ALASKA! -- Day 8 - At Sea and Victoria BC -

 

We were at sea most of the day...

We had breakfast delivered to our room.... 

a little late, but still nice to relax with our view...

Spent some time at the spa [warm pool] and heated loungers one last time -

it felt GOOD to my knee after a day out on the town, lol...

Enjoyed a little art time - 

Then we packed up our bags and got ready [almost] to disembark... 

That afternoon we enjoyed playing train bingo with everyone up in the crow's nest.. 

 

Late afternoon we docked and got off the ship to see Victoria, BC in the rain... 

We took the shuttle into town and walked around for a bit.. 

 

The world-famous Fairmont Empress Hotel is huge and really pretty!

We walked through town a bit and got ice cream, then headed back to the shuttle stop... The drivers were nice enough to drive us around town a bit and there's some magnificent houses in town!

 

The Canadian Parliament Building was so pretty and bright in the rainy night!

When we got back to the ship we were soaking wet! 

But count ourselves lucky that this was the only truly bad weather we'd had all week!

 

We completed our packing and put our suitcases out in the hallway so they'd be ready for the morrow. I don't think we over-purchased, but was happy Craig brought along our luggage scales .

This was a wonderful [WONDERFUL] trip!!

But we were looking forward to being off the ship and on to our next adventure -

North Cascades National Park - in Northern Washington.

[I'll share about that soon!]

ALASKA! -- Day 7 - Ketchikan -

Ketchikan

 

We were off the ship early because we wanted 

to look through some of the tourist shops before our trolley tour -

The trolley tour was interesting, but FAST - 

 Our guide would point out things

but didn't slow down long enough for us to see them - lol -

One thing he shared was that often stairs were considered roads...

You have to park at the bottom of your 'road' and walk up to your house...

The trolley windows were low so that made it harder to see also -

 Still it was good to see some neighborhoods, etc

  

We had a wonderful time at the Saxman Native Village and Totem Garden -

Lots of Totems on the grounds and a wonderful gift shop of locally made crafts.

 

Our tour took us on a walk outside the work shop where they carved totems.

We were told that the ones we'd seen on the dock in Juneau were carved right here!

The highlight, of course was our chance meeting of renowned carver, Nathan Jackson**. SO COOL TO MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND THESE INCREDIBLE WORKS!! We'd slipped away from our tour for a restroom break as we came out he was walking by and said good morning to us - As we answered, he asked where we were from - 

Do you think it was our accents?

 

Turns out his daughter-in-law is from our town [whaa??!!]

And he invited us into his workshop and showed us designs and plans and process, etc. Y'all know I loved it.  We have cedar shavings from his carvings as a souvenir!

 

After we returned to town we met friends at for lunch at The Fish House with a sampling of fish: salmon, cod, halibut and some delicious salmon chowder!!

 

Then we had time to walk along Creek Street and 

take advantage of that photo op you see everywhere

 

We did a little more shopping in town with some unique finds -

and I got that Alaska two-up photo album [and $15 cheaper than in Sitka -]!

 

Back on ship we sat on our balcony and watched float planes before we set sail...

The weather was PERFECT these last couple of days... just cool enough for a jacket.

We got a good nap and enjoyed dinner in the dining room...

Then played train dominoes with friends for a while... 

We've had a wonderful week with this crew!

**From the internets: Among the most famous living Tlingit artists, Nathan Jackson was honored when the National Museum of the American Indian opened in Washington, D.C., in September 2004, featuring one of his totem poles. Jackson has been working in Alaska Native arts since 1959. He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he specialized in fabric design, silkscreen, and graphics. Since 1967, he has been a freelance artist doing traditional-style woodcarving, jewelry and design.

Jackson has completed numerous totem poles, screens, panels, and restoration projects. He has instructed woodcarving and design at several institutions, including the Alaska State Museum, Sheldon Jackson College, the Totem Heritage Center and the University of Alaska. In 1995 was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award. In 2009, the Rasmuson Foundation recognized his contributions to Alaska by naming him its Distinguished Artist of the Year. Jackson's artwork is on display in every major museum – as well as many public and private buildings – in the state of Alaska. His work can also be found in museums and private collections throughout North America, Europe and Japan.

 

ALASKA! -- Day 6 - Sitka -

Another busy day!

But y'all know we want to see it all!

This post is VERY photo heavy - so buckle up -

After taking a bus [our bus driver was a young man from Mobile!!] 

into town, we walked around downtown and

  

and enjoyed the historical Russian cathedral, 

I think we've lost all sense of time because we were 

off the bus and going before most of the shops opened up - ha.

 

We shopped a bit at a Russian store... and some standard tourist shops,

[I bought a sweatshirt]

 and one tourist/general store/fabric store combo - fun!

A one-stop shop for everyone!] 

 

We walked past the marina and have to say

the views were gorgeous in every direction!!

 

Went over to The Russian Bishop's House and

waited on a tour - it was really pretty cool to learn about!

AND - I touched a sea otter -- dead, but still amazingly soft ! 

