Our last day before heading home. Glo's was just as good this morning as it was yesterday. Angela is on something of a quest to find some hand blown glass balls. The technique is from Seattle and it involves rolling the molten glass in pigmented “dust” that then melts onto the glass in interesting patterns as it cools. We saw some of these balls in the Space Needle gift shop on Tuesday, and more of them in the window of a glassblowing studio we passed on the way back to our hotel, and then even more in a shop on Bainbridge Island yesterday.
Anyway, we stopped into the studio on our (rather circuitous route) back to our hotel from breakfast to see what else they had. While the studio was fascinating, their entire selection of ornaments was in the window and not of any interest to Angela. The quest continued.
We decided to rent a car today since the things we wanted to do were fairly spread out. First stop was the Ballard Locks which connects Puget Sound with Lakes Union and Washington. I'd never seen a canal lock work, and it was fascinating to watch the boats go in and out of the locks. There's also a fish ladder to help the salmon get upstream into the two lakes and the streams that feed them. There weren't very many fish running yet, but there were some working their way up the ladder.
The next stop was the Fremont district and Gasworks Park. Gasworks Park is at the north end of Lake Union and sits on the site of an old coal and crude oil gasification plant. All of the machinery is inert now and there is a lovely park on the site with great views of the skyline and all of the boats on Lake Union. It's said that children (and pets presumably) shouldn't roll around on the grass too much because of the contaminants still in the ground from when this plant was active. Having said that, we could not get away from a family having some professional family photos done with parents and daughter doing just that. You be the judge.
Fremont is a cool area of town with lots of eclectic dining and shopping, but Angela would not be distracted from her ornament quest. Of course, the ornaments take the back stage when it comes to tasting artisan chocolate at a place called “Theo.” Their chocolates were amazing and we snagged a couple treats for later.
Remember the movie “Sleepless in Seattle?” Well, many of the Seattle scenes were filmed at a houseboat moored on Lake Union somewhere. There are actually hundreds of boats on the east and west banks of the lake so we meandered around some of the various houseboat “neighborhoods” trying to find it. Turns out it's in a gated community and virtually impossible to see from land. I think we saw it on the west shore from the east shore, but I can't be sure. Some of the houseboats were really interesting pieces of architecture, while some of them were quite dumpy and rickety.
So, after a day of searching for those glass balls, we've come to the conclusion that the easiest way to get some is just to go back to the Space Needle gift shop and get some there. Between Lake Union and the Needle is a very nice neighborhood called Queen Anne. It reminds me somewhat of the Virginia Highland area of Atlanta, with older bungalow and craftsman houses and a main street of sorts with nice boutiques and restaurants. There was a market going on today, so we were able to experience a little of the neighborhood culture while we meandered through the shops.
We kind of “punted” after getting our balls at the Needle and ate dinner at a pizza place called “Zeeks” that was across the street from the “5 point cafe” from the other night. While it appeared to be just another chain pizza place from the outside, it was actually very good pizza, and I consider myself somewhat of a pizza connoiseur.
We head home tomorrow. I am looking forward to a lazy weekend at home. I need a vacation from my vacation.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Is this where all those doctors in Grey's Anatomy live?
Yelp came through again! “Glo's” was awesome. I had french toast stuffed with blackberry jelly and cream cheese and Angela had the “Glo's Scramble” which consisted of scrambled eggs and tomatoes and green onions topped with sour cream and guacamole. Both of our meals were exceptional, and we had the benefit of a nice walk back to the hotel to start working off some of the calories.
We decided today to visit Bainbridge Island, one of the small islands in Puget Sound. Unfortunately, we picked a bad day to go, since the main street was completely torn up with construction. It was loud and dusty and completely ruined any charm or ambiance this town might have offered. Had we had a car on the island, we could have explored some of the parks and other parts of the island, but we were on foot and forced to contend with the disruption.
Not all was lost, however, since we enjoyed a nice wine tasting at the retail store of one of the local wineries and some very good gourmet ice cream at Mora's. We also had a lovely dinner at the Harbor Public House. It had a beautiful view of the little harbor area of Winslow. I had a grilled salmon sandwich while Angela had an asian inspired dish with salmon and rice. Her meal was far and away better than mine since I think I got a little “shorted” on the size of the filet in my sandwich. We had a home made apple-blackberry crisp for dessert that was very good with the exception of the julienned apple skin slices.
Oh, we saw a real live crack whore tonight waiting for the bus after getting off the ferry. At least that's what the bum in the wheelchair called her when she walked past. Seattle and Vancouver are very similar; but Vancouver's homeless population seems much less threatening than Seattle's.
We decided today to visit Bainbridge Island, one of the small islands in Puget Sound. Unfortunately, we picked a bad day to go, since the main street was completely torn up with construction. It was loud and dusty and completely ruined any charm or ambiance this town might have offered. Had we had a car on the island, we could have explored some of the parks and other parts of the island, but we were on foot and forced to contend with the disruption.
Not all was lost, however, since we enjoyed a nice wine tasting at the retail store of one of the local wineries and some very good gourmet ice cream at Mora's. We also had a lovely dinner at the Harbor Public House. It had a beautiful view of the little harbor area of Winslow. I had a grilled salmon sandwich while Angela had an asian inspired dish with salmon and rice. Her meal was far and away better than mine since I think I got a little “shorted” on the size of the filet in my sandwich. We had a home made apple-blackberry crisp for dessert that was very good with the exception of the julienned apple skin slices.
Oh, we saw a real live crack whore tonight waiting for the bus after getting off the ferry. At least that's what the bum in the wheelchair called her when she walked past. Seattle and Vancouver are very similar; but Vancouver's homeless population seems much less threatening than Seattle's.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Catching a fish doesn't look that hard
Good Lord 4:45am came early this morning. We were quite a sight at the train station trying to juggle all of our bags + breakfast + coffee. The train left promptly at 6:40, but didn't really get going until much later. We stopped and started all the way to the border. For the first couple hours, the scenery was quite unremarkable. Once we got down closer to the border, the train followed the Puget Sound coast and the scenery turned much more beautiful. The train was not very full, so we were able to have a decent amount of space to stretch out.
We were greeted with amazing weather in Seattle when we finally got there at 11:30. The cabbie got a little turned around finding our hotel, but we finally got there and got checked in after making a couple laps around the block.
Our first stop was the iconic Pike Place Market. We had an amazing lunch at the 3 Girls Bakery. Angela had their claim-to-fame Meatloaf sandwich and I had a cold salmon sandwich with lemon aoli and capers on sourdough. I couldn't believe how good their apple fritter was, either. We got some rugalech for later and left to explore. The market itself was complete chaos; worse almost than the Granville Island Market.
The centerpiece of the market is the famous Pike Place Fish Co. where they throw the fish from the display to behind the counter for packing and purchase. The crowd of people around their stall was almost suffocating. The “show” they put on is pretty good since they yell out what they're going to throw, then they throw it, regardless of what it is. So you might hear “8 pound sockeye!” or “30 pound king!” or “salmon jerky!” After chatting with the “pitcher” for a minute or two he asked Angela if she wanted to learn how to “catch” a fish, and I'm not talking about with a rod and reel. The key is to stand to the side so that if you happen to miss, the fish doesn't smack you right in the snot locker (or worse, right into your nice blouse). After a couple practice attempts with a small fish at short range (that Angela handled like a pro, I might add), she went behind the counter for the big test. The fish came in hot, and Angela caught it like she had a catcher's mitt on. The crowd went wild!
Other than the fish stall, this market isn't any different than the Granville Island market; except that it's not as nice. We did manage to pick up some very tasty Jellies from Mick's and Angela got some more jewelry; this time a leather bracelet adorned with an antique Chinese coin.
Did you know that the original Starbucks is at Pike Place Market? You'd never guess by all the people congregating outside as if it were some holy pilgrimage sight. Not being a coffee drinker, I have a hard time appreciating the significance of the place. I guess I might have a similar reaction if I was in front of the original HP garage or Microsoft's first offices or BMW's first factory (oh wait, I was like that in front of BMW's first factory).
The last place we visited at the market is called Beecher's where they hand make artisan cheeses. We were very tempted to pick up a container of cheese curds, since they're so tasty, but decided just to walk on.
