Juneau

Usually when you think of a capital city you think of congestion, traffic, and suits walking around. This is so not true for Alaska's capital, Juneau. It's more like a frontier town than a major city. I have been to Juneau several times before and have explored it a little more in depth- there are some great sights like Mendenhall Glacier which are must sees for first timers, but we kept it really low key. I have a friend who lives in Juneau who stopped down to greet us, it was a great start to the day. We then headed down the street (everything in town is walking distance from the dock)  and enjoyed coffee, shopping, and people gazing. Lunch with Alaskan summer ale, and a hysterically funny character at the Red Dog Saloon finished our day pretty much. The Red Dog is funny by the way, it has a good inch or two of sawdust on the floor!

Every other shop in Juneau is a gold or jewelry shop.

 At the Red Dog Saloon

A tram runs from downtown by the cruise port to the top of a mountain some 2 miles away, a lot of people will ride it up and then hike it back down. We just drank Alaskan Amber and watched. 

Skagway

(Note, I had this written the day after we left Skagway but the satellite internet on the ship that far north was very slow and spotty and I gave up on attempting photo uploads. Catching up now... slowly again, but better than on the ship!)

I’ve never been to Skagway before, but I knew to expect a typical southeast Alaskan sea town with a colorful history. The town itself was cute, but to be honest the real draw here was the drive. We opted to rent jeeps through a private supplier my agency uses, and take the gorgeous ride from Skagway to Emerald Lake, in Yukon territory. This drive follows the historic Klondike highway, and brings you almost 4000 feet high near the summit of White Pass Summit, then through the cute little town of Carcross (previously “Caribou Crossing”), and on to the majestic green glacial waters of Emerald Lake. It’s about a 75 mile drive one way, but this was a long port call so we had no problems timing that in and then adding on time to sightsee around town and catch a late lunch at the Skagway Brewery. During our journey we encountered thick as molasses fog for several miles along a high mountain pass, that got a little scary. Otherwise it was all fun, we even had several bear sightings! We took a small detour and visited the gold rush cemetery where infamous villain Soapy Smith is buried (we never found his grave and gave up looking) We also stopped for a nice little trail hike to a beautiful waterfall. It was a VERY full day and really, considering the cost of Skagway excursions we didn’t spend much at all. I’d recommend renting and driving your own vehicle to anyone!

Our rides, they came with coolers filled with bottled water, snacks, and CD radios. They were nothing special and had seen better days- but they did the job and got us to and from the Yukon safely.

First stop was at the Gold Rush ceremony, where Soapy Smith is buried, we couldn't find him. Here is some other cool looking grave. We also took a small hike here to a nearby water fall.

Our drive into the mountains was honestly pretty scary, the fog was THICK.

Once we get through the fog, it's beautiful! A short stop in Carcross for the yummiest pastry and coffee, then onward we went to the Yukon and Emerald Lake.

 The ride back was MUCH nicer, as the fog lifted. 

I just thought this was cool, we saw a few of these liscence plates from way the heck up there.

Then back to town and the harbor area where we moored. Something I thought was cool, was this rock wall at the port- any company that moors there has their mark made.

  The train pulls right up to where the ship docks so if you want  train tour its super convenient.

Skagway to Yukon? A hit!

North to Alaska, but not quite yet Part 2

With 620,778 residents, and thousands of visitors at any given time, Seattle is a large, vibrant city with something for everyone.  Our time in town was relatively short, and the focus was on visiting with old friends and preparing to get underway. Still, no trip to this city is complete without a stop at Pike Place market. Here the famous fish mongers toss the freshest catch imaginable over customers heads, stalls of fresh flowers spill perfume into the air, antique shops, ethnic food stores, artisan craft stands, tacky Seattle souvenir shops and funky tobacco stores share wall space with bakeries, meat markets, candle shops, and jelly stands. There are always street performers playing and singing for change, which just adds to the eclectic fun atmosphere.  Every repeat visitor has his or her favorites- mine are the jelly stand, the hot fresh donut stand, and the fragrant incense store. We spent a few hours browsing and eating our way through the market- pretty typical for our visits here.