[a pelt]]

 

 We saw several other beautiful churches along the main road 

as we walked out to the Totem Village ...

 

and soooo many pretty public parks for everyone to enjoy!

[We talked about how we could easily stay a few days in Sitka!]

 

The National Historic Park - Totem Trail - was very cool...

A nicely groomed walkway with different totems all along the way; 

 

 the Totem Trail is a mile-long path through Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees that showcases 18 Tlingit and Haida totems. 

 

Totem poles were built by about 30 Native American tribes 

living along the Northwest Pacific coast of North America. 

These wooden towers, carved with images of animals and symbols, 

were monuments expressing a family's status within a tribe.

We had sandwiches and clam chowder at Ludwig's 

as we walked back to town  [delish] -

 

and it's always nice to see friends / family along the way!

We met up with some other friends 

and did a quick stop into Hary's Soda Shop -

[I got the huckleberry milkshake - yum]

 

Our private tour guide met us there and took us to some photo ops - 

Including where the site where the sale of Alaska [from Russia] took place

 

We enjoyed seeing Silver Bay, with no tourists!

so pretty!

 

And also going out to the bear sanctuary, 

[do you think they're trained?  -- ha]

 

We saw both grizzly and black bears 

[and eagles - of course!!] 

The she took us off-roading to see some waterfalls and an avalanche trail

 [covered in snow! DIRTY snow - but still - it's JUNE y'all.]

 

We had a beautiful view of the volcano 

[Mt. Edgecomb] throughout the day...

And she also drove us around neighborhoods, past schools,  

and to a grocery store where the guys could go in a compare prices.

[We love seeing how REAL people live when we travel!]

 

We all returned to the ship we enjoyed dinner with our group at the specialty Asian restaurant and it was delicious  - cooked to order - so not too hot for me!

[Also, we saw a pod of whales out the window as we were eating  -]

 

The ship was pretty rocky by the time we finished up, so I retired to the room to do some art and relax before our next early morning...

 

#HardwickAdventures

ALASKA! -- Day 5 - Glacier Bay and Icy Strait Point

Glacier Bay and Icy Strait Point

We woke up in Glacier Bay National Park, with fog so thick we couldn't see the water outside our window - 

Had breakfast at The Lido Mkt [the last couple of days - we've had it brought to our room.] It was good, and nice to see the fog lifting as we ate...

And, WOW!!! Another day of exceptional views! 

ALL AROUND US!!

 

And another National Park checked off too! 

[super zoom -]

 

We even had a Park Ranger on board so we could learn 'all the things' 

[Seriously nice to have a guide telling us all bout each glacier!] 

 

and we could get a stamp too! 

My little book has a few now -

 

We went up to the bow to view the Marjorie Glacier when they were serving traditional pea soup - hmmm... I didn't give that one a try - ha -

Then we headed back to our balcony once the ship turned... 

We saw the Marjorie Glacier -

and also the John Hopkins and Lamplugh Glaciers - amazing! 

 

Then we decided to head to the spa - 

Pro Tip - you can pay a bit extra for the use of the warm spa and heated loungers - 

A little extra splurge, if you will -

We thought we were getting an indoor hot tub - but there were no benches and very little spray for aching muscles ... but it was really just a warm inside pool...

 

Our 'package' also included use of the heated loungers -

They varied in temperature from 48* to 70* and were set / unchangeable so you couldn't change them - I liked the lower temperature...

And we'll admit we enjoyed the area A LOT. 

A few minutes on the heat was very nice...

 

Some days I'd just sit there and read a book while I dried in the heat... 

Other days it felt luxurious to sit there and watch the glaciers outside our window...

We think it would be totally worth it if we didn't have a window / balcony in our room... but we probably wouldn't pay extra for it again -

 

We had burgers and fries** -- SO GOOD -- at the Dive In...

Finished off with fruit smoothies - 

something I'd JUST discovered was on our drink plan - so deliciuos!!

 

And I saw my first otter!!!! 

I kept thinking I was seeing SO MANY logs floating along the water - but then they would separate and swim!! SO FUN!!

 

Our afternoon was spent in and out of our balcony [it was COLD y'all] 

But I loved watching for otters!

 

They were too quick to get any great photos - 

but it was wonderful to see them! ADORABLE>

and there were lots of seal too!

Then we  dressed for our evening meal at the specialty steak house - 

It was fancy - AND DELICIOUS. 

 

We were docking in Icy Strait Point as we finished so we grabbed our coats and headed off the ship - this is a small area with very few things to do [although we found out later that some in our group had an AMAZING whale excursion here -]

 

We walked by some private houses and this gorgeous cemetery, 

then rode the tram over to a little store -

 

Then walked along the shore back to our dock...

It was comfortable day to be outside...

 

I have to say I was surprised to see starfish in the water! 

If you look closely you'll see A LOT of them - all shapes and sizes!

 

And some were enjoying resting out of the water too!

Loved the different colors!

 

So that was an unexpected surprise for us -

and a nice way to end our stay at this stop...

 

 

** easily one of the best meals on ship...

#hardwickadventures