OUT OF ORDER

Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle

I am not sure where Bob is with regards to the Alaska pictures, but I can tell you that he took literally hundreds of shots. When they are ready for me to post ( a small selection), I will do so. In the meantime, let me regale you with tales of the trip.

Direct flight from Boston to LAX. This flight always gives me pause as I can't help but think of 9/11. But the flight was fine, had an expensive cheeseburger at Ruby's in the airport and after a couple hour layover we went on to Seattle. I didn't have a window seat for this leg of the journey so I didn't get to see much of the topography. Arrived in Seattle and took a shuttle to our downtown hotel near Pier 66. My son and his girlfriend met us and took us to Chinooks, a casual seafood restaurant at the fishing terminal. Super menu, but I was too excited to see Brett to concentrate on the menu. I had Halibut and Chips and a dessert called Burnt Cream aka Creme Brulee.

Spent some time Saturday morning roaming about Seattle and then got Bob's favorite clam chowder for lunch. Off to Alaska on Saturday afternoon. The Norwegian Star is certainly much larger and posher than the Norwegian Majesty which we have taken to Bermuda. Very nice, but who designs the decor for these ships? Nothing seems to flow in the lounges or restaurants and they are just gaudy, but I guess some simple decor on a cruise ship would too ordinary.

The scenery was beautiful, the weather...not so much. It was too cold to spend time on the deck so mostly I sat in a lounge and read countless books while occasionally glancing about for whales, eagles etc. I was not too successful in the wildlife department. Back to the weather....mid 50s and drizzly. I sure am glad I sprung for the wind/rain breaker and the fleece vest.

Monday was Ketchikan and there is not much happenin' there. We were docked for 5 hours, but we had walked the whole town and had lunch in 3 hours and it started to pour and we got pretty wet getting back to the ship. Tuesday was Juneau and I took Jerusalem's advice and went to Heritage coffee for a Mocha and went in a shop she recommended and bought a small print and some cards. We also took a bus to see the Mendenhall Glacier which is pretty darn impressive. That afternoon we sailed up the Tracy Arm Fiord and got as close as we could to the Sawyer Glacier, but there was too much ice floe for us to get very near.

Wednesday was Skagway all day and again it was cold and very windy ( little rain though) and again we walked the entire town and were done very quickly. As beautiful as nature is in Alaska, the towns survive on cruise ship traffic and cater to the souvenir crowd. Housepeeping isn't much fun there and I didn't take any pictures because it seemed mean. The bus driver that took us to the glacier explained how there are few roads and there is no way for people to get rid of stuff, so dead cars and all kinds of "junk" just live in the yards.

I am going to leave you with a few pictures I took of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. This is where we stayed on the night we got back from the cruise ( and for a week last fall). Hopefully Bob has pictures of the Gaslight Inn, our resting spot for the night. For now be happy I am back and that I have a few pix for you, OK?




It is $1,250,000. Wish I could have stayed for the Open House> I could hear the vacuum running inside. Good seller!!

And next time I will tell you about my lunch with a soon to be famous Blogger.

Later,