After leaving the market we walked down the many sets of stairs and hills to the waterfront area. One thing I always get a kick out of here, is the main road you have to cross to get to the piers themselves is “Alaskan Way”. It’s a great reminder of this city’s ties economically and historically to the great state far north of it. On this visit, we had the chance to take our first ever ride on the great wheel on the pier. At $13 for adults, $11 for seniors, and $8 for children it’s a little steep priced but trust me when I say the ride is also really steep and it’s worth every penny. The views were amazing! Clear views  over to the space needle on one side- across the sweeping city, the the majestic Mt Rainer on the horizon. I am not one who loves heights, so I was a little nervous. Okay, a LOT nervous! But really, the cars are enclosed and I was able to convince myself I wasn’t going to go pummeling down to my death and I sat back and enjoyed the views. The cars do sway a little but it’s very mild and wasn’t enough to make me feel concerned. You get one trip around as they load the entire wheel, and then 3 additional rotations. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but it really was enough!

As far as food goes, Seattle is a mecca of good eats. You can find dishes of every ethnicity imaginable. So what does a girl from PA do when faced with all those wonderful choices? She goes for familiar comfort foods of course. Sort of. We stumbled upon the Icon Grill on 5^th street, near our hotel (the Warwick Hotel) and out of sheer hanger desperation and the fact there was a wine bottle visible through the window. The restaurant is decorated with dark woods, blown glass, and fun kitchy décor. The staff was extremely friendly and whisked us off to a table, where our server cheerfully explained this restaurant liked to call its food “upscale comfort food”, and better yet- he actually volunteered his favorites which helped us narrow down dishes.  I have not had red eat in quite some time, so it was a bit of a surprise but I was immediately hooked by his description of the meat loaf- a dish made famous on the Food Network. The meat was wrapped in bacon, and cooked in a black molasses sauce and served with cilantro-corn mashed potatoes. Sold! My husband and children had various versions of macaroni and cheese. I managed to make my great meal even better, with a wine flight of some great reds. All in all, we would eat at Icon again- in fact, we did! Breakfast the next day. Food was not quite as good as dinner but the $5 Bloody Marys and Mimosas were fabulous.

Our other notable eats were at the Crab Pot, which is pretty much always good, plentiful and messy and a late night snack and drink stop at Fado Irish Pub where I enjoyed a really unique drink, the Jameson and Ginger drink, which was a tall glass filled with a mix of Jamesons and an alcoholic ginger beer, It had bite and a bit of a punch and I liked it!

Our night culminated in a celebrity sighting back at the Warwick. One last nightcap in the hotel lounge led to a chance encounter with Elizabeth Pena (of Batteries Not included, La Bamba, and The Incredibles among other features) I should probably go revise my post about The Warwick as any time one has a celerity run in it immediately raises a hotel’s legitimacy right?

And at last, we are done in Seattle. So done we’re currently on the ship at the dock and are awaiting sail away. Bon Voyage!

T minus 1 day and counting, Travelers Rev Your Suitcases

I'm really excited to share our upcoming Alaskan cruise with you all. I think in recent years, not without some legitimate reason, cruising has earned a bit of a bad name. Cruising Carnival in particular is in some circles considered as brave and dangerous a choice to make as say- taking up sky scraper repelling. This will be my 6th Carnival cruise (I have also cruised NCL and Royal Caribbean, both were enjoyable experiences.) so I have an idea of the ups and downs ahead of us. My hope is to present a really BIG picture of the family cruise, for those who have not previously cruised or perhaps have been shy to try the Carnival brand.

Is a cruise really an "affordable" family vacation? What exactly does your basic fare cover? What out of pocket expenses can you expect? Are there hidden fees?  How big are those cabins really- square footage only gives part of the picture after all! Can you squeeze 4 people in 1 cabin? Will my kids be bored? Will there be a lot of annoying drunk people around? What kind of food can I expect? What can I do on board other than eat and drink? How enjoyable can a port call really be if it's only for 7 hours? What's the REAL "tacky factor" on a budget cruise line?

I'm going to explore all of that and more; I will be inundating you daily with blog posts describing everything from the mundane to the insane-  cruise style. There will also be pictures, lots and lots of pictures! This will be a good time to subscribe to this blog or add it to your blog roller, so you don't miss any of it.