Skagway, AK

August 21, 2013

We went into town for lunch and ran into the crowds from 4 cruise ships. We did find an outdoor dining establishment named Wild Alaskan Seafood. Donna and Katherine had Salmon fish and chips, and I had Halibut fish and chips. Both were great. After lunch I went back to camp for a nap and they drove back downtown to “shop.”

 

Our planned event that night was a Casino night and Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show. This show tells the gold rush story of Skagway. Soapy is the villain who dies in the shootout.

 

Skagway, AK – Fjord Express to Juneau or Day of Fortunes Spent

August 22, 2013

We got up bright and early for our trip to Juneau on the Fjord Express. This boat is a modern twin-hulled, twin diesel catamaran that had comfortable seating and a great cruising speed of 27 kts. We started off great seeing a pair of humpback whales just south of Skagway. The fact that I got 2 great Tail shots helps a lot.

Waiting to Board

Nice back of a Humpback Whale

Another fine Humpback

Humpback Going Down



OK. That's a good one!!!

 

 

We sailed close to a decommissioned lighthouse that is for sale. The current high bid is $1.3M, but Skagway is trying to enjoin the feds from selling and take it over. It is a big resting area for Stellar Sea Lions. We also passed an active gold mine. As they have cut a road back to the end of the road from Juneau, another 35 miles the other way would connect Juneau to the rest of the USA by road. HMMM! We landed about 37 miles north of Juneau and went by bus the rest of the way. There were 2 Bald Eagles perched right by the landing.

We had 2 ½ hours in Juneau to eat and shop. I ate way too fast…halibut tacos. So we had lots of time to shop. I was sitting outside the Red Dog Saloon when Donna came up. So did Stu, our Tailender, who said “Do your Duty and Shop.” That is when I uttered those fateful words to Donna, “Well, Charlotte is over across the street in the God shop.” Many dollars later we were both glittering in newly purchased gold jewelry. See the pictures…She got a necklace with a quartz gold stone and ring and I got a ring too (many more $$) and the honor to sign the credit card tickets. You only live once and we are unlikely to make it back here, so we are doing it “All” on this trip.

 

 

 

 

After Juneau, our bus picked us up and took us to Mendenhall Glacier. There were some bears around, but we did not see them. Those are bear food in the picture, beautiful Sockeye Salmon in the full red mode just before dying. Mendenhall has noticeably receded since 2004.

 

On return to the boat our captain headed north to look for some whales. We found several humpbacks and got close to several. Many of us saw a large humpback breach vertically almost totally airborne. Nobody was ready with a camera to get that picture.

 

We had a 13+ hour day, but it was fantastic, both the boat ride and Juneau. We had a continental breakfast on the way up and a great cup of seafood chowder coming home.