Since the weather was so nice this afternoon, we decided not to wait and go ahead and hit the Space Needle tonight while we had the chance. It's a reasonable walk from our hotel and we stopped in at this dive called “5 Point Cafe” for dinner where they serve, wait for it, fried cheese curds from Beecher's. Dinner was quite good; contrary to what you might expect walking in. We both had fish; I had fish & chips and Angela had a fish sandwich with cheddar cheese and coleslaw.
Can I say that the Space Needle is very difficult to photograph? It's so tall, and in order to be able to get a picture with an unobstructed view, you have to get quite close to the base. Even with my 10mm lens, I had to practically lie down on my back to get the whole thing in view. Getting a picture with both of us and the needle in the background was bordering on comical as we had a complete stranger lying down trying to compose a shot with Angela's iPhone.
The view from the top was stunning in every direction. The air was clear and Mt. Rainier was clearly visible beyond the downtown skyline. We stayed until sunset and the mountain just exploded from its base to its peak with the reflection of the setting sun on the snowcap. It was HUGE; completely dominating every other mountain in view.
I think Yelp is going to hook us up again with breakfast at this place called “Glo's” up the street in the Capitol Hill district.
We were greeted with amazing weather in Seattle when we finally got there at 11:30. The cabbie got a little turned around finding our hotel, but we finally got there and got checked in after making a couple laps around the block.
Our first stop was the iconic Pike Place Market. We had an amazing lunch at the 3 Girls Bakery. Angela had their claim-to-fame Meatloaf sandwich and I had a cold salmon sandwich with lemon aoli and capers on sourdough. I couldn't believe how good their apple fritter was, either. We got some rugalech for later and left to explore. The market itself was complete chaos; worse almost than the Granville Island Market.
The centerpiece of the market is the famous Pike Place Fish Co. where they throw the fish from the display to behind the counter for packing and purchase. The crowd of people around their stall was almost suffocating. The “show” they put on is pretty good since they yell out what they're going to throw, then they throw it, regardless of what it is. So you might hear “8 pound sockeye!” or “30 pound king!” or “salmon jerky!” After chatting with the “pitcher” for a minute or two he asked Angela if she wanted to learn how to “catch” a fish, and I'm not talking about with a rod and reel. The key is to stand to the side so that if you happen to miss, the fish doesn't smack you right in the snot locker (or worse, right into your nice blouse). After a couple practice attempts with a small fish at short range (that Angela handled like a pro, I might add), she went behind the counter for the big test. The fish came in hot, and Angela caught it like she had a catcher's mitt on. The crowd went wild!
Other than the fish stall, this market isn't any different than the Granville Island market; except that it's not as nice. We did manage to pick up some very tasty Jellies from Mick's and Angela got some more jewelry; this time a leather bracelet adorned with an antique Chinese coin.
Did you know that the original Starbucks is at Pike Place Market? You'd never guess by all the people congregating outside as if it were some holy pilgrimage sight. Not being a coffee drinker, I have a hard time appreciating the significance of the place. I guess I might have a similar reaction if I was in front of the original HP garage or Microsoft's first offices or BMW's first factory (oh wait, I was like that in front of BMW's first factory).
The last place we visited at the market is called Beecher's where they hand make artisan cheeses. We were very tempted to pick up a container of cheese curds, since they're so tasty, but decided just to walk on.
Since the weather was so nice this afternoon, we decided not to wait and go ahead and hit the Space Needle tonight while we had the chance. It's a reasonable walk from our hotel and we stopped in at this dive called “5 Point Cafe” for dinner where they serve, wait for it, fried cheese curds from Beecher's. Dinner was quite good; contrary to what you might expect walking in. We both had fish; I had fish & chips and Angela had a fish sandwich with cheddar cheese and coleslaw.
Can I say that the Space Needle is very difficult to photograph? It's so tall, and in order to be able to get a picture with an unobstructed view, you have to get quite close to the base. Even with my 10mm lens, I had to practically lie down on my back to get the whole thing in view. Getting a picture with both of us and the needle in the background was bordering on comical as we had a complete stranger lying down trying to compose a shot with Angela's iPhone.
The view from the top was stunning in every direction. The air was clear and Mt. Rainier was clearly visible beyond the downtown skyline. We stayed until sunset and the mountain just exploded from its base to its peak with the reflection of the setting sun on the snowcap. It was HUGE; completely dominating every other mountain in view.
I think Yelp is going to hook us up again with breakfast at this place called “Glo's” up the street in the Capitol Hill district.
Monday, June 20, 2011
I sure am glad we didn't go to Capilano!
You just knew that we'd be going back to Joe's for breakfast this morning. The vibe this morning (being a Monday) was completely different than yesterday. Angela had blueberry pancakes that were delicious and I had the same “3 cheeser” omelet with chorizo sausage. The hashbrowns were even better today than yesterday.
Since the clouds were still hanging over the mountains, we decided just to go to Lynn Canyon. We briefly considered Capilano, but decided against it since it's kind of expensive and Lynn Canyon is free. The trip to Lynn Canyon took about an hour total on buses and ferries, but it was quite worth it. The suspension bridge there is smaller than at Capilano, but for a guy with a moderate fear of heights, it was plenty high and “bouncy” for me. After seeing some pictures of the Capilano bridge, I might not have made it all the way across. The park was really nice and the hiking trails were excellent.
Back at the visitor's center, we enjoyed a surprisingly good crèpe with bananas, strawberries and nutella.
Back in Vancouver proper, we did a little merchandising for “Canada” tee shirts and whatnot. We enjoyed a simple dinner of savory crèpes at a place called “Cafe Crèpe.” The same Cafe Crèpe as in Santa Monica where we ate with our friends Adam and Carlisle when we went to visit a couple years ago.
Tomorrow is a very early morning since our train to Seattle leaves Vancouver at 6:40am.
Since the clouds were still hanging over the mountains, we decided just to go to Lynn Canyon. We briefly considered Capilano, but decided against it since it's kind of expensive and Lynn Canyon is free. The trip to Lynn Canyon took about an hour total on buses and ferries, but it was quite worth it. The suspension bridge there is smaller than at Capilano, but for a guy with a moderate fear of heights, it was plenty high and “bouncy” for me. After seeing some pictures of the Capilano bridge, I might not have made it all the way across. The park was really nice and the hiking trails were excellent.
Back at the visitor's center, we enjoyed a surprisingly good crèpe with bananas, strawberries and nutella.
Back in Vancouver proper, we did a little merchandising for “Canada” tee shirts and whatnot. We enjoyed a simple dinner of savory crèpes at a place called “Cafe Crèpe.” The same Cafe Crèpe as in Santa Monica where we ate with our friends Adam and Carlisle when we went to visit a couple years ago.
Tomorrow is a very early morning since our train to Seattle leaves Vancouver at 6:40am.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The most interesting flea market ever!
My breakfast place turned out to be a winner: Joe's Grill on Davie St. There was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. Angela had a “Bacon and Cheddar Benny” (Canadians say “benny” to indicate some variation of Eggs Benedict) and I had a 3 cheese omelet with chorizo sausage. The hash browns were quite good. The weather today was better than yesterday; but still what I would call “sunny.” We took the bus to Gastown and were surprised to see a Crumpler store. I love Crumpler bags, and it was cool to see an actual retail outlet. I was actually able to get some replacement parts for my camera bag, too. Gastown is a little different from Yaletown in that it appears more focused on boutique shopping than on dining. There were some very nice “First Nations” art galleries and jewelry (spelled “jewellery” in Canada) boutiques and Angela had a good time perusing the different shops. She's not yet met a shop that doesn't have something to catch her eye and bring her in. Gastown does have something interesting: a steam powered clock. It plays a little tune every half hour through little whistles.
Chinatown is pretty much adjacent to Gastown, so the walk there didn't take long at all. However, we were mildly delayed by a sight unlike any I've ever seen. Apparently on every Sunday there is a flea market of sorts where the homeless population of Vancouver is encouraged to offer up for sale or trade the belongings they've collected over time.
There is a very nice Chinese garden there and we walked through the free portion. In general, Chinatown areas don't really interest me, except for the herbal shops with all of the herbs and whatnot in the jars behind the counter. They look like the kind of place where a witch would go to make a magic potion or whatever.
