Cruise to Alaska 2023…
Our next destination was Skagway, Alaska. Tommy rented a car and we all went up to Canada to visit Carcross and Whitehorse. I tried poutine. You have to have poutine in Canada. It was good. We did make it back to the ship in time. We were the last one’s to board. Oh, we tried Tim Horton’s as well. The next day, Karissa’s birthday, was on the ship while we saw the glaciers. The glaciers were nice. We took lots of pictures. It was also another formal night. And we celebrated Karissa’s birthday. They gave her a special dessert and sang Happy Birthday to her. She was very amused.
Next stop was Ketchikan. This town is so cute! We walked around and shopped. We bought some souveniers and then made our way to Creek Street. Creek street is Ketchikan’s historic district. The street is actually a boardwalk mounted in stilts on a high slope by a creek. I stopped by a group who was being given a tour and eavesdropped on the history a bit. Ketchikan wanted to separate the red light district to the east side of the creek. So all the bars and brothels were built on Creek Street. The brothels operated until 1954. Dolly’s house, which was the biggest brothel there is now a museum. There is a trail above the Creek called Married Man’s Way which served as a route for patrons to escape to. We were only there for a short time since boarding time back onto the ship was at 12:30.
The next day was spent on the ship during the day. We had tea, where they served pastries and tea. It wasn’t anything like going to tea at St. James TeaRoom, but I still liked it. Of couse, since I just had lunch, I wasn’t hungry enough to enjoy a lot of pastries. Dinner was early, at 5, that night since we were stopping in Victoria, Bristish Columbia, Canada at 7p. Victoria is so pretty. I love the architecture. Too bad we were only given such a short amount of time there, it would have been great to see Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.
After disembarking the ship we made our way to our hotel in Seattle. Saturday we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and walked around. I liked taking the ferry, it was an interesting way of getting around to a different area. Bainbridge Island was cute. We walked down to the marina and took pictures. Sunday we got up early to walk around Pike’s Place Market. We had breakfast there at the Crumpet shop. And then stopped by this restaurant where they specialize in cheese and even make their own. Pike’s Place Market opened in 1907 and the oldest public farmers’ market in the U.S. I just realized that I did not get any postcards of Seattle. Next time. That afternoon we went to the Seattle Mariners ballgame. They won! It’s a nice stadium. We later had dinner at the hotel. The food was a bit pricey.
Lastly, Memorial Day, we began our journey back home. The Seattle airport is big but not too confusing to get around. We had a nonstop flight home. Sadly, when I got to our airport and had internet again, I found out a friend of mine had passed away that morning.
There were some ups and downs on our trip and a lot of lessons on what to do next time we travel on a cruise or go through an airport. But I thorougly enjoyed myself.
I thought a lot of my dad today. He passed away 18 years ago today. He would have enjoyed all the pictures we have taken on our cruise.
