whale - a humpback, we were told. It's the only one that Mom and Dad saw. So the boat gave out vouchers for a future tour, not that Mom is too sure she wants to do that again. But it was an experience.

This is the view of our hotel from the boat.

And this is a nice view of the harbor.

As you can see, Mom had recovered by the time we got off the boat, and she was ready for lunch. We ate at our favorite restaurant of the trip, Side Street Cafe. Dad had a delicious lobster stew.

Then we walked around town for a while.

Here is the view from our room again, in late afternoon, this time panoramic (with our new camera). Click on it for a better look. Dad took it after a little nap. Then we headed to dinner at Galyn's, fine dining if there is any in Bar Harbor but still t-shirt-and-shorts. Dad ate bouillabaisse.

And here's the view from our room again, at night (thanks, again, to the new camera).