By the time we had walked up and down the main drag of Chinatown, the clouds had parted sufficiently enough that we decided to rent bikes and ride around Stanley Park. A quick trip on the #19 bus and we were in front of Spokes bike rentals. Stanley Park was beautiful. There is an 8km loop around the perimeter seawall as well as several gravel trails that chris-cross through the interior of the park. The seawall offers fantastic views of the downtown, the Lions Gate bridge, and Granville Island as you make your way around. We rode all the way around and then along some of the trails in the interior of the park; stopping periodically for photos and wild raspberries, and then rode further down the seawall until road works basically closed off the bike lane before turning back. About half way 'round, we came upon a very curious vignette. It was low tide, and there were many large starfish that had been exposed when the tide went out. Apparently, seagulls love starfish and several birds were chowing down; some even had entire starfish in their mouths as if to protect their bounty.
After about 4 hours of riding, we'd had enough and decided to look for a place to eat since we didn't eat lunch. We wound up walking all the way down Denman St. to the southern portion of downtown and stopped at a place called Milestones. Angela had this watermelon and beet salad and grilled sablefish over seaweed gnocchi that she raved about while I had a simple bacon cheeseburger and caesar salad.
It was an easy bus ride back to the hotel. Tomorrow, I think we're going to go over to North Vancouver and check out Lynn Canyon or Grouse Mountain if the clouds go away.
Chinatown is pretty much adjacent to Gastown, so the walk there didn't take long at all. However, we were mildly delayed by a sight unlike any I've ever seen. Apparently on every Sunday there is a flea market of sorts where the homeless population of Vancouver is encouraged to offer up for sale or trade the belongings they've collected over time.
There is a very nice Chinese garden there and we walked through the free portion. In general, Chinatown areas don't really interest me, except for the herbal shops with all of the herbs and whatnot in the jars behind the counter. They look like the kind of place where a witch would go to make a magic potion or whatever.
By the time we had walked up and down the main drag of Chinatown, the clouds had parted sufficiently enough that we decided to rent bikes and ride around Stanley Park. A quick trip on the #19 bus and we were in front of Spokes bike rentals. Stanley Park was beautiful. There is an 8km loop around the perimeter seawall as well as several gravel trails that chris-cross through the interior of the park. The seawall offers fantastic views of the downtown, the Lions Gate bridge, and Granville Island as you make your way around. We rode all the way around and then along some of the trails in the interior of the park; stopping periodically for photos and wild raspberries, and then rode further down the seawall until road works basically closed off the bike lane before turning back. About half way 'round, we came upon a very curious vignette. It was low tide, and there were many large starfish that had been exposed when the tide went out. Apparently, seagulls love starfish and several birds were chowing down; some even had entire starfish in their mouths as if to protect their bounty.
After about 4 hours of riding, we'd had enough and decided to look for a place to eat since we didn't eat lunch. We wound up walking all the way down Denman St. to the southern portion of downtown and stopped at a place called Milestones. Angela had this watermelon and beet salad and grilled sablefish over seaweed gnocchi that she raved about while I had a simple bacon cheeseburger and caesar salad.
It was an easy bus ride back to the hotel. Tomorrow, I think we're going to go over to North Vancouver and check out Lynn Canyon or Grouse Mountain if the clouds go away.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
I wonder if this is where witches come to shop?
Disembarkation day. We arrived in Vancouver this morning to a gray, rainy day. There wasn't too much rush to get out, since we were in the last group to be let off the ship, so we had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room; browsed through the “outlet” store where they were trying to unload tee shirts from old cruises, last season's jewelry and fashions, and other nick knacks; and generally just waited for our time to disembark.
The whole disembarkation process took about 20 minutes from when we were allowed to leave to when we pulled into our hotel in Vancouver. Thankfully our room was ready and we were able to get settled before heading out for Granville Island.
Granville Island was amazing. The public market there is enormous and today it was totally chaotic. The crush of people was actually unpleasant. There were all types of vendors: artisans selling their crafts, produce vendors, seafood vendors, prepared food vendors, bakers, florists, you name it. Everything looked and smelled divine. We had lunch from a couple food stalls and ate outside under cover. It was still sprinkling a little, but the sky was brightening.
The entire “island” is full of the market and various artists' galleries and shops. It's very cool to have so many galleries concentrated in such a compact area. Angela was enamored of a broom shop and after some waffling, decided to purchase a handmade broom. The proprietor was actually making a broom while we were in there. We spent several hours browsing around before returning to our hotel to unload our rain gear, cameras, etc.
Based on the concierge, we had dinner in a section of town called “Yaletown” at a place called “The Hub.” I had some really good Mac & Cheese and Angela had grilled Halibut over risotto.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow will be good enough to ride bikes around Stanley Park. We're going to go to Gastown and Chinatown tomorrow morning. I think I've found a good breakfast place for tomorrow morning, too. Can't wait to try it out.
The whole disembarkation process took about 20 minutes from when we were allowed to leave to when we pulled into our hotel in Vancouver. Thankfully our room was ready and we were able to get settled before heading out for Granville Island.
Granville Island was amazing. The public market there is enormous and today it was totally chaotic. The crush of people was actually unpleasant. There were all types of vendors: artisans selling their crafts, produce vendors, seafood vendors, prepared food vendors, bakers, florists, you name it. Everything looked and smelled divine. We had lunch from a couple food stalls and ate outside under cover. It was still sprinkling a little, but the sky was brightening.
The entire “island” is full of the market and various artists' galleries and shops. It's very cool to have so many galleries concentrated in such a compact area. Angela was enamored of a broom shop and after some waffling, decided to purchase a handmade broom. The proprietor was actually making a broom while we were in there. We spent several hours browsing around before returning to our hotel to unload our rain gear, cameras, etc.
Based on the concierge, we had dinner in a section of town called “Yaletown” at a place called “The Hub.” I had some really good Mac & Cheese and Angela had grilled Halibut over risotto.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow will be good enough to ride bikes around Stanley Park. We're going to go to Gastown and Chinatown tomorrow morning. I think I've found a good breakfast place for tomorrow morning, too. Can't wait to try it out.
Friday, June 17, 2011
If the ship is a rockin', don't bother knockin'
Not much to say about today. We woke up to the ship rocking and rolling since we had to traverse some open water with a beam sea. It wasn't bad enough for the crew to put out the sick bags, but it was definitely noticeable in the dining room at breakfast. It was tough to find enough things to do to fill the day. We walked another 6 laps around the boat, started packing, had some more cookies and milk on the plaza deck, browsed the shops to see if we could find a decent “Alaska” tee shirt, chuckled at some of the corny photos taken during the cruise, played backgammon in the “Card Room,” ate some more cookies, etc., etc. Again, dinner in the dining room was not memorable. What was memorable was the disruption brought about by the second “chefs' parade” in two nights. This time it was to show off about 30 or so Baked Alaskas. A little over the top? I think so.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Burger Queens, Bears, and Totem Poles
Dave at Family Air Tours got our distress call last night and we woke up with a voice mail waiting. Thankfully he had a slot open earlier and since we didn't make any other plans it was easy to reschedule. Do you know what I saw outside our cabin? None other than a restaurant called “Burger Queen.” It was a sign: right then and there I knew where we would be having lunch; it was just a matter of convincing Angela.
This morning, we had enough time to have a “civilized” breakfast in the main dining room. I had a bagel with lox and cream cheese that was very tasty while Angela had some pancakes that looked markedly better in the main dining room than in the buffet.
We had some time before meeting Dave, so we walked around downtown Ketchikan. Since Ketchikan is much larger than Skagway and has legitimate function besides being a destination for cruise ships, it doesn't feel nearly as artificial. The “fake” jewelry stores don't seem nearly as obvious here as in Skagway.
Dave's airplane wasn't tied up far from the boat and when we met him, he reminded me of Kelsey Grammer. His plane was a Cessna 185 that had enough seats for me, Angela, and Dave. When we got in, since I was going to be up front, he was very quick to remind me that the rudder pedals were for him and him alone.
Our flight to the Misty Fjords took about 20 minutes. The takeoff run was much shorter than I thought it would be since we had all that extra drag from the water on the floats. The fjords were stunning. Once you get past the actual “fjord'y” part into the interior of the forest, the beauty really comes out with all these suspended freshwater lakes that empty into each other and ultimately into the sea. We landed on a lake where he goes fishing and got out for some pictures. Half-jokingly I remarked that the Misty Fjords didn't seem that misty and he said that the weather today was about as good as it gets there. We've definitely lucked out on the weather; since besides a little drizzle in Whittier, we've had amazing weather all week. Apparently the forest service has some cabins sprinkled in the park for folks to stay in while they're fishing and hunting. The only way in or out is by floatplane.
