Skagway!!

 Didn’t realize I hadn’t posted about Skagway. Sorry about that. 

I only THOUGHT I knew what mountains looked like until we got into Skagway this morning. These big boys tower over what we saw in Juneau. Makes me wonder if they get any bigger heading north…

We docked maybe a quarter mile outside of the town but they won’t let anyone go to town on foot. Apparently 2 or 3 years ago they had a huge landslide by the dock and apparently it’s still active so they had these huge chain link fences at increasing altitudes up the side of the mountain. So you have to take a very quick and seemingly pointless shuttle ride just past the landslide and you walk the rest of the way into town, which wasn’t much more than 200 yards. 

Like a lot of these small towns in Alaska, they have huge ties to the gold rush. Walking the streets almost feels like a step back in time, at least until you see shuttle buses drive by and tour helicopters buzz by. Also a lot of old timey trains cutting through town carrying all sorts of tourists. Nicole went off looking for a Christmas store and some fabric store that mom had researched. Dad and I went looking for a quiet bar and a cold beer. I didn’t realize that Skagway had its own brewing company so that seemed like the logical choice to go grab a drink. Apparently half the ship had the same idea as the line to get in was out the door and down the street. So much for that. We settled on a somewhat unassuming bar called the Happy Endings Saloon. Not much to the place but the music was good and the beer was cold. We sat there for about 30 minutes or so, sipping on some Alaskan Kolsch, watching Bob Ross on the tv (Owner was obsessed with the guy, according to the barkeeper). Afterwards we met back up with the womenfolk, went by the jewelry store where they were giving away free charms that Nicole was collecting. After waiting for three old timey trains go past an intersection, we started to head back to the ship, but not before grabbing some lunch at the Skagway Fish Company, a small shack down the ways from the dock. Had me another round of halibut fish and chips. As good as what I had in Juneau if not better. Had more of a beer batter to it as opposed to the almost tempura style at Twisted Fish. 

As of this writing I’m back on the ship, sotting by the bar on the very back of the ship with Nicole, each of us enjoying a frosty beverage, so I will close this post out. We will be dining at Cagney’s steakhouse on board this evening, and tomorrow we will pass thru/by the Hubbard glacier before arriving in Hoonah(aka Icy Strait Point) on Wednesday. More pics will be coming later.

Speaking of photos, for those of you following my adventures on Facebook, there will be a HUUUUGE photo dump after we get back. About 2/3 of the photos I’ve taken are on an ACTUAL camera so I don’t really have the means to get them off and upload so that will have to wait until we get back to Lubbock. Be ready to see a lot of pics of mountains. Just saying.

See you next time, 

Satch