What an exciting week! We’ve been on a Holland America cruise to the southeast region of Alaska and it has been amazing! Alaska was one of only two states I had not yet visited in my life, so I’m happy to say that our 49th state is also now my 49th state.
It did feel like we were cheating a bit, taking a cruise as part of our North American travels. But the drive was going to add so much time to our trip, and, as much as I wanted to drive it, some plans needed to be revised; a great cruise deal seemed to hit the spot on this portion of our travel adventures. Also, to be completely honest, I love cruises! Yes, they are a bit cheesy and very commercial, but they are really one of the only vacation experiences where, as the primary planner, I get to actually relax. I love camping, I love road trips, I love hotels and motels and cabins, but when it really comes down to it, these “vacations” all involve a lot of work. On a cruise, the decisions are minimal and the options involve various ways of letting someone else take care of you! Plus, my kids enjoy the kids’ and teen club offerings, so Jon and I can actually enjoy some time together while the kids are supervised.
We departed on Sunday and I got to enjoy one of my favorite activities: nesting in our room. My family makes fun of me for the pleasure I derive from finding the perfect location for everyone’s belongings when we settle into a new place for more than a single night.
After unpacking, we enjoyed a delicious dinner in the dining room and, after a bit of exploration, settled into our cabin for the night. The seas were rough on Sunday night, and I admit to serious nerves in the middle of the night, not yet being used to the noise of the wind and the intense rocking of the ship. Despite my doubts, we survived!
Day one of our cruise, Monday, was spent at sea. We enjoyed exploring. The kids tried out kids’ club while Jon and I tried wine tasting.
On Tuesday, we arrived in Juneau in the early afternoon. We had a great day hiking the Mt. Roberts trail. This beautiful, strenuous, rainforest hike took us a couple of miles straight uphill to a gondola stop, where we enjoyed a visit to the nature center, an interesting video about Tlingit culture, and a dinner at Timberline Atop of Mt. Roberts that included bison burger, salmon burger, and Alaskan scallops. The tram ride down the hill, just after sunset, was beautiful. It was a wonderful day in Juneau!
Wednesday was another day at sea, which we spent cruising to Hubbard Glacier. Mic and I enjoyed a girls’ day at the spa which involved a hot-stone massage and facials. Afterwards, ate lunch together, just the two of us. It’s hard to believe my first-born child is now 14 years old!
On Wednesday afternoon, we got an amazing view of the glacier from our verandah. I was surprised at how impressed I was by the sight. I thought I’d be interested, but didn’t expect to be quite so overwhelmed! Daisy cracked us up when she excitedly talked about the”ice cubes” floating in the sea around us.
Thursday, we visited our second Alaskan port, Sitka. Of course, I kept mentally referencing Sandra Bullock, from The Proposal, every time I said Sitka (“Al-AS-kaaa”). I made my kids watch The Proposal as we pulled out of port just to understand why I had kept automatically drawing out the word “Alaska” all day whenever I heard, said, or read the word Sitka.
In Sitka, we explored the Sitka Historical Museum, which displays numerous objects and information from the period of Russian colonization of the region, from the mid 1700s to the mid 1800s, at which point Alaska was sold to the United States. The relationships and the conflict between the Russians and Tlingit people was fascinating to learn about. I appreciate that the museum offers different perspectives on the claims to the land and its history. I’m also embarrassed to admit that I never even knew there was Russian settlement, history, and influence in the Americas; I had only ever learned about English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese exploration and settlement of the “New World.”
We next visited the Sheldon Jackson Museum, which offers an amazing display of native artifacts organized by regions of Alaska. It was incredibly interactive and informative, and I highly recommend it for both adults and kids! It has great information and displays related to people of the Pacific Northwest as well as people of the far north and interior of Alaska. It is a small museum, but we all wanted to spend much longer than the hour that we had.
Despite the persistent light drizzle, I really wanted to do the totem walk in the National Historical Park. It follows a beautiful rainforest walking path along the waterfront and river and numerous original and recreated totems line the path. A very cool tour can accompany the walk, either online or on the phone (see sitk.oncell.com). Using this great feature, we dealt with the rain and enjoyed learning about the numerous totems created by people of the Pacific Northwest as we walked through the forest.
This park was our last stop in Sitka, as we only had a few hours to explore. We grabbed a quick lunch from a “reindeer hotdog” stand, and made it back to the ship shortly before departure.
On Friday, we explored our third and final Alaskan port, Ketchikan. This early-morning stop was even shorter than the other two and the rain was even heavier and more persistent than in Sitka. However, we had a blast!
We first checked in with the Lighthouse students and staff to share our Alaskan experiences and learning via FaceTime. After a fun conversation with our Ojai friends, and with lots of rain and limited time, we wandered for a bit, looking for a place to eat breakfast and get warm. On the suggestion of a shopkeeper, we took a lovely walk up the Married Man’s Trail to the Cape Fox Lodge for a delicious breakfast.
From there, we explored shops on scenic Creek Street, and then visited the Tongass Museum. The museum was fairly interesting, but, besides a really well-made video series (visit ketchikanstories.com), there was not much to fully engage the kids. This museum did not offer either the native history or the natural history we have enjoyed at other museums on this trip so far, but it kept us out of the rain.
As we walked back to the ship just before boarding time, we noticed that the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center was open, so we thought to take a quick look inside. We soon realized that this should have been our museum of choice, as it offers incredible interactive displays, specifically geared towards young people, about the natural features of the area and native history and cultures. It was also free to get in with our national parks pass. We probably needed at least an hour and a half, and we had ten minutes. After an insufficient look around, the girls got a good laugh out of paging Jon to the front of the museum so we wouldn’t miss our departure. We ran through the rainy streets and made it on board with about 10 minutes to spare!
Saturday evening, after a relaxing day at sea, we docked in Victoria, British Columbia. We had just enough time to walk into the city for Mic’s 14th birthday dinner.
A little research into the local restaurants led us to 10 Acres Kitchen, a beautiful restaurant in downtown Victoria. The service was wonderful and the food was delicious! We had chosen the restaurant because of the fact that they source much of their food from their own 10-acre farm and advertise a commitment to environmentally conscious practices including limited waste, composting, recycling of oils for bio-diesel, and elimination of straws. Their “sustainable omnivore approach to whole food eating” is definitely something Mickie supports, so it was the perfect place for us to enjoy a fine dining experience for her birthday dinner in Victoria.
Though the restaurant was not especially “kid friendly,” the staff was very kind and accommodating to Mic and Daisy; the waitress even offered to modify the sauce to be less spicy when Daisy ordered the pasta dish. After dinner, they brought Mic’s chocolate eclair out with a candle and “Happy Birthday” written in berry sauce and some of the kitchen and waitstaff had signed a menu for Mickie with their birthday wishes included.
A lovely walk back through the city brought us back to the ship shortly before 11:00 pm. We stood on the verandah, dancing and waving goodbye to Canada as we left port.
This morning, our ship arrived back in Seattle. After a short visit to Pike Place Market (aka “chef’s heaven” to Jon), a rainy walk, and an uncertain ride on a city bus to get back to our luggage stored at the terminal, we hopped back in the truck to start the next portion of our road trip. Due to predictions of rain and snow in the northwest, we’ve modified our plans a bit. In an effort to chase the sun, we’ve headed east instead of north and plan to spend the next few nights in Montana. Our brief visit to Alaska was wonderful!
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