On our way back to Ketchikan, Dave noticed a latch not closed and decided to make an unscheduled landing to secure it. As we were “taxiing” to a stop, he said very nonchalantly “there's a bear over there” pointing to the shore on the left side of the plane. A what? Our last day “in country” and we finally see a bear in the wild? And on an unscheduled landing, no less. Of course, I had my very wide angle lens fitted; completely inadequate for getting a shot of it from the plane. Angela heaved my camera bag over the seat and I did a quick change to my 300mm telephoto and got out onto the float to try to get a good stable platform for getting a shot. Even at 300mm, I couldn't fill the frame with the bear, but it is very recognizable as one and I think I can crop in tighter on a few of the pics. I wish Dave had let the plane coast a little closer to shore, but there was a good chance we would have spooked it and lost our chance.
Remember “Burger Queen?” Turns out I didn't have to do any convincing since both Dave and his assistant both recommended it for their food and their milkshakes and their recommendations were spot on. Lunch was amazing.
Ketchikan being the totem pole capital of the world, we wanted to go to either Totem Bight State Park or Saxman Village. Unfortunately, by the time we were done with lunch there just wouldn't have been enough time to get there and back so we settled for the Totem Heritage Center above Creek Street. There were several totem poles that had been recovered from various sites around the area and some panels discussing the history, meaning, and significance of the various icons carved into the poles. I think it was a pretty good substitute for either of the two parks.
We even had time for some shopping, yay! We wanted to get a miniature totem pole, but wound up finding a gorgeous whale bone carving with walrus ivory and baleen accents from an Inupiaq artist in a town called Shishmaref way up on the Bering Sea.
We ate dinner in the dining room again and had a nice, if unmemorable meal. We were seated with a couple whom we met at breakfast, so it was nice to talk about the how the day went compared to how we planned it. We were surprised, however, when the lights were turned down and the music turned up and a member of the cruise director's staff got on the PA to kick off the “chefs' parade” where they parade out the kitchen staff and waitstaff for a lap around the dining room while the diners wave their napkins in appreciation. This went on for 5+ minutes and was a little disruptive during our dinner.
After 5 nights on the boat, we finally decided to avail ourselves of the “show” in the theater. The performer is an illusionist from Las Vegas who calls himself “Gaetano” and apparently he is a fairly frequent performer on Princess ships. The show was OK, but his “showcraft” doesn't even come close to that of Copperfield or David Blaine or Chris Angel.
This morning, we had enough time to have a “civilized” breakfast in the main dining room. I had a bagel with lox and cream cheese that was very tasty while Angela had some pancakes that looked markedly better in the main dining room than in the buffet.
We had some time before meeting Dave, so we walked around downtown Ketchikan. Since Ketchikan is much larger than Skagway and has legitimate function besides being a destination for cruise ships, it doesn't feel nearly as artificial. The “fake” jewelry stores don't seem nearly as obvious here as in Skagway.
Dave's airplane wasn't tied up far from the boat and when we met him, he reminded me of Kelsey Grammer. His plane was a Cessna 185 that had enough seats for me, Angela, and Dave. When we got in, since I was going to be up front, he was very quick to remind me that the rudder pedals were for him and him alone.
Our flight to the Misty Fjords took about 20 minutes. The takeoff run was much shorter than I thought it would be since we had all that extra drag from the water on the floats. The fjords were stunning. Once you get past the actual “fjord'y” part into the interior of the forest, the beauty really comes out with all these suspended freshwater lakes that empty into each other and ultimately into the sea. We landed on a lake where he goes fishing and got out for some pictures. Half-jokingly I remarked that the Misty Fjords didn't seem that misty and he said that the weather today was about as good as it gets there. We've definitely lucked out on the weather; since besides a little drizzle in Whittier, we've had amazing weather all week. Apparently the forest service has some cabins sprinkled in the park for folks to stay in while they're fishing and hunting. The only way in or out is by floatplane.
On our way back to Ketchikan, Dave noticed a latch not closed and decided to make an unscheduled landing to secure it. As we were “taxiing” to a stop, he said very nonchalantly “there's a bear over there” pointing to the shore on the left side of the plane. A what? Our last day “in country” and we finally see a bear in the wild? And on an unscheduled landing, no less. Of course, I had my very wide angle lens fitted; completely inadequate for getting a shot of it from the plane. Angela heaved my camera bag over the seat and I did a quick change to my 300mm telephoto and got out onto the float to try to get a good stable platform for getting a shot. Even at 300mm, I couldn't fill the frame with the bear, but it is very recognizable as one and I think I can crop in tighter on a few of the pics. I wish Dave had let the plane coast a little closer to shore, but there was a good chance we would have spooked it and lost our chance.
Remember “Burger Queen?” Turns out I didn't have to do any convincing since both Dave and his assistant both recommended it for their food and their milkshakes and their recommendations were spot on. Lunch was amazing.
Ketchikan being the totem pole capital of the world, we wanted to go to either Totem Bight State Park or Saxman Village. Unfortunately, by the time we were done with lunch there just wouldn't have been enough time to get there and back so we settled for the Totem Heritage Center above Creek Street. There were several totem poles that had been recovered from various sites around the area and some panels discussing the history, meaning, and significance of the various icons carved into the poles. I think it was a pretty good substitute for either of the two parks.
We even had time for some shopping, yay! We wanted to get a miniature totem pole, but wound up finding a gorgeous whale bone carving with walrus ivory and baleen accents from an Inupiaq artist in a town called Shishmaref way up on the Bering Sea.
We ate dinner in the dining room again and had a nice, if unmemorable meal. We were seated with a couple whom we met at breakfast, so it was nice to talk about the how the day went compared to how we planned it. We were surprised, however, when the lights were turned down and the music turned up and a member of the cruise director's staff got on the PA to kick off the “chefs' parade” where they parade out the kitchen staff and waitstaff for a lap around the dining room while the diners wave their napkins in appreciation. This went on for 5+ minutes and was a little disruptive during our dinner.
After 5 nights on the boat, we finally decided to avail ourselves of the “show” in the theater. The performer is an illusionist from Las Vegas who calls himself “Gaetano” and apparently he is a fairly frequent performer on Princess ships. The show was OK, but his “showcraft” doesn't even come close to that of Copperfield or David Blaine or Chris Angel.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thar she blows!
We were in Juneau today. It's our shortest port call of the trip; dock at 6:30am and leave at 3pm. Since our room service yesterday was sub-par, we decided that I would go up to the buffet and grab us some omelets while Angela got ready. This worked out perfectly since I almost always am ready before Angela.
The Harv & Marv's folks were at the gangway waiting for us as we walked off the ship and we waited for a couple minutes for our driver to pick us up. It was about a 20min drive to Auke Bay where their boats are tied up. Once at the dock, we saw not one but two bald eagles perched on some tall pilings surveying the water for breakfast.
We met our boat captain Louis (sp?), boarded our boat and set out to find some whales. It didn't take long to spot the tell-tale spray hanging in the air. We tracked a couple of mothers and their calves make lazy passes around our boats coming up for air, diving, etc. It was pretty amazing but not awe inspiring like a full-on breach would be. We moved to a different spot and while we were repositioning, Louis casually called out “there's a breach” and got on the radio with the other H&M boats nearby to let them know. In seconds we were racing out to “Humpback Island” where the breach was spotted. I have no idea how Louis did it, because we wound up going at least 10 minutes at full speed to get there. The whales kept it up for a couple minutes, and we got close enough to actually see the whales completely out of the water but not close enough for pictures and by the time we got there they were all tuckered out. All we saw “up close” were the “deep dive” maneuvers that expose their tails. Louis claimed that they see full-on breaches about once a week on average, so I guess we were lucky.
We saw some Stellar Sea Lions hanging out on a buoy and more Bald Eagles on the way back to the dock, but they paled in comparison to seeing a whale breaching.
We made a quick stop at the Mendenhall Glacier, but we were fairly “glaciered out” by then and probably weren't “wow'ed” as much as we maybe should have been.
We had a great lunch close to our ship at a place called “The Twisted Fish” where I had a Halibut sandwich and Angela had Halibut tacos.
