The Gauntlet

“Oregon was cool, but won’t we just do all the same stuff we did last year?” – Noel threw a gauntlet my way.

Essentially, he was asking, “Can this spring break not only top last year’s, but also top all spring breaks ever?”

I wanted Noel’s spring break visit to Portland to be epic -- the envy of his middle school friends in Brooklyn. His mom, Denise and I have been friends since before he was born and I wanted her to have a great visit too.

So I made a list titled “Epic Activities Near Portland if You’re 12.” It included indoor mountain biking, midnight sledding, and at the top – whale watching.

I'd been on a whale-watching boat in Maui, and I thought Noel might like a brush with the great mammals of the sea. I knew Denise and I would love a cocktail aboard a whale yacht off the Oregon coast.

Undeterred by the blinding yellow and blue of their geo-cities era website, I called the Oregon Whale Center and asked for a reservation.

“We have room for six.” she said.
“We’ll be three.” I said.
“That’ll be $120.” she said.

We layered in wicking t-shirts and raincoats, and made the 3-hour drive to the coast. Upon arrival we learned that the $40 each, included admission to the Whale Center.

Stepping into the Whale Center is like entering a museum curated by someone who’s heard tales of museums, but never actually been in one.

Murals of whales line the walls: Blue, Orca, Gray, Humpback. Photos of the resident Depoe Bay Gray Whales are displayed next to cartoon drawings and short histories of each whale.

We settled in for the video, and proceeded to watch a Dr. Newell, the most bubbly and charismatic marine biologist you’ll meet, filmed in the very room in which we sat, regaling with stories of her life’s work with the whales. As she referred to each whale by name, it was clear that this wasn’t just a job – these were her best friends.

When the surf shop owner from downstairs let us know he’d be taking us out, I assumed the small inflatable raft would take us to our whale-yacht-booze-cruise.

We learned that this (mostly) floating tiny rubber structure was our vessel. Within moments, we were out at sea.

We saw a dozen whales that day, some as close as 12 feet from our bobbing raft. Their massive bodies curved up out of the gray surface of the ocean and glided back down, waving their tails in the air as they dove. When a whale’s gentle eye sloped up out of the sea and connected with Noel’s amazed stare , I knew I’d won the spring break contest.