LEGEND ALASKA July 31, 2018 Photo Review

[CheckersMidwest]

Dinner in the dining room ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[erewhon]

Enjoying your review, super photos, thank you.

[CheckersMidwest]

SKAGWAY, ALASKA

 

 

We walked into town to do some shopping then returned to the ship to drop off our purchases and have lunch. Our excursion was at 12:15 and it was hard to find anything open for lunch. A lot did not open until 12, I went to the deli again. This was not the first time we needed an early lunch in order to get to an excursion, this is one area that they need to improve. On our way back to the ship, we passed the Skagway Fish company. It is really close to the ship & I'd read reviews earlier. They open at 11:00 and we stopped in to make a dinner reservation for 5:00. Our excursion was over at 4:45.

 

Today we booked one of the train rides. We went up the White Pass Summit, rode a bus back down the Klondike Highway, and stopped at Liarsville. Liarsville is a recreated gold camp. They sang folk songs, gave us cookies & cider, panned for gold, etc. It was lame. The weather was chilly too, so instead of going to the 'theater' area we just sat around the campfire. Our crowd didn't really play along with their jokes either, so that made it awkward. We loved the train ride. I stood on the front platform of our train car so I could get better pictures. It got colder as we went up the mountain. By the time we got to Canada, areas were just rock while others were beautiful. The border patrol area sees 30 feet of snow. About the only thing there is the train and the worker's houses. There is an area between the border station of Canada and the border station of the US that they consider 'no man's land'......too ruggid to build anything so it doesn't really belong to anyone.

 

 

The train up/back only is located right outside the ship. We took a bus to a different train location and rode from there.

 

 

 

 

Walking into town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klondike Museum

 

 

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We stopped a couple of times and dropped hikers off at trails. This old caboose can be rented for $20 a night or something crazy but I think it is also there if needed as a shelter. The hikers needed to be back to catch the train back to town or they might have to stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The purple flowers - Fireweed - grow only where the air is unpolluted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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US / Canada border

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More Canada.....

 

 

 

 

So different.....around the corner is lush & full of color , but back to rock again right after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CheckersMidwest]

We quickly got on the bus and started back down the highway. Our guide was full of information and was good to stop at different spots for pictures, like the Alaska sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liarsville Gold Rush Camp :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panning for gold

 

 

 

 

This is the only place I noticed mosquitoes. They might have been worse if we hadn't been sitting by the campfire.

[CheckersMidwest]

We got back to the ship right on time - 4:45. We walked over to the Skagway Fish Company and they had our table saved for our 5:00 reservation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friends of ours who lived in Alaska for quite awhile said to try the Halibut. We both ordered it but I had rice instead of mashed potatoes. The rice was dry - but the potatoes were great. Halibut was really good too.

[realent]

The first 'talk' by the naturalist was at 7:15, some were at 9:15 AM, it varied.

 

 

**When you get into Alaska, you have to turn your clock back another hour. On the way back to Seattle you have to turn them forward. (Oh gosh.....I think that is right!) We turned it the wrong way. Took our time that last sea day morning, went to breakfast, and sat down for the 9:15 talk on whales. It was 11:15 am. Really pay attention ! They remind you in the Fun Times.

 

Did you happen to bring the fun times home with you? I am trying to plan events that don’t conflict with these talks.

[penguin85]

Great review, thanks for taking the time to post.

[CheckersMidwest]

Yes I have the Fun Times ! I'll see if I can scan them & post the here.

 

 

 

 

 

Juneau, Alaska 7:00 am - 3:00 pm

 

 

Today we went whale watching and to a salmon bake. We saw 12 whales. The boat goes to a spot known to have activity. I think they started where they'd had good luck the day before. Everyone watches for 'blow' and then yells out where - 12 o'clock, 5 o'clock, etc then we race over to look. A vessel cannot get within 100 yards of a whale, but if they resurface on their own closer, it's ok. We had one come up out of nowhere just feet from the boat. They feed close to the surface and come up for air (blow) every couple of minutes. When they dive deep, you'll see their back fin come farther up out of the water & curl down, then their tail comes up. After that happens, the boat moves on since the whale won't resurface for awhile. We had a naturalist on board that told us what to look for, pointed out things, etc. We learned a lot !

 

 

 

 

If you plan to eat at Tracy's Crab Shack, it's the red building on the right. This photo was taken from our balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CheckersMidwest]

We took a bus to the boat & sailed away quickly. We were split into 2 groups when we got there & took out 2 boats. Most of the time it was just our tour, but occasionally another boat would watch too.

 

 

"Blow"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Steller Sea Lions

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As the glaciers move, they grind away at the rock. The black stripes are rock & dirt in the ice that has been scraped away. The naturalist on board the Legend told us that the ice you see on the glacier today fell as snow when Christopher Columbus was here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bus picked us back up at the dock and took us to a local salmon bake. I noted we turned down a narrow roadway with a handmade small sign that says Salmon Bake. It would be very east to miss on your own. It is open to the public. Our bus driver called ahead and told them how many people were coming & when we'd be there. They had all the salmon grilling and it was ready right after we arrived. Very organized !

 

 

The Salmon Bake was all you can eat. They had salmon and chicken to choose from along with a buffet of hot & cold foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice tea & lemonade were included but if you wanted soda or beer, you bought it at this station.

[CheckersMidwest]

There is live entertainment - a lady was telling stories & seeing folk type songs. You can get marshmellows at the saloon and roast them by the campfire. There is a trail that leads back to a waterfall, gold panning area, and a stream you can walk down to the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food was good, nice selection and good flavor.

 

 

 

 

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These birdhouses had the ice tea, lemonade, and blueberry cake. Blueberries are grown here. It was like a shortcake with blueberries on the bottom and powdered sugar over the top. It was good !

 

 

 

 

Right at the edge of the salmon bake is this trail - it's fairly flat and a short walk to the waterfall.

 

 

 

 

Here are salmon in the shallow creek

 

 

 

 

We stood at the waterfall at the end for a short time when 2 eagles flew in. One moved on quickly but this one stuck around. He sat in the tree awhile, got wet & sat at the top of hill, then flew right over the top of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of places you could go right down to the water.

 

 

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Back in town, we had time to shop and look around. The Red dog Saloon is on the corner right off the ship. It was packed so we didn't try to go inside.

 

 

 

 

Something I don't see in Missouri.......Bear proof trashcans.

 

 

 

 

This goes up to the top where a 'state park' area is. Our table mates from the diningroom took this up and hiked awhile. They said there was bear mace for sale for like $60 (non returnable) and a map. We were going to ride the funicular up to Cape Fox in Ketchikan so didn't pay much attention. The funicular was out of order when we got there - wish we'd went ahead & rode it up & down.

 

 

 

 

 

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This pix is blurry but the colors of the flowers were so vibrant !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The water was usually a pretty jade green color . This one was as we were sailing away.