After lunch, we went up the Mount Roberts Tramway since we had about an hour and a half until the “all aboard call.” At the top we had a good view of Juneau all the way to Auke Bay. We got a bonus view of an active Bald Eagle's nest thanks to a little hand-drawn map on a guard rail. Not wanting to waste a shopping opportunity, Angela was able to find a very nice copper Christmas ornament in the shape of a bear. If we can't see one in the wild; we might as well have the likeness of one on our tree.
Since tonight was a “formal night,” we decided to try out the grill for burgers and brats. I was pleasantly surprised at the tastiness of the burgers and brats as well as the fries. As per usual, we eschewed the “show” in favor of doing some laundry.
Every night we get a little newsletter called the “Princess Patter” that presents the schedule of events for the next day, including arrival and departure times at the next port of call. Our plans for tomorrow include a floatplane tour in the Misty Fjords National Monument, but our schedule looks to have changed and we need to try to get in touch with our pilot to reschedule. Hopefully he'll have an earlier opening; and thankfully we get AT&T cell service in port.
The Harv & Marv's folks were at the gangway waiting for us as we walked off the ship and we waited for a couple minutes for our driver to pick us up. It was about a 20min drive to Auke Bay where their boats are tied up. Once at the dock, we saw not one but two bald eagles perched on some tall pilings surveying the water for breakfast.
We met our boat captain Louis (sp?), boarded our boat and set out to find some whales. It didn't take long to spot the tell-tale spray hanging in the air. We tracked a couple of mothers and their calves make lazy passes around our boats coming up for air, diving, etc. It was pretty amazing but not awe inspiring like a full-on breach would be. We moved to a different spot and while we were repositioning, Louis casually called out “there's a breach” and got on the radio with the other H&M boats nearby to let them know. In seconds we were racing out to “Humpback Island” where the breach was spotted. I have no idea how Louis did it, because we wound up going at least 10 minutes at full speed to get there. The whales kept it up for a couple minutes, and we got close enough to actually see the whales completely out of the water but not close enough for pictures and by the time we got there they were all tuckered out. All we saw “up close” were the “deep dive” maneuvers that expose their tails. Louis claimed that they see full-on breaches about once a week on average, so I guess we were lucky.
We saw some Stellar Sea Lions hanging out on a buoy and more Bald Eagles on the way back to the dock, but they paled in comparison to seeing a whale breaching.
We made a quick stop at the Mendenhall Glacier, but we were fairly “glaciered out” by then and probably weren't “wow'ed” as much as we maybe should have been.
We had a great lunch close to our ship at a place called “The Twisted Fish” where I had a Halibut sandwich and Angela had Halibut tacos.
After lunch, we went up the Mount Roberts Tramway since we had about an hour and a half until the “all aboard call.” At the top we had a good view of Juneau all the way to Auke Bay. We got a bonus view of an active Bald Eagle's nest thanks to a little hand-drawn map on a guard rail. Not wanting to waste a shopping opportunity, Angela was able to find a very nice copper Christmas ornament in the shape of a bear. If we can't see one in the wild; we might as well have the likeness of one on our tree.
Since tonight was a “formal night,” we decided to try out the grill for burgers and brats. I was pleasantly surprised at the tastiness of the burgers and brats as well as the fries. As per usual, we eschewed the “show” in favor of doing some laundry.
Every night we get a little newsletter called the “Princess Patter” that presents the schedule of events for the next day, including arrival and departure times at the next port of call. Our plans for tomorrow include a floatplane tour in the Misty Fjords National Monument, but our schedule looks to have changed and we need to try to get in touch with our pilot to reschedule. Hopefully he'll have an earlier opening; and thankfully we get AT&T cell service in port.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Those Canadians make good cheese burgers
It's hard to imagine getting cabin fever on a boat with 2500 other people, but after 2+ days at sea, I think we were both ready to get back on dry land and do some exploring. Our first port of call was the gold rush town of Skagway. We booked a rental car with Avis, so our intent was to drive up the Klondike Highway into the Yukon Territory and see what we can see. Because we didn't want to waste any time, we had room service bring us some bacon, egg and cheese muffins. They were not very good since the eggs were runny, but they came on time.
When we opened the shades and went out onto the balcony, we were greeted with cool humid air and low clouds; perfect Alaska weather. There were 2 other ships that I could see (turns out there were 4 total in port today). We hustled down to the Avis “office” to find a line out the door. I'm not sure why, but the actual act of renting a car seems to take forever.
We didn't actually get in our car until after 9, and promptly set out on the only road out of town. It wasn't too long before we crested the White Pass and entered into Canada. At every pullout was a tour bus or tour van so we elected to just keep going and take our chances that the weather would be OK on our way back. Once over the pass, the weather took a turn for the better and it just got sunnier and sunnier. We did manage to see the WP&YR train across the valley as we headed north. It's interesting to note that the actual US/Canada border is at the top of the pass, but the border crossing stations are down the hill on each side of the pass.
When we got to Fraser, where the Canadian crossing is, the landscape changed dramatically to something otherworldly. There was lots of exposed rock with small scrub fir trees and small (and not so small) pools of water. The valley we were in was clearly formed by glaciers, so the rock must have been so hard and dense that it has taken quite some time for plants and trees to sprout. There was quite a bit of snow here still; enough so that some of the snow made for white “beaches” at the shores of some of the small pools. We kept driving past a small town called “Caribou Crossing” (Carcross for short) to a small lake called “Emerald Lake” that is unremarkable save for the beautiful color of the water.
Carcross is a very small town that seems notable really only for having a railroad bridge across a river and for having the world's smallest desert. The sand dunes looked completely out of place in this alpine environment, but they certainly were interesting. We did stop in Carcross for an excellent lunch at a small hamburger stand (Eddy's Checkpoint) and Angela got a pretty pair of earrings from Tanya Kennedy at "Motherlode Jewellery" (love how the Canadians spell "jewelry") next door who makes them by hand from locally mined or collected gemstones. Whatever ambiance the town might have had was destroyed by all of the bulldozers and graders and other heavy equipment working on a pretty massive road improvement project. Everyone we talked to in Carcross was sick and tired of them and couldn't wait until they left. I sure hope that the cruise lines aren't trying to turn Carcross into another completely artificial excursion destination like they've already done with Skagway.
Wanting to take advantage of the awesome weather, we asked around about hiking trails in the area. We were directed to one above Tutshi lake on the way back to Skagway. It didn't disappoint and after about 30mins we were treated to a great view of the lake from above. The trail actually followed the track of an old mine “lift” and there were still some remains of the towers and cables that would be used to get the buckets of rocks up and down the mountain.
Since we bypassed all the “cool” pullouts on the way up, we stopped at the big “Welcome to the Yukon” and “Welcome to Alaska” signs on the way back for some pics. There must be a bunch of Atlantans cruising Alaska this week, because we ran into another couple at the big Yukon sign who were from Atlanta.
Before returning the car, we drove up the Dyea road to get a cool view of Skagway from above. There's really nothing there. It's a shame that the cruise lines have perverted this could-be cute town into something completely artificial. There are a couple what appear to be authentic galleries amidst all of the fake jewelry shops and trinket stores but it's tough to separate the wheat from the chaff. We did manage to stumble upon a cemetery for a bunch of miners and other residents that died in a freak avalanche on Palm Sunday in 1898.
We got back on the boat with about 20 minutes to spare after searching out a few locally owned and operated shops.
We had dinner in the dining room again and I had another good meal of baked salmon with a nice tangy and sweet BBQ sauce over basmati rice. The meal tasted good except the fish was overcooked. Angela's was not memorable enough to remember, but she thinks it was lamb.
We have yet to go to the casino or see a show or do anything like that on the ship. In our dinner conversations, we've heard good things about the entertainment, but our wake-ups are early enough and our dinners are late enough that we just go back to the room after dinner.
When we opened the shades and went out onto the balcony, we were greeted with cool humid air and low clouds; perfect Alaska weather. There were 2 other ships that I could see (turns out there were 4 total in port today). We hustled down to the Avis “office” to find a line out the door. I'm not sure why, but the actual act of renting a car seems to take forever.
We didn't actually get in our car until after 9, and promptly set out on the only road out of town. It wasn't too long before we crested the White Pass and entered into Canada. At every pullout was a tour bus or tour van so we elected to just keep going and take our chances that the weather would be OK on our way back. Once over the pass, the weather took a turn for the better and it just got sunnier and sunnier. We did manage to see the WP&YR train across the valley as we headed north. It's interesting to note that the actual US/Canada border is at the top of the pass, but the border crossing stations are down the hill on each side of the pass.
