I’m on day 7 of a 10-day cruise to Alaska (Princess Regal). Right now I’m in Sitka Alaska. I gotta say, its definitely a beautiful state- any dopers from Alaska are pretty fortunate to live in such a gorgeous place. So far I have visited Juneau and Skagway. We rode a seaplane over the ice fields by Skagway and I got to see the glaciers.
I’ve been looking forward to this trip for over a year, and it is definitely worth all the anticipation. The cruise is more oriented for older people- its not like the Carnival party boats, but I’ve met enough people my age to have a good time.
The best part of this trip, however, is the impact it has had on my attitude. I really really needed to do something like this to help me unwind and give myself an attitude adjustment. I feel a lot more confident about myself and my outlook, by meeting really fun people with very interesting life stories.
Man, you hit the weather perfectly. It’s been an extraordinarily sunny summer, even in Southeast Alaska, where it usually precipitates in some form most days of the year. There are few places that gorgeous when the sun shines.
With the hundreds of thousands of acres on fire in the interior, you picked the right tour.
Listen to lieu. Alaskan Amber and Alaskan Pale Ale are a couple of outstanding microbrews.
i really enjoyed sitka. nice place, and a rather good indy bookstore. i would move there in a flash. i’d pretty much move anywhere in alaska in a flash.
i’m glad you are enjoying the trip and feeling the burdens of life drift away.
I lived in Alaska for a year (up towards Fairbanks), and even though I could certainly never miss the winter, I loved summertime there. Such a beautiful place!
Interesting, by the way, that on the Today Show they solemnly pronounced that there were wildfires burning in three states. Alaska wasn’t mentioned, even though at last estimate 2.1 million acres are burning and two towns are threatened.
Sitka was the last leg of the cruise. I just got back, and my memory is a little fuzzy on some of the details.
Unfortunately, in Juneau we only were at the touristy shopping-mall type areas, but I was quite impressed. For a state capital, the city is very small and yet situated between massive expanses of ocean, ice, and mountains.
I didn’t really get to see the Northern Lights The first half of the trip was overcast. I did see some wierd illumination coming from behind some clouds at night, though- one cloud bank was clearly being illuminated from the moon, but some other cloud banks also looked like there was some light coming behind them, which I guess may have been the Aurora Borealis. Didn’t see it on the clear nights, though,
Glacier Bay was sweet. The cruise ship went up this inlet into the bay and kind of puttered in circles for a couple of hours before moving on. There were ice floes (albeit small) and glaciers, plus lots of wildlife- it was the first time in my life I saw whales in the wild. We also saw bears and what I think were bald eagles.
In Skagway, we went to this AWESOME crab restaurant right by the dock which had delicious Alaskan King Crab, which I washed down with a couple of pints of Fish Tail Ale. Good seafood, good beer, good fun!
The weather was good, but I was really amused at the locals’ comfort level. I saw quite a lot of people/employees walking around in loose shirts, shorts, and sandals- maybe something I’d wear here in California (where it gets 100 degrees F) but maybe not in Alaska (where it was 60 degrees F and rather windy).
I agree with Lieu- Sitka would be a great place to live if you landed on a lot of money. Its very tranquil and small- I think the population triples when tourists arrive.
Ooo, we went on a similar cruise last month (Diamond Princess). We stopped at Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC. The only town I actually had time to see much of was Skagway, and I liked it a lot.
We rafted on the Mendenhall River and saw humpback whales that night. I rode a mountain bike on a short trail ride in Dyea (sp?), and enriched the economy of Skagway. (Dear Robert went golfing near Whitehorse that day.) We kayaked near Ketchikan, floated up Glacier Bay, and saw killer whales outside Victoria. And we felt an earthquake while we were at sea!
I just wish we’d had less time on the cruise ship and more time outside in Alaska. Alaska is an amazing place. We had great weather. The skies weren’t clear and blue, but it hardly rained at all, and the light overcast was fine with me.
I could probably adapt to the winter cold, but I couldn’t stand the dark. But all that daylight in summer – ahhhh…
I hope you keep having a wonderful time!
