At the beginning of gray whale season we spent a remarkable March day with Clipper Vacations. We packed a picnic breakfast, made the short drive downtown and took off bright and early from Seattle's waterfront. As we savored our breakfast on the boat we passed by snow capped mountains and spotted several boats and homes we would not mind owning someday.

On board they provided us with an Explorer Guidebook. It was such a helpful and well written resource about the area and the surrounding wildlife.

Our morning of whale watching quickly turned into a jam packed display of whales as our naturalist pointed out one after another coming to the surface to breathe. I was surprised at how easy it was to find the whales and how long we were able to stay with them for viewing. It does not matter how many times I have gone whale watching the thrill of spotting whales never ceases to amaze me. With each breath from their blow holes to spotting them on the surface I am mesmerized. As an added bonus whales happen to be our four year old's favorite animal which made the whole experience doubly exciting.

After oohing and aaahing all morning at the gray whales we enjoyed a splendid stop over in Langley on Whidbey Island. We relished every bite of our lunch at Portico and popped into a few of our favorite spots like Edit for a little shopping. After a cold and snowy end to Winter we reveled in a day of sunshine on our faces, fresh sea air through our hair and an afternoon spent exploring. Our stop over in the delightful town of Langley was really the cherry on top to an already jam packed day on the water.

It was a memorable time together for our family to touch and hold baleen and learn interesting tid bits from the naturalist like how barnacles actually embed themselves 1/4" onto the surface of the whales. As a parent of a busy four year old I love to give my child experiences which are rich to the senses and are overflowing with learning opportunities. Our whale watching trip has sparked many subsequent trips to the library and continued conversations about what exactly baleen is. Although having lived here my entire life it never grows old to see the place I love from the water nor head up north to the islands.

As we headed back to Seattle we came upon a sea lion sunning itself on a buoy, a group of kayakers and spotted many bald eagles overhead. It was a good reminder how important it is to be good stewards of this beautiful backdrop we share with many and are fortunate enough to call home.

Clipper Vacations does not just head up to Victoria, they offer a variety of these types of day tours which makes it seamless if you are visiting Seattle. Whether you are visiting the city without a car but would like to escape the city, want to take out of town guests somewhere memorable or in our case just feel like ditching your car, traffic, the ferry lines, and instead enjoy a stress free day with loved ones.

This post was sponsored by Clipper Vacations.

All opinions stated here are my own and I was under no obligation to write anything other than my personal experience. I will never write about anything I did not enjoy or find to be a valuable experience.