Alaska

Alaska has been on my bucket list since I was a kid. A friend of my parents was stationed there and even back then, well before instant imaging and digital photography, I was in awe of his stories and pictures from Alaska. We had intended to go for our 30th wedding anniversary but life had thrown us some pretty serious financial curveballs leading up to that anniversary, so we postponed. Once we started working with a wonderful travel agent (reach out for contact information if interested) to determine how to get the most bang for our buck, so to speak, I had heart palpations spending the money. But we slowly paid for our vacation in full for almost a year. Once this dream was paid off, it was time to prepare and I invested hours upon hours researching the ports we'd get to tour. As the excitement built, we invited Kristin and Chris to join us. We were able to have rooms next to each other and met on our balconies often, had dinner together every night and enjoyed live music together a few evenings. The cruise offered them more social opportunities and us a quiet balcony for escape. Our dinners were likely the highlight to the cruise experience overall. We all adored our wait staff, calling them our Dream Team. And the food each night? Seriously delicious. We all walked around sixteen thousand steps each day and never overindulged at the buffet so we feel like we struck a healthy balance. Alaska's pollution free air gave every one of us allergy symptom reprieves. 

Ty loves air shots so I grabbed this one for him.

Our first flight took us into Chicago so I snapped a shot of the Navy Pier.

Wrigley Field 

Ready to board Serenade of the Sea

First wildlife encounter 😂

Float planes just off the shore were on constant loop.

Suspension bridge as we left port in Vancouver 

We flew into Vancouver the day before our cruise set sail. We all agreed we wanted to ease into vacation so we justified the additional expense of twenty four hours in the bustling city. We toured a market and had some delicious seafood but otherwise did not love the overcrowded metro area. 

The elevators tell you what day it is. This is necessary. But I have to say, Monday onboard is the best kind of Monday.

Our sail day ended beautifully.

Monday was a sailing day and fairly rainy and cool. We walked a lot around the ship, got to know our wonderful servers and relaxed quite a bit. Greg checked out the fitness center and determined he really likes having his own equipment at home. Sharing interrupts flow in a structured workout. We had "dress your best night" and saw everything from shorts with polos to tuxedos and formal gowns. It was fun to watch the prom like energy around some of the guests. We were not those guests; opting for easy dressing instead. Our suitcases were loaded with layers and rain gear, not formal wear.

Photo credit: Greg

The arrival into Sitka was stunning. 

Every dinner ended with dessert. Fortunately, each serving was approximately four bites. The portions were perfect for a sweet treat after a delicious and healthy meal. I ended up requesting additional veggies with my dinners and they were more than happy to oblige. However, I had to keep my camera in my room or I would have been too tempted to photograph all the kiddos living their best lives in the buffet lines during breakfast and lunch. Watching pancakes get topped with so much whipped cream, it was falling over or seeing a little girl licking the syrup off her waffle as she walked back to her table or my absolute favorite was watching a mom catch her daughter in route to the ice cream bar at 6:30 in the morning. It was 100% a dream vacation for kids. 

Our first port was Sitka. The town is quite small and wasn't equipped to handle the intrusion of several cruise ships at the same time. We asked a local gentleman where to get lunch and he sent us outside of town to the best place for seafood. It was closed when we arrived. A tour guide later in the week declared we had an authentic Alaskan experience then. Apparently restaurants and local businesses are famous for opening when it's convenient only. We found a decent offering none the less and then beelined outside of the town for more wildlife and less people. It was unseasonably warm and we were all ready to grab drinks from the local grocery before heading back to the shuttle to return to the cruise. Thank goodness we stopped for beverages because the line for the bus wrapped around the edge of a town block. Sitka was not big enough for so many people to descend upon it. It was one of those moments you feel bad for being a part of the chaos. I hope the town can set some parameters to prevent burnout for the locals.

Waterfalls on the sides of mountains were often seen from our balcony.

Perfect weather for kayaking 😂

Juneau welcomed us with true Alaskan fall weather.

