<< July 24, 2007 >>
stone zoo

i went to stone zoo friday. it was a little more interesting than the franklin park zoo, if not more difficult to get to. there is a more-or-less hourly bus that stops near (but not at!) the zoo that you can pick up in malden. it's nice because on the way home you can stop at the train store.

the walk from the bus stop to the zoo is pretty ok; there is a big pond or whatever there, but there were too many dead birds on the sidewalk. on your way out of the zoo, i recommend calling ahead to the friendly's by the bus stop. i didn't, and had to wait about 25 minutes for a table. i'd expect this sort of thing at applebee's or perhaps outback, but at a friendly's this was surprising.

the zoo had some cute otters and an exhibit on native birds of massachusetts, where they just have a couple of bird feeders out.

<< July 24, 2007 >>
whale watch

i misread the schedule, and thought they offered a 5:30 trip on sundays, so had to settle for the 1:30 yesterday. as you've already read, the weather was terrible. before the trip they suggested that people might want to take dramamine. however, if this reporter was going to be on vomit detail for four hours, i probably would have been a little more forceful with the suggestions, possibly even foregoing my paycheck by personally buying everyone dramamine.

i think it would not be far off to say that half of the boat became sick, and i wouldn't be surprised if even 2/3rds had.

somehow, i was not one of the unfortunates wishing for the world to end. i figured the cold and wet of out on the deck was much more tolerable than the alternative, and toughed it out. it was not easy, as there were people hacking and yakking everywhere. i really wished they would have gone inside.

we eventually found four whales. i think they were humpbacks.