The Magnificent Hubbard Glacier

We left the port of Skagway last evening, knowing that we would be at sea today, landing tomorrow morning in Icy Strait Point.  But today's excitement involved some impressive maneuvering by the ship's captain, offering us a front stage view of the Hubbard Glacier, from various spots on the ship.

That was set to start around 1:00 in the afternoon, so we set about enjoying a delicious breakfast in the same restaurant that we visited yesterday. 

How cute are those waffles?  And, let me say...they were scrumptious!

The rest of the morning we spent chatting with our friends, waiting for the exciting moment to arrive.  And, believe me, it did NOT disappoint! We peeked out from our balcony to see this magnificent view!

Just look at the brilliance of that glacier with the sun reflecting off the snow!  How lucky was that to see?

We took photo after photo, but I'll try to spare redundancy.  

I found it interesting to see chunks of ice floating in the water as the water flowed by.

And we were amused to see these seals taking a ride on one.

Marty captured a close up of the blue ice on the glacier.

and, of course, needed a selfie for the memory.

What an amazing experience. 

Dinner was super fun at a Japanese restaurant where the chef entertained us while he cooked our meal right in front of our eyes.  We had a blast! 

Afterwards, we watched a Beatles Band perform, who were entertaining and good for some laughs.  It was standing room only in the theater, but the performance wasn't very long, so we had no issues hanging out in the back.  Actually, that gave us a quick exit when it was over! 

Tomorrow we had into Icy Strait Point.  From what I've read, there isn't much to do there, so we plan on exploring on our own to see what kind of delights we can discover.

I'll be sure to keep you posted....

Gallivanting in Skagway

We departed from Juneau at 10:00 PM on Sunday night, arriving sometime prior to 5:30 AM as I woke up to find us docked at the port.  The gorgeous morning was a prelude to the fabulous weather for the day in this town of Skagway, our overnight destination. 

Within short time, a second cruise ship that was docked near us in Juneau, arrived. As the day went on, three additional ships would show up to dock at the ports in Skagway.  Believe me....that was a LOT of people invading this small town at one time!

Announcements were made at 6:30 AM informing us that the ship was cleared by the port for entry into the town.  We had an excursion planned for 9:00 AM, which meant that we needed to be off the ship by 7:50 to jump on a shuttle in order to be at the excursion site by 8:15 AM.  

Our breakfast choices were limited this early in the morning, so we opted to enjoy breakfast in one of the sit down restaurants, which opened at 7:30, perfect for our timeline. I  ordered  a yummy yogurt parfait which was a great way to start the day. 

We met up with our friends, and Bill was sure to take a selfie of us prior to boarding the White Pass & Yukon Route train which was our scheduled excursion. 

The train itself  consists of 92 restored and replica coaches.  One of the cars carried Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on a royal tour in 1959. 

My views are taken through a window, so they might have some glare, but you can certainly see the amazing views as we traveled along.

This is the US Customs office.  It was really far off the beaten track so it does make me wonder just how much activity they see in a day. 

You can see the front cars of the train turning a bit as we headed over this trestle bridge. 

A large glacier was viewable in the distance, standing out clearly against the brilliant blue background. 

The conductor joked with us, saying that the train was going to somehow go fast enough to clear the obvious break in the tracks pictured here. 

But the view was an optical illusion as we actually headed around the corner onto a newer set of tracks.

The views looking down from the bridge were spectacular!

Our travels took us briefly through British Columbia before looping around to set the train back towards Skagway for the return trip. Our turning point was just past Summit Lake, which is named appropriately, as it stands at the top of the summit and is fed by the nearby glacier. 

As we headed back to town, Marty took a selfie or us standing outside the car.

And he managed to get one with the brakeman as well.  

Are you surprised? 

We were soon back at the station and walking towards the town to explore what Skagway had to offer. 

The history of Skagway and this train company is quite interesting.  The White Pass & Yukon Railroad Company was founded in April of 1898 with construction beginning on May 28th of that year.  It climbs from sea level in Skagway to 3000 feet at the Summit in a 20 mile stretch.  That's quite a pitch and one has to wonder about the stamina of the men who labored to build it. 

One might also wonder what would have inspired someone to build a railroad in this remote wilderness location.  The answer was Gold.  Once prospectors found a flew flakes in the Klondike area, north of Skagway,  the news spread like wild fire, triggering a mad rush of people who were eager to find their fortune in gold. 

A man named William Moore, who had been commissioned to map the 141st meridian between the United States and Canada, predicted such a rush and acted on his instincts to settle in Skagway and to invest in property there as he was certain people would be passing through.  

At that time  of his commission, the route to Klondike involved Chilkoot Pass.  It was an extremely dangerous path to follow and was not for the feint of heart.  Moore set out to find an easier path which was then named White Pass.   He set  up a 160 acre homestead in Skagway which was a wise investment on his part.  

The original house till stands. 

A newer one, built in 1906, is just next to this original log cabin.  It holds many of the treasures from William Moore's family and the wallpaper is original to the house.  Everything was well preserved over all of these years. 