Our second port was Juneau. Imagine our surprise when we woke to rain and 38 degrees. It was our kayaking day. Brrrr. It was 100% worth it but I was soaked clear through my clothes and all the layers the tour provided. Michael, our guide, taught us a lot about the local ecosystem and took us into a marsh, around Douglas Island in Fitz Cove and pointed out eagles as he saw them. We shared the water with seals and otters. I only had my phone for this excursion for obvious reasons but wished I had my camera lens for those shots. We caught a glimpse of the glacier we were supposed to see but the overcast skies limited visibility. It was still a beautiful experience. There is a moss growing over the trees in the area that resembles Spanish moss. Our guide explained it is a species that can only grow in climates with a pollution rate of less than two percent. That moss was all over southeast Alaska. Each of our bus drivers in each town entertained us with local legends and facts. They taught us how to memorize the five types of salmon using our hand, how the Tlingit people marry outside their clans and stories of the totem poles. We found everyone warm and excited to share their knowledge.

The bright white in the middle is a glacier.

Photo credit: Kristin

These beauties are called Fire Weed

We found Ty's future business 

We joked about the hammer museum being a must stop as we walked past. 

Our third port was our favorite. Haines is a small town of only 1500 residents. Our guide explained this is a fluid number as they don't all live there year round and there are a lot of guides in and out of town as well. But as visitors, it felt very much like a welcoming small town. We loved it. There is a momma bear and her four cubs causing a little chaos for locals. Momma is a bit of a local legend. She tends to stand up and stop traffic on the road when her babies want to play. Everything goes at its own natural pace in Alaska so no one is upset about being late because a bear blocking the road is common and understood. We got to spend an entire day in Haines and they only allow one cruise ship at a time so it was delightful. We got up and out early to see the Welcome to Haines sign Michael in Juneau told us to prioritize. The walk was lovely. There, a retired couple pulled in with their Earthrover. Greg had been talking for years about retiring in one someday. This couple has been living in Alaska for the last three and a half months, touring different towns. They were a wealth of information and allowed the guys to check out their beautiful accommodations. As I was speaking with the wife, I noticed my husband literally stroking the finish on the vehicle and recognized out loud that Alaska just got A LOT more expensive. He saw his dream and was sold until we looked into pricing. That rig starts at a million dollars. Greg needs a new dream! We then went on a guided tour with Reagan and Xander who taught us a lot about foraging for food in the woods, pointed out new growth and old trees. They were as warm as they were knowledgeable. 

Photo credit: Kristin who wanted to eat with someone else to avoid cracking shells and seafood odors. Chris and I were very happy here. 

Salmon jumping

Someone was looking for lunch

Look closely. The creek was packed full of salmon.

So many salmon 

Photo credit: Greg

Creek Street was a red light district back in the day. Now it's a row of super cute shops. Directly leading to Creek Street is the Salmon Ladder off "Married Man's Trail". This trail was worn as a back way into Dolly's house once upon a time. The night before we arrived, a fire was deliberately started at one of the businesses on Creek Street so we had limited access. Our waitress was telling us about the owner and how devastated the local community is about the situation. 

Native people do not restore or otherwise maintain the totem poles because for them, the story is finished once the pole is. Restoration efforts have ramped up in recent years anyway. 

Red velvet cake. Worth the photo. 

Our final port was Ketchikan. We opted out of a formal excursion here because we knew Creek Street, Married Man's Trail and the salmon ladder were all easily accessible. Chris researched where to eat after the cruise recommend the Alaska Fish House I'd previously researched. If the cruise is promoting it, it's often not locally owned and it will be crowded. Chris nailed it. We ate very well. Our waitress, Kiera was fantastic. When asked about getting out of the crowded downtown and out to see more wildlife and nature, she called and arranged a local tour guide to pick us up an hour after lunch. Jason with Sourdough Taxi was with Fish and Game for seventeen years as a biologist and has lived in Ketchikan for the last thirty