SKAGWAY and PRINCE RUPERT

The most photographed building in all of Alaska..or so they say

Here we are in Skagway, Alaska. As Bob says, "you be the skag, I'll be the cool guy"! What a card that guy is, huh? I just read somewhere that when Sarah Palin moved to Alaska as an infant the family settled in Skagway. Let me just say that I am very glad my parents made different choices! This was probably the poorest of the towns we visited. The town is very flat with huge mountains all around and as you can see in the photos the weather was...bleak. Are you surprised. It was colder here, only in the upper 40s and before we left the wind was gusting at a pretty good clip ( as we Vermonters say). We walked around as much of the town as we could and despite a small airport with a couple of nicer houses fronting it, the town was pretty much as bleak as the weather. So come along and take the tour.

close up of the building

Let me note that in the middle of this "Qaint little drinking town with a fishing problem ( as the T-shirts say), there is a very nice weaving shop and an imported Oriental rug store with rugs starting in the thousands. Who buys Oriental rugs in Alaska? Also several diamond stores. We bought neither!

A Museum with some lovely flowers. Bob loves taking pictures of flowers.

Who knew roses would grow in this climate?

The largest Peonies I have ever seen. Truly the size of dinner plates and blooming in the end of July.

Very striking Delphinium

The railway that takes you to the White Pass and the Yukon Territory. Not included in our budget this time around.

Ah, Canada. Please note the sun is shining and it is at least 60 degrees. I am a happy girl!

As we sail into town

This is a lovely little town that although it is far from everything seems like a livable place.

This is a sunken garden that is very pretty

Town Hall ( where they kindly keep the doors open after hours so the public restrooms are available). Very hospitable.

Large Totem pole on Town Hall grounds

Small Street Fair they have when the ships are in town. Nothing great, but don't I look chic in my brown vest? That got a lot of wear on this trip, glad I bought it.

Back on the ship we watched these huge vats of Dungeness Crabs being offfloaded from fishing boats. There were 4 of these vats that were about 12feet square and probably at least 6 feet high that they filled in a very short time while we ate Seafood Linguine and Molten Chocolate Cake ( with Ice Cream, of course).

A fishing vessel returns home...one of Bob's artsy shots.

That is it for Alaska. We cruised all day Friday and got back to Seattle bright ( it really was) and early Saturday morning. We spent the day playing in Seattle and then had dinner with my son. Bob left Sunday AM early and I stayed on at the Kitsap and Olypic Peninsulas. Not many pictures, but I will regale you with those tales another time. This successfully ends our travelogue of Alaska and British Columbia. Thanks for your attention!

Janet