When we got to Fraser, where the Canadian crossing is, the landscape changed dramatically to something otherworldly. There was lots of exposed rock with small scrub fir trees and small (and not so small) pools of water. The valley we were in was clearly formed by glaciers, so the rock must have been so hard and dense that it has taken quite some time for plants and trees to sprout. There was quite a bit of snow here still; enough so that some of the snow made for white “beaches” at the shores of some of the small pools. We kept driving past a small town called “Caribou Crossing” (Carcross for short) to a small lake called “Emerald Lake” that is unremarkable save for the beautiful color of the water.
Carcross is a very small town that seems notable really only for having a railroad bridge across a river and for having the world's smallest desert. The sand dunes looked completely out of place in this alpine environment, but they certainly were interesting. We did stop in Carcross for an excellent lunch at a small hamburger stand (Eddy's Checkpoint) and Angela got a pretty pair of earrings from Tanya Kennedy at "Motherlode Jewellery" (love how the Canadians spell "jewelry") next door who makes them by hand from locally mined or collected gemstones. Whatever ambiance the town might have had was destroyed by all of the bulldozers and graders and other heavy equipment working on a pretty massive road improvement project. Everyone we talked to in Carcross was sick and tired of them and couldn't wait until they left. I sure hope that the cruise lines aren't trying to turn Carcross into another completely artificial excursion destination like they've already done with Skagway.
Wanting to take advantage of the awesome weather, we asked around about hiking trails in the area. We were directed to one above Tutshi lake on the way back to Skagway. It didn't disappoint and after about 30mins we were treated to a great view of the lake from above. The trail actually followed the track of an old mine “lift” and there were still some remains of the towers and cables that would be used to get the buckets of rocks up and down the mountain.
Since we bypassed all the “cool” pullouts on the way up, we stopped at the big “Welcome to the Yukon” and “Welcome to Alaska” signs on the way back for some pics. There must be a bunch of Atlantans cruising Alaska this week, because we ran into another couple at the big Yukon sign who were from Atlanta.
Before returning the car, we drove up the Dyea road to get a cool view of Skagway from above. There's really nothing there. It's a shame that the cruise lines have perverted this could-be cute town into something completely artificial. There are a couple what appear to be authentic galleries amidst all of the fake jewelry shops and trinket stores but it's tough to separate the wheat from the chaff. We did manage to stumble upon a cemetery for a bunch of miners and other residents that died in a freak avalanche on Palm Sunday in 1898.
We got back on the boat with about 20 minutes to spare after searching out a few locally owned and operated shops.
We had dinner in the dining room again and I had another good meal of baked salmon with a nice tangy and sweet BBQ sauce over basmati rice. The meal tasted good except the fish was overcooked. Angela's was not memorable enough to remember, but she thinks it was lamb.
We have yet to go to the casino or see a show or do anything like that on the ship. In our dinner conversations, we've heard good things about the entertainment, but our wake-ups are early enough and our dinners are late enough that we just go back to the room after dinner.
Monday, June 13, 2011
My God, It's full of glaciers!
Supposedly Glacier Bay is the “Pièce de Resistance” of these Alaskan cruises and it didn't really disappoint. We had breakfast again in the buffet after another lazy morning. I am quite proud of myself for not going back for seconds; although that doesn't really matter because I'm pretty much filling up my plate/platter on my first pass. Apparently, the ships that are allowed into Glacier Bay (only 2 cruise ships per day) will pick up a couple of NPS Rangers who set up a little mobile ranger station on the boat to answer questions and provide commentary about the park and the glaciers and whatnot in it. They come aboard at the entrance to the bay via a small launch and climb up a rope ladder that's dropped down from the side of the ship. Very “Indiana Jones”-esque way of boarding a ship, if you ask me.
Anyway, after breakfast we donned our walking shoes and did 6 laps (just over 2 miles) around the Promenade Deck and then attended a brief lecture given by one of the park rangers prior to going out on deck to see the Margerie glacier; one of the tidewater glaciers in the park. We were able to get much, much closer today than yesterday, and the view was amazing. This glacier's face is a mile wide and about 200ft high above the water. We saw (and heard) a bunch of calving, but honestly, once you've stared at it for a couple minutes, there's not much else going on.
We had lunch not in the dining room, but on deck from the small pizzeria. Unfortunately, it was slices only and only what they have out. I couldn't see anywhere where you could get a “custom” pizza made to order. After hearing about how good Princess' pizza is, I was disappointed in it. I'm not a big fan of super-thin NY style pizza like the kind that you have to fold over and that's what this was. We should have gotten something from the burger grill instead.
After the ship turned away from Margerie, we went down to the “Patisserie” where we had another nice conversation with an older couple (mid-70's, I'm guessing) who have already been on 45 cruises! This was their 4th this year already! Their longest was a 67 day Indian Ocean round trip. The wife says she never knows where they're going next; she just packs up when her husband says to and they're off. I don't think my 401(k) will be in quite good enough shape by the time we retire to afford that. Can you get long term care insurance to cover cruises in lieu of assisted living facilities and nursing homes? Maybe I'm on to something here... Anyway, Princess does this cookie and milk cart around 3:30 every day on the plaza decks in the main common areas. Let me tell you that the cookies were superb. One thing I've noticed so far on board is that the baked items like breads and pastries are generally very good. 2 thumbs up for the bakery staff and pastry chefs.
We did another mile around the boat after our cookies and milk while we cruised back out of Glacier Bay. At least we're trying to stay active, right?
We had dinner in the dining room and were seated at a table for 10. It's nice when you can meet people from all over during dinner. Most everyone we've met on the boat have been eager to compare notes and talk about their experience thus far. Dinner for me was quite good. I had venison loin with a nice red wine-based glaze. Angela was “meh” about her surf and turf, but enjoyed her cold apple “soup” with Calvados.
Anyway, after breakfast we donned our walking shoes and did 6 laps (just over 2 miles) around the Promenade Deck and then attended a brief lecture given by one of the park rangers prior to going out on deck to see the Margerie glacier; one of the tidewater glaciers in the park. We were able to get much, much closer today than yesterday, and the view was amazing. This glacier's face is a mile wide and about 200ft high above the water. We saw (and heard) a bunch of calving, but honestly, once you've stared at it for a couple minutes, there's not much else going on.
We had lunch not in the dining room, but on deck from the small pizzeria. Unfortunately, it was slices only and only what they have out. I couldn't see anywhere where you could get a “custom” pizza made to order. After hearing about how good Princess' pizza is, I was disappointed in it. I'm not a big fan of super-thin NY style pizza like the kind that you have to fold over and that's what this was. We should have gotten something from the burger grill instead.
After the ship turned away from Margerie, we went down to the “Patisserie” where we had another nice conversation with an older couple (mid-70's, I'm guessing) who have already been on 45 cruises! This was their 4th this year already! Their longest was a 67 day Indian Ocean round trip. The wife says she never knows where they're going next; she just packs up when her husband says to and they're off. I don't think my 401(k) will be in quite good enough shape by the time we retire to afford that. Can you get long term care insurance to cover cruises in lieu of assisted living facilities and nursing homes? Maybe I'm on to something here... Anyway, Princess does this cookie and milk cart around 3:30 every day on the plaza decks in the main common areas. Let me tell you that the cookies were superb. One thing I've noticed so far on board is that the baked items like breads and pastries are generally very good. 2 thumbs up for the bakery staff and pastry chefs.
We did another mile around the boat after our cookies and milk while we cruised back out of Glacier Bay. At least we're trying to stay active, right?
We had dinner in the dining room and were seated at a table for 10. It's nice when you can meet people from all over during dinner. Most everyone we've met on the boat have been eager to compare notes and talk about their experience thus far. Dinner for me was quite good. I had venison loin with a nice red wine-based glaze. Angela was “meh” about her surf and turf, but enjoyed her cold apple “soup” with Calvados.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Hubbard Glacier
Today was a day of “scenic cruising” to the Hubbard Glacier so we didn't rush to wake up. We weren't scheduled to get there until almost 3pm, so we took our time getting ready. We had a good, if not great, breakfast of custom omelettes and pastries in the Horizon Court and spent some time exploring the ship since we didn't do that last night. The ship is very nice and it really doesn't feel like there are almost 2000 passengers on board. I do have to make a comment about the (lack of) size of the shower in our stateroom. Let's just say it was small for Angela, and I'm almost a foot taller and 150lbs heavier than she is. Otherwise, our stateroom is perfectly adequate. I'm so glad we got a balcony. Even though we didn't spend a great deal of time out there, I really appreciated the option of having it and the floor to ceiling windows really make the cabin seem much larger than it actually is.
