Alaska: A majestic place

Calving

Waterfall

Harbor Seals

No matter how great the food is or how exciting the activities, the real star of our vacation was Alaska itself. I cannot say enough about how beautiful this part of the world is. The idea of cruising to a beach locale does not interest me at all. But the scenery of Alaska will bring me back time and time again (hopefully!).

One feature is the sunsets which don't occur until after 9:30 p.m. with sunrise about 4:30 a.m. The colors in the sunset were so beautiful and the sun would dip gracefully into the pristine blue of the ocean each night.

On our last trip to Alaska we didn't see any snow. This time we were fortunate to find the mountain peaks snow capped and laced with frozen waterfalls.

During our time on land we got to see wild flowers blooming in abundance although I never saw the elusive forget-me-not, the state flower.

On our last trip north we missed seeing a glacier. This time we were much luckier. On the morning our ship travelled through the Tracy Arms Fjord Tommy and I went out at 5am to watch. As we started through we saw large chunks of ice floating in the water. The fjord is about 25 miles long and the beginning is lush Alaskan rain forest. Soon the lushness gives way to the granite mountains that feature beautiful ribbons of waterfalls.

The little black things in this picture are the seals 

I really didn't know what to expect but the further we entered the fjord the more ice floated around us. These mini icebergs shone like crystals in the water with translucent blue coloring shining in the morning sun. We made some weak Titanic jokes and then moved to the bow of the boat where we encountered most of our fellow passengers. Ahead of us was the most spectacular view I have ever seen .... the South Sawyer Glacier. Our amazing captain maneuvered the ship very close and we climbed to a higher deck to watch without the obstruction of the crowd.

I think the ship stayed at that location for about an hour. During that time we would periodically hear a loud explosive noise ... the sound of pieces of the glacier falling. Another phenomenon of our time at the glacier was watching "calving". This is when large pieces of the glacier fall off and into the water. It's hard to describe the magnitude of this ... some of these pieces looked as big as a car and would cause ripple waves in the water that rocked the ship considerably. To add to this experience were the many harbor seals that were swimming or lounging on ice seemingly unaffected by our presence.

As I stood admiring the glacier several thoughts went through my mind. Not the least was thoughts of my dad. He often mentioned Alaska as a place he wanted to visit. I thought how much he would have enjoyed this trip with us. It felt as if he was standing next to me, silently appreciating this magnificent spectacle.

I also thought about how fortunate I was to be able to see this amazing piece of God's handiwork and the beauty of that moment frozen (pardon the pun) in time.

Cruising: On Shore

Posing with a new friend

 A big part of any cruise are the ports a ship stops in. If you have ever cruised you know that these ports are divided into three parts .... Shopping, History and Excursions.

Our trip to Alaska was filled with all three. Our three ports of call were Juneau - the unlikely capitol of Alaska, Skagway -the gateway to the Klondike, and Victoria, British Columbia.

We stopped in Juneau first. Greeting us as we pulled into the dock were a pair of American bald eagles. These birds are as plentiful in Alaska as crows are here at home. This pair were enjoying a breakfast of fish that had been left on a boat dock. I suspect that it was setup for a photo op but nevertheless, it was fun to see the magnificent birds so close.

Alaskan Bikini

Tommy and Big Rob took a shore excursion here. They went out on a day long salmon fishing trip where they pulled in their limit. The captain of their fishing boat was great and knew just where to take them. They took the fish to a local place where they could choose how they wanted it processed. Tommy chose to have his half smoked and had the other half done in steaks. The processor than ships it home for you (which is great since there is no 'frig in your state room on board). Several of our group took a white water rafting trip while we were in Juneau. They were provided with protective clothing and had a great time.



Carl taking a glass blowing class in Skagway

The rest of us took the shuttle into Juneau. It is just about a 5 minute bus ride but we had the best driver ever. In those 5 minutes he gave us a brief history and mini facts of Juneau. In fact, before we could even get on his bus he asked us each a trivia question about Alaska. Mine was what number state Alaska was .... Easy Peasy! Number 49 (thank you Fifth Grade State Reports!). His questions got more difficult when he asked us what the state bird of Alaska was (it's the Ptarmigan if you were wondering). He also shared, very emphatically, that most Alaskans were not fans of their most famous citizen, Sarah Palin. It seems that the number one Juneau business (followed by fishing and tourism) was government. The majority of Juneau residents work in government jobs. It seems that while governor, Palin had lobbied to move the state capitol away from Juneau, an unpopular idea among the locals.



White Pass Train

Shopping in a port town is pretty much the same everywhere ... tee shirt and curio shops and jewelry stores. Buying jewelry seems to be something cruisers do and I can only look at so much tanzanite and diamonds. But there are those little gems tucked away in the many, many shops. One interesting "Only in Alaska" item we found was a leopard fur bikini. Something our family does traditionally is try on goofy hats for photos. In fact the dorkier we look the better. I tried on a wolf hat that I seriously thought about purchasing to use in the library.

Another feature of many of these stores are large stuffed animals or wood carvings that just scream "take a picture with me!"



Skagway museum

Our next stop is one of my favorite places ... Skagway. Only 3,000 people live here. Our guide told us that there is no jail and only 3-1/2 members of the police force. We saw one .... a bicycle cop... patrolling. Tupac (seriously, that was his name), our guide, said that the worse crime that occurs is someone "borrowing" a bike. I love the history of Skagway.  The minute you get off the ship you see the White Pass train . This is the number one tourist attraction in town. Skagway is beautiful and we chose to walk the mile into town. Along the way are beautiful wild flowers and trees that compliment the mountains splendidly. I love the little historical parts of Skagway that hold their own amidst the souvenir and jewelry shops. The National Parks Service conducts free walking tours of the town.  I stumbled into the NPS historical museum and had a lovely conversation with the rangers that were preparing for the visit of a day camp group. The museum had several gold rush related interactive displays.

Craigdarroch Castle

Skagway has many great shore excursions. This is where we did our ziplining trip and Carl visited the Jewell Gardens for his glass blowing lesson.

 Our last port before ending our cruise was Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria is a beautiful city filled with flowers. From the gardens to the hanging baskets you get the feeling very quickly how important flora is to the city. On our visit five years ago we toured the Royal BC Museum which can take several hours to go through. This time we chose to take a bus tour of the city and visit Craigdarroch Castle .  The "castle" has served as the family home of the Dunsmuirs, a military hospital during WWI, and a college. The historical society has worked hard to restore it to its origins, even tracking down the original furniture to display. The woodwork inside is fantastic and the showpiece for me was an amazing main staircase (87 stairs). There are also 33 original stained glass windows.

While some our group were touring, others took the opportunity to golf at one of the beautiful Victorian courses and a few others had high tea at another Victorian landmark, the Empress Hotel.

Going up the 87 castle stairs

We enjoyed all of our shore excursions on this cruise but we left several things undone. Which only means that we will need to make another trip to Alaska....maybe in another five years.

Ziplining

Hiking in Alaska

Maybe I should have bought this

Feeding the friendly seals in Canada

Cruising: Arriving and The Food!

Last year my brother in law started talking about our families going on another cruise together. Different destinations were tossed around and we all finally settled on Alaska. We had gone on the same cruise five years ago and enjoyed it. Last week 16 of us set sail on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas. It was fabulous and the best week ever. If you are considering a cruise this is the one to take. Alaska in the summer is gorgeous and the people are the best.
The adventure began when two limos arrived at my sister's house at 5am to pick up the ten of us who were flying and our 21 bags. Amazingly, Tommy, Robert and the drivers were able to get all of the luggage in (okay, two bags were up front with the drivers!).
It was a quick two hours to Seattle and we were soon waiting for our shuttle at Sea-Tac. In Seattle we met up with the other six members of our happy little group. The process to board the ship is interesting but efficient. New regulations required passports since we would be stopping in Canada. We also had to fill out a health survey which asked if we had had any colds or fevers in the past week. Since two of our group had recently had colds they had to be given the all-clear by a doctor on site before they could board.
Finally we boarded our home away from home for the week. Starving we immediately headed for the buffet area to take advantage of the salad bar, pasta, cold cuts, and of course the dessert bar (best oatmeal cookies ever).
We had all elected to go with the inside staterooms. They are small but not claustrophobic and you don't spend that much time in them. I did hear one of the comedian's joke about the smallness of the bathroom but it's bigger than what you find in a fifth wheel!

Raspberry Panna Cotta

One of the pluses of cruising is the food. Every night is a three course gourmet dinner. Some of my favorites were the slow roasted pork, crab cakes, a mushroom filled puff pastry, bay scallops and crab meat gratin, strawberry bisque, Raspberry Panna Cotta,  apple rhubarb crumble pie,  Not everything was a hit. For lunch one day I chose the Venison Stufado. . . not very good and I didn't really care for the lobster I selected one evening. Another fail was the roasted pumpkin and apple soup. But that was the night I had the banana and crunchy nut parfait which more than made up for my disappointment.

Tommy's morning bread plate with the amazing Croissants

My number one favorite was the Vidalia Onion Tart I had as an starter the first night. I wish I would have taken a picture of this piece of heaven. It was onions and Gruyere cheese baked in buttery crust and served with leek fondue and sauteed red peppers. It looked like a quiche and I could have licked the plate clean! I should have ordered two, which is perfectly acceptable in the cruise world. In fact no one even raises an eyebrow if you order two of any course or all of them. In fact it's expected.
My favorite dessert was a lemon meringue tart that was sooooo good. It combined the tart lemon taste with a yummy crust.
We ate all of our dinners and the majority of our breakfasts and lunches in the main dining room. The breakfast menu is always good (eggs, french toast, pancakes) with a cereal and fruit bar. The lunch menu changes daily and includes a salad bar.

Lemon Meringue Heaven

I like the dining room experience over the all you can eat buffet named The Windjammer. The food is very good in the 'Jammer but the atmosphere is cafeteria style where you bump into people and dish up your food yourself. One plus in the 'Jammer is the desert bar where the before mentioned cookies are always in abundance.

Coconut Cake

Oh, and did I mention the fresh bread stuffs? Tommy was in bread heaven. The sourdough rolls just kept coming. One night there was something called "Savory Bites" , a poppy seed covered biscuit. These were so good that when I got home I searched the 'net for a recipe that I plan to try and hope it tastes close to the original. The croissants served at breakfast were the best I ever had.

Nightly Orange Sherbet Fix

And if all this available food is not enough to fill you up, another perk of cruising is free room service from 6am to midnight everyday. I took advantage of this to order a nightly cup of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies. A few of our group enjoyed room service breakfast a couple of mornings.

Apple Rhubarb Crumble Pie

Something new this time we cruised was the hand sanitizer mania. The cruise line, in an effort to keep their passengers and crew healthy, require you to use hand sanitizer EVERY TIME you enter one of the restaurants or dining rooms. There is a staff member at the door to encourage your use of the sanitizer and make sure that you do.
Bringing our dining experience to a higher level was our waiter and assistant waiter, Marlon and Ketut. They were such personable young guys. They weren't the most polished servers I have ever seen, but they made up for it with their sweet personalities. Marlon was multi-talented and serenaded us one night with his beautiful voice and another with his clarinet playing. He also made sure that Tommy got his favorite dessert each night (Orange sherbet which he scooped out of a vat of rainbow sherbet each dinner service). Ketut was a little on the inept side. One night he dropped a dollop of sour cream on the table and he never failed to drip water on my arm as he filled Tommy's water glass throughout each service. But he was so sweet and kept the rolls coming so he was easy to forgive.

From the Midnight Chocolate Buffet

Lest you think that I had to be lifted off the ship with a crane at the end of the week I have to brag a little. I actually lost a couple of pounds due to a mile and half walk on the deck track most mornings before breakfast, the  ziplining adventure , taking the stairs as often as possible, the steam room, and a lot of walking in Juneau, Skagway and Victoria!

Breakfast with part of our group

More on our Alaskan Adventure to come.

The Kids with Marlon (far right, leaning over) and Ketut