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I spent last weekend celebrating my favorite holiday, Halloween, in eerie, mysterious Salem, Mass. I can't think of too many better places for the holiday and we even went on a ghost hunt with one of the top rated ghost tour operators in the country. I expected the ghost hunt to be a little bit scary, and it had its moments. However, this weekend was supposed to be a pleasant whale watch off the coast of Gloucester, Mass. We certainly didn't expect the whale watch to be more frightening than the ghosts of Salem.

My sister and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5am, schlepped through the dark and the cold and the rain to make it to Cape Ann by 9:30. The weather was foreboding and ominous. We were half-expecting a call from the whale watchers telling us it was called off because of the stormy conditions. But a little rain wasn't going to stop us from seeing a humpback whale dammit!

I was a bit concerned when I saw we were boarding a boat called the Hurricane II (Like, what happened to the Hurricane I? And why not a more pleasant name like We Heart Whales or Calm Seas or anything that doesn't evoke such terrible images.) But we got on anyways, noting that not only was it rainy and damp, but the fog was getting quite thick as well. Our tour guide came out to say that they had spotted some whales the day before so we would head out to that same spot, about 45 minutes out to sea. She said the conditions made their job a bit more challenging but they were hopeful that we'd see something.

My fear of boats and water has subsided somewhat after six months of commuting across the Bosphorus by ferry, and spending some time in the Mediterranean on a small-ish and less-than-steady boat. So while I had some butterflies, I was gonna tough it out if the payoff was the awesome sight of a whale spout or maybe even breaching.

We gave up our seats in the warm cabin to freeze and get spit on with rain on the open deck. The ship was plowing through the waters at a nice speed causing some turbulence so Patti and I staked ourselves out a spot against the wall and didn't plan on moving. Until we realized we were right by the bathroom and one person rushed in with seasickness, tearing me from my stable ground. The waters were getting choppier and choppier.

The one seasick girl was soon joined by some others as we held on for dear life with the boat rocking harder. If anyone was running too quickly on deck, I think they would have fallen overboard. And although I've never seen "A Perfect Storm"

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