During our little walkabout, we stumbled into a presentation given by the onboard naturalist Kathy Slamp. Turns out that she has lived in Alaska for most of her life and while she has no formal background in science or biology, she gives a pretty good talk. We heard about her family's pretty amazing journey to Alaska and her childhood years in Fairbanks and Juneau during the '50's and '60's. If I had one comment about her speaking style it's that she tends to be a little too hyperbolic when describing something like a glacier or whatever.
Anyway, we had an English “Pub Lunch” in one of the restaurants (Princess evidently does this on days with no port calls) and went up on deck for our “Scenic Cruising” at the Hubbard Glacier. This glacier is massive: it's 72 miles long; the face is 6 miles wide and over 400ft tall above the waterline and 200ft deep below the waterline. Contrary to popular global warming hysteria, it's actually advancing, and at quite a rapid rate at that. In fact, it regularly chokes off a neighboring fjord it grows so quickly.
Unfortunately, the approach to the glacier through “Disenchantment Bay” was so clogged with “brash ice,” “growlers” and small ice bergs that the ship's captain didn't feel safe to go any closer than about 6 miles. Too bad, because it would have been really cool to get close to it and hopefully get a shot of a large berg calving off. After spinning around so both sides of the boat could get a view, and after having the ship's photographers in small dinghies get silly pics of people waving at them from their balconies, we turned on the jets and headed for Glacier Bay National Park.
Since tonight was a formal night and since we made a conscious decision not to bring formal wear, Angela and I ate in one of the specialty restaurants on the ship, Sabbatini's. Good lord was there a lot of food. Instead of just picking one of each course, they basically brought one of everything and all we had to pick was our main entree. We both picked Chilean Sea Bass (which was delicious and perfectly cooked), but honestly by the time it came, it was hard to enjoy because we were both stuffed. We did have a nice conversation with a just-retired couple from Green Bay and didn't actually finish dinner until after 10pm.
During our little walkabout, we stumbled into a presentation given by the onboard naturalist Kathy Slamp. Turns out that she has lived in Alaska for most of her life and while she has no formal background in science or biology, she gives a pretty good talk. We heard about her family's pretty amazing journey to Alaska and her childhood years in Fairbanks and Juneau during the '50's and '60's. If I had one comment about her speaking style it's that she tends to be a little too hyperbolic when describing something like a glacier or whatever.
Anyway, we had an English “Pub Lunch” in one of the restaurants (Princess evidently does this on days with no port calls) and went up on deck for our “Scenic Cruising” at the Hubbard Glacier. This glacier is massive: it's 72 miles long; the face is 6 miles wide and over 400ft tall above the waterline and 200ft deep below the waterline. Contrary to popular global warming hysteria, it's actually advancing, and at quite a rapid rate at that. In fact, it regularly chokes off a neighboring fjord it grows so quickly.
Unfortunately, the approach to the glacier through “Disenchantment Bay” was so clogged with “brash ice,” “growlers” and small ice bergs that the ship's captain didn't feel safe to go any closer than about 6 miles. Too bad, because it would have been really cool to get close to it and hopefully get a shot of a large berg calving off. After spinning around so both sides of the boat could get a view, and after having the ship's photographers in small dinghies get silly pics of people waving at them from their balconies, we turned on the jets and headed for Glacier Bay National Park.
Since tonight was a formal night and since we made a conscious decision not to bring formal wear, Angela and I ate in one of the specialty restaurants on the ship, Sabbatini's. Good lord was there a lot of food. Instead of just picking one of each course, they basically brought one of everything and all we had to pick was our main entree. We both picked Chilean Sea Bass (which was delicious and perfectly cooked), but honestly by the time it came, it was hard to enjoy because we were both stuffed. We did have a nice conversation with a just-retired couple from Green Bay and didn't actually finish dinner until after 10pm.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
All Aboard!
Big day today. We caught the Alaskan Railroad (the Chugach Express) in Anchorage for the trip down to Whittier to meet the boat. It was a little unnerving, since we just dropped off our luggage at the train station onto a giant pile of suitcases with Princess luggage tags. If, for whatever reason, it hadn't made it down to Whittier, we would have been in big trouble. We sat on the top deck of a double decker train car opposite a nice couple from Dallas and chatted with them about our various travels all the way down. The weather in Anchorage was nice, but when we got down towards Girdwood, the weather soured and by the time we got to Whittier, it was positively gross; heavy mist and quite chilly. Lovely weather for our Prince William Sound glacier cruise that we had planned before we actually got on the cruise ship. Actually, by the time we floated away from the moorings, the weather had turned nice.
The Prince William Sound cruise was excellent. We were able to get quite close to 2 actively calving tidewater glaciers (Beloit and Blackstone) and saw several large “raft-ups” of sea otters. The scenery was stunning and just a small preview of what was to come in Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage. The sound of a glacier calving is like a shotgun when the ice actually breaks and the immediate area around the face of the glaciers was really, really cold with a very cold wind racing downhill along the glacier. It's hard to describe the “glacier blue” color, but it's just beautiful. It ranges from a very light sky blue to very dark midnight blue deep in the crevasses.
Back in Whittier, we had to basically rush to the cruise ship in order to make the final boarding call. Of course, minutes before we got there, a trainload of people was disgorged into the departure lobby. There was quite a bit of confusion with us because none of the cruise line personnel in the lobby was informing anyone about the process, so we had to get out of line to actually get our cruise cards and boarding passes. They were starting to actually close up the check-in counter, so there was some confusion there with people scrambling around to get our cards, do our passport checks, etc.
The main lobby of the ship was beautiful, but also chaotic since we had to run a gauntlet of photographers; people hawking free drink cards, coffee cards, soda cards; passengers doing stuff at the front desk; etc. Fortunately, our luggage made it from Anchorage and was waiting for us in our stateroom when we finally got there.
We had dinner in the buffet (Princess calls it the “Horizon Court”) and the gorging began. The “plates” were more like the size of serving platters and it was very easy to load them up with all sorts of mediocre items. This was a recurring theme throughout the cruise. The food overall was OK, kind of like good wedding food, but the food in the buffet was just a notch below because unless you get something from a fresh batch, it just sits under heat lamps. The food wasn't “simple” but you just never felt that the dishes were individually prepared.
The Prince William Sound cruise was excellent. We were able to get quite close to 2 actively calving tidewater glaciers (Beloit and Blackstone) and saw several large “raft-ups” of sea otters. The scenery was stunning and just a small preview of what was to come in Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage. The sound of a glacier calving is like a shotgun when the ice actually breaks and the immediate area around the face of the glaciers was really, really cold with a very cold wind racing downhill along the glacier. It's hard to describe the “glacier blue” color, but it's just beautiful. It ranges from a very light sky blue to very dark midnight blue deep in the crevasses.
Back in Whittier, we had to basically rush to the cruise ship in order to make the final boarding call. Of course, minutes before we got there, a trainload of people was disgorged into the departure lobby. There was quite a bit of confusion with us because none of the cruise line personnel in the lobby was informing anyone about the process, so we had to get out of line to actually get our cruise cards and boarding passes. They were starting to actually close up the check-in counter, so there was some confusion there with people scrambling around to get our cards, do our passport checks, etc.
The main lobby of the ship was beautiful, but also chaotic since we had to run a gauntlet of photographers; people hawking free drink cards, coffee cards, soda cards; passengers doing stuff at the front desk; etc. Fortunately, our luggage made it from Anchorage and was waiting for us in our stateroom when we finally got there.
We had dinner in the buffet (Princess calls it the “Horizon Court”) and the gorging began. The “plates” were more like the size of serving platters and it was very easy to load them up with all sorts of mediocre items. This was a recurring theme throughout the cruise. The food overall was OK, kind of like good wedding food, but the food in the buffet was just a notch below because unless you get something from a fresh batch, it just sits under heat lamps. The food wasn't “simple” but you just never felt that the dishes were individually prepared.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Should we get bear spray or a bear bell or just a .44 magnum?
Unfortunately, despite being exhausted, we could not get the room dark enough or cool enough or quiet enough last night and the midnight sun played havoc with our circadian rhythms, so we both slept like crap.
So today was our own version of a “land tour.” We rented a car with the intention of driving out to the Kenai Peninsula to do some hiking. Before heading out, however, we had to make a couple stops.
The first stop was to REI to pick up some bug “schmear” for the goliath Alaskan mosquitos and either bear spray or a bear bell since we would be hiking in “bear country” and since the salmon were starting to run increasing the likelihood of seeing one fishing. We wound up just getting a small bell that Angela could strap to her little daypack in the hopes that any bears we happened upon would be more interested in the just spawning salmon more than us instead of the spray .
Secondly, we stopped at Lake Hood by the airport to watch the floatplanes come and go. Apparently this particular floatplane “base” is the busiest in the world. There wasn't much activity, though, so we packed up after just a couple minutes. We saw a bald eagle gliding over the water on our way out, so that was cool. Our first official Alaskan wildlife sighting. W00t!
Our drive out to the Kenai took us down around the tip of the “Turnagain Arm” past Girdwood and towards the small fishing town of Cooper Landing. After trying to find a lunch place recommended by the hotel desk clerk (it was closed down and had been for some time), we settled on a BBQ place. I had brisket and Angela had ribs and they were very tasty. Good fuel to prepare us for our hike to Russian River Falls.
The hike was amazing. The weather was bordering on perfect and the trail was very well maintained. It was about 2.5 miles to the falls and they didn't disappoint. No bears, though, but we did see a king salmon trying to head up the falls the hard way, eschewing the fish ladder that had been built. He wasn't really doing that well and flopped around on a rock before being swept downstream. We pressed on down a small trail to where the fly fishermen congregate during salmon season and were able to see some fish working their way upstream. Still no bears. I am beginning to think that Alaska doesn't actually have any bears.
After our hike out to the car (which seemed much longer than the hike in, by the way), we headed back towards Anchorage and decided to have dinner in a small ski town called Girdwood. The scene driving back towards Anchorage was like the closing scene from “Field of Dreams,” with all the cars streaming out to the Kenai for the start of Sockeye season tomorrow. A friend of mine who lives in Anchorage recommended this place there called the “Double Musky.” On our way, though, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center since we had a voucher for it and since I knew that there would be bears there. I'm glad we stopped because we got a good laugh at a bear trying like mad to get at something that was buried deep inside a tree stump. He was trying sticking his head down there, each arm, back to his head, etc.
Unfortunately, the Double Musky was already packed with people by the time we got there, so we ate at a different place in Girdwood called Maxine's Bistro. I'm glad we found it, because our dinners were superb. Angela had broiled red salmon on a sweet potato croquette with a smoked salmon sauce and I had halibut on scalloped potatoes with a blood orange beurre blanc.
So today was our own version of a “land tour.” We rented a car with the intention of driving out to the Kenai Peninsula to do some hiking. Before heading out, however, we had to make a couple stops.
The first stop was to REI to pick up some bug “schmear” for the goliath Alaskan mosquitos and either bear spray or a bear bell since we would be hiking in “bear country” and since the salmon were starting to run increasing the likelihood of seeing one fishing. We wound up just getting a small bell that Angela could strap to her little daypack in the hopes that any bears we happened upon would be more interested in the just spawning salmon more than us instead of the spray .
Secondly, we stopped at Lake Hood by the airport to watch the floatplanes come and go. Apparently this particular floatplane “base” is the busiest in the world. There wasn't much activity, though, so we packed up after just a couple minutes. We saw a bald eagle gliding over the water on our way out, so that was cool. Our first official Alaskan wildlife sighting. W00t!
Our drive out to the Kenai took us down around the tip of the “Turnagain Arm” past Girdwood and towards the small fishing town of Cooper Landing. After trying to find a lunch place recommended by the hotel desk clerk (it was closed down and had been for some time), we settled on a BBQ place. I had brisket and Angela had ribs and they were very tasty. Good fuel to prepare us for our hike to Russian River Falls.
The hike was amazing. The weather was bordering on perfect and the trail was very well maintained. It was about 2.5 miles to the falls and they didn't disappoint. No bears, though, but we did see a king salmon trying to head up the falls the hard way, eschewing the fish ladder that had been built. He wasn't really doing that well and flopped around on a rock before being swept downstream. We pressed on down a small trail to where the fly fishermen congregate during salmon season and were able to see some fish working their way upstream. Still no bears. I am beginning to think that Alaska doesn't actually have any bears.
After our hike out to the car (which seemed much longer than the hike in, by the way), we headed back towards Anchorage and decided to have dinner in a small ski town called Girdwood. The scene driving back towards Anchorage was like the closing scene from “Field of Dreams,” with all the cars streaming out to the Kenai for the start of Sockeye season tomorrow. A friend of mine who lives in Anchorage recommended this place there called the “Double Musky.” On our way, though, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center since we had a voucher for it and since I knew that there would be bears there. I'm glad we stopped because we got a good laugh at a bear trying like mad to get at something that was buried deep inside a tree stump. He was trying sticking his head down there, each arm, back to his head, etc.
Unfortunately, the Double Musky was already packed with people by the time we got there, so we ate at a different place in Girdwood called Maxine's Bistro. I'm glad we found it, because our dinners were superb. Angela had broiled red salmon on a sweet potato croquette with a smoked salmon sauce and I had halibut on scalloped potatoes with a blood orange beurre blanc.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Land of the Midnight Sun
Our flight to Anchorage, Alaska took a fairly circuitous route; first to Philadelphia then to Anchorage by flying over Buffalo, NY and over northern Canada before going down to Anchorage. I found it quite amazing that getting a direct flight to Anchorage from Atlanta was fairly difficult. Even with Atlanta being Delta's largest hub, there wasn't anything. We had to settle for a one-stopper, but not any one-stopper would do since were we to miss our connecting flight, we'd be stuck until the next day. There aren't very many airlines that make more than one flight a day to Anchorage. Anyway, Angela and I were seated across from each other on the aisle (we prefer it that way so that one of us, meaning Angela, doesn't get stuck in the middle seat) .
The flight to ANC was a little late leaving, but we would up getting in more or less on time. Coincidentally, there was a couple sitting next to me that lives just a few neighborhoods away from us in Alpharetta. They were obviously going for a cruise (Celebrity out of Seward) and we talked about our different plans and whatnot basically the whole way. Angela sat next to a woman who was going commercial salmon fishing for 5 weeks. Quite the interesting summer vocation, I must say. 5 weeks on a 30-ish foot fishing boat working non stop catching sockeye and king salmon that are schooling up at the mouths of the rivers getting ready to head upstream to spawn. She said she can make upwards of $15,000 for those 5 weeks of work; not bad. Of course, you have to put up with “showering” with baby wipes and eating salmon 3 meals a day for 5 weeks. Now, I like salmon as much as the next guy, but I would probably be sick of it by the end of the season.
We got to our hotel by around 9:30pm local time (1:30am “body clock” time) and just had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was surprisingly good. Angela had a salmon salad melt on grilled sourdough bread and I had a sampler of “sliders” with halibut, reindeer sausage, and hamburger.
The flight to ANC was a little late leaving, but we would up getting in more or less on time. Coincidentally, there was a couple sitting next to me that lives just a few neighborhoods away from us in Alpharetta. They were obviously going for a cruise (Celebrity out of Seward) and we talked about our different plans and whatnot basically the whole way. Angela sat next to a woman who was going commercial salmon fishing for 5 weeks. Quite the interesting summer vocation, I must say. 5 weeks on a 30-ish foot fishing boat working non stop catching sockeye and king salmon that are schooling up at the mouths of the rivers getting ready to head upstream to spawn. She said she can make upwards of $15,000 for those 5 weeks of work; not bad. Of course, you have to put up with “showering” with baby wipes and eating salmon 3 meals a day for 5 weeks. Now, I like salmon as much as the next guy, but I would probably be sick of it by the end of the season.
We got to our hotel by around 9:30pm local time (1:30am “body clock” time) and just had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was surprisingly good. Angela had a salmon salad melt on grilled sourdough bread and I had a sampler of “sliders” with halibut, reindeer sausage, and hamburger.
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