We took the campground's shuttle into Boothbay Harbor, 10 minutes down the road. Boothbay Harbor is a lovely little seaside village, made up of shops, restaurants, inns and boat companies. There's also lots of lobstering done here.
We decided to take a whale watching tour, which would run for four hours. The weather was nice - no strong winds.
The first 30 minutes were fine. We sat outside in the front of the boat and enjoyed the scenery: lighthouses, sailboats, beach houses and tons of lobster buoys floating in the water. No one else said anything, but the roughness of the water was starting to get to me so I went inside where it wasn't so rocky. Then Henry came in, and then Ruth. I had given them Dramamine (along with Jeff) first thing in the morning, but for some reason, I didn't take any myself. Probably because I've never been seasick. Bad move, because there's always a first time.
The battle against seasickness became a battle of wills, a matter of mental toughness. I have had bed spins and I have had hangovers where I wanted the earth to stop moving. Seasickness is pretty much like bed spins that go up and down instead of round and round. I was determined to hold things together, but now having two kids who were saying they were going to get sick was making it tough. I just kept telling myself I would not get sick.
Maybe it sounds strange, but I often believe I can eat my way though nausea. So I bought a bottle of ginger ale and pretzels from the ship snack bar, and the kids got Doritos. Both snarfed them down. We played "Can you guess what number I'm thinking of?" and I asked them about school to distract them. Ruth went into her "don't talk to me; don't touch me" mood, which I tool for her own attempt at mental toughness.
We were two hours in. Two potentially pukey hours to go.
I'll admit, it was touch and go for awhile. I looked out the side windows - the water looked less wavy there, and I couldn't see the front of the boat bobbing up and down over the waves. Then Ruth had to go to the bathroom because of all the ginger ale she was drinking. Two new problems: 1) the bathroom smelled like vomit. 2) it is even worse to be rocking all over the place and not see anything.
And then we saw the dolphins. Yes, we were on a whale watching cruise, but a creature in the water at that point was a sight to behold. The boat cut the engines and we bobbed around, looking for fins popping up out of the water. And then the captain said we'd be turning back.
I often note signs that there is indeed a God. This was one of them. The dolphins made the seasickness go away. We looked for the dolphins for about 10 minutes and forgot about our queasiness. And then it got better - the entire ride back was smooth sailing - no waves, so feeling my stomach go up into my throat and back down to my knees.
Jeff stayed out on the front deck the entire time, and despite his past seasickness issues, he made it through just fine. The two people beside him - not so much. There was aparently puking going on all around him. But he said he found a place where he was fine and he wasn't going to move from it. Can't argue with that.
We never did see a whale. Because they guarantee a whale sighting, we have tickets for another cruise, anytime we want. Ruth refuses to go, and I can't blame her.
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