Alaska Recap
Adventure to Alaska- The East meets West Square and Round Dance Cruise with Scot and Erin Byars, from Sacramento, California. August 3rd through August 10th 2014 on the NCL’s cruise ship The Pearl.
Many of our New England friends joined us, some we met at Logan airport, Boston at 5 AM
to fly to Seattle, Washington.
We stayed at the comfortable Doubletree-Hilton suites (Southside) we had a delicious buffet “meet and greet” for 32 out of 55 cruisers the rest we met on board the first night at one of our planned dinners.
Our Seattle sightseeing included Dale Chihuly’s mind boggling glass sculpture museum, the Space Needle at sunset, bustling Pike’s Place Market which included the “flying fish” and the world famous gum wall.
After being deposited dockside by Matt of the super ‘Seattle Express Shuttle‘ we embarked onto the Pearl and enjoyed a refreshing drink while watching “The Blue Angels” precision flying team.
Juneau: Gold-Panning in the beautiful mountains North of Juneau was a breath of fresh air and provided a calming interval. Also in Juneau, the Mendenhal Glacier and the Juneau ice field were thrilling to look at. After our return dockside, we square danced on the dock with Don and Scot. A fun and full day.
Skagway: the White Pass Railway runs a narrow gauge track train following the Klondike Trail 3000 feet elevation to the Canadian border. Terrifying trestle bridges over deep gorges and gullies high above the water and land. The Klondiker’s had to trek 2000 pounds of provisions with them for the Mounties to allow them to continue onwards to Dawson City and beyond. The pack horses were thrown over the side of Dead Horse Gully no longer of service to the single minded gold seekers.
Glacier Bay: Brilliant blue walls of ice in swirling aquamarine turquoise waters. We viewed glimpses of whale water spouts and tails. The hot tub beckoned for relaxation in the sunshine, ah bliss.
Ketchikan: Known for its ‘liquid sunshine’, thrilling lumberjack competitions and the totem poles at Bight State Park. These natural structures have secrets locked within them, which the symbols on the outside decipher into stories. For instance, an upside down man meant a violent death had taken place. Creek street where the coho ( purple bodies with green heads) salmon were spawning. Steep wooden steps with their own street sign, each step needing to be shoveled every snowstorm as these walkways are used daily by the townspeople as they transcend one street level to the next. Ubiquitous tourist gift shops, as in every Alaskan town where the cruise ships dock.
Victoria, capital of British Columbia, Canada: Sunshine, bright blue skies, hanging baskets full of brilliant colored flowers. Many shore excursions to choose from. A horse drawn wagon set the pace for a few of us as we toured historic Jamestown, trotted past The Hall of Assembly (the parliament) through the sparkling clean streets and the open park areas returning through immigration back to the Pearl.
Return to Seattle: Packed bags out by midnight, one quick toddy at closing time in the piano bar before turning in for our last night in our beautiful balcony cabin.
Red-Eye Flyers: Many of us were returning to the East Coast and all the planes left at 11pm , At 10am Seattle Express picked us up from the NCL pier and transported us to the fascinating Museum of Aviation and Flight for the morning. Keeping our bags safe and sound. After lunch we returned uptown to Pioneer Square and then proceeded to the start of 'The Underground Tour'. Led by an Elvis look alike with a great sense of humor, the tour of the original city of Seattle ( circa late 1800's ) was an interesting experience. Visiting Seattle two stories below the pavement gave us a really different perspective.We looked up through the pastel skylights trying to visualize life at the turn of the century. Again the Seattle Express picked us up and dropped us and our luggage at our respective airlines ready for the L-O-N-G flight home.
ALASKA means many different things to its visitor's. For us it was a trip of a lifetime to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, we certainly made our "dreams a reality".
Go to www.BachelderSquareDances.com to enjoy a slide show of the aforementioned sights.
Click on the Sample Calls category. Once the slide show begins scroll down and click on
the first video of Don & Scot calling to Mountain Music, while you enjoy the slideshow!
Posted: to General News on Tue, Sep 23, 2014
Updated: Mon, Oct 6, 2014