The town, as you can imagine, is pretty small and tourism supports the local livelihood.  With five ships docked in port, you can well imagine how flocked this small town was with tourists.  

So, it was tricky at some points to get photos, but since Marty and I enjoy venturing out, I did manage to get some photos sans people, or at least a limited number of people. 

The snow capped mountains in the background added to the charm of this town. 

A former college in Skagway has been turned into a museum.  It was rather small, but was well presented and included some very interesting and unusual items. 

Here you see two of the original slot machines.  Can't say that I've ever seen that in a museum!

Outside an original train stands along a platform.

Along a side street these totem poles aligned beautifully with Marty in the middle. (He should have spread his arms out!) 

There was yet another museum, tucked behind the general store on the main street that featured some interesting items. Here is an icon devoted to Our Lady of Sitka.  I'll admit that this was the first time I've ever heard of that particular representation of Jesus' mother. 

If you ask me, she looks suspiciously like the icon devoted to Our Lady of Czestochowa.  This is't too surprising since this area was influenced by the Russian Orthodox church as it was actually  under Russian Occupation until it was sold to the United States in 1867.  

There was an extremely interesting section on the history of this area and, true to form, I learned some interesting facts of which I had been completely unaware.  In June of 1942, the Japanese bombed Fort Mears as well as the nearby harbor,  while simultaneously invading Attu and Kiska Islands.  As a result, American troops were deployed to this area.  Ultimately, 549 American troops were killed in this area in just a few months time before the Japanese managed to sneak out the troops undetected.  

By this time, we had covered most of the town in just a few hours and decided to travel back to the ship as my feet were pretty tired!  You can see the beautiful weather that we were enjoying. 

Dinner was, once again, a delightful event with our friends.  I ordered a baked brie appetizer

with braised lamb shanks. 

Snicker bar pound cake for dessert.  Yum!

After dinner, we enjoyed one of the musical performances in the theater on board which was rather entertaining. 

As the ship set sail once again, it was still light outside, and Marty and I decided to take in the views from our room balcony.  

The sunset in the background was an added perk. 

And this lighthouse was certainly a lovely surprise! 

Pretty amazing! 

Until next time....

 

Having a Whale of a Good Time!

After being at sea for 45 hours we finally reached our first destination:  Juneau.

We pulled into the port in Juneau around 1:30 PM on Sunday and were off the boat in what I consider to be record time: probably less than 10 minutes from the time we left our room, headed down 5 flights of stairs, and and made our way through security to the ramp leading to the port.  How amazing is that?

Bill pulled out his selfie stick and took a group photo of the six of us.

and then one of Marty and me outside the boat. 

which gives you an idea of the enormity of it. 

We had some extra time before our pre planned excursion so we took in some sites near the port. 

I’ll admit that finding the tour company wasn’t as easy as they implied in their paperwork, but we eventually found ourselves on an air conditioned bus heading to the excursion site.  

It does seem kind of ridiculous that we were seeking air conditioning, but the temperature was in the low 80’s believe it or not, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so being out in the sun actually felt pretty warm!  We certainly did get lucky with the weather as you can see by the predicted temps for the rest of the week. 

We boarded the boat that is only one month old and super comfortable.  It held 46 passengers and three crew members, which offered the opportunity for every single person to have a spectacular view of the surroundings.  I was in awe of the beauty of our surroundings and, of course, the perfect weather only enhanced that beauty. 

Our tour director, Tess, was obviously extremely enthusiastic about whales as was soon proven when she became super excited about every single one that was spotted.  

The whales each have their own name, and the crew is able to identify them by the markings on their tales which are unique to each whale.  There were also at least 3 baby whales swimming around as well, and one of them actually jumped up and breeched into the water, resulting in ooohs and aahhhhs  all around.  

We could hear the spouting, which was actually quite surreal.  It was as if the whale was giving us a clue to its activities. 

Then, we witnessed  the water spout which looks somewhat like steam in the photo

followed by the raising of the back

with the tale then lifting to the top, making a waving motion before plunging deep into the water for a dive. 

Just spectacular!  Words really can't describe the awesomeness of witnessing this close up. 

All said, we had 15 spottings!  Now, I personally can’t say that we saw 15 different whales, because some of the sightings were in the same location, and I can’t help but wonder if the same whale was putting on a show for us in that particular spot.  But, I can say, that every single sighting, from the spotting of the spouting to the end result of tail waving, was an awesome sight to see! 

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the cute seals that were sun bathing on a buoy. 

We were out on the water for nearly 3 hours before returning by bus to the pier so that we could board the ship.  Our bus driver stopped at a viewing area along the route, for us to get a quick photo of the Mendenhall Glacier.

The wild flowers in bloom offered a stunning photo.

Reboarding was as efficient as getting off the boat.  We needed to show our room card then go through security before getting back on.  We were greeted with smiling faces, each welcoming us back, offered a warm towel to wipe our hands, and then given a cup of warm apple cider once inside.  I imagine on a cold, rainy day, that particular treat is especially welcomed.  But it certainly was a nice gesture, even on a warm day. 

Dinner on board was, once again, delectable.

We headed out of Juneau around 10:00 pm. 

What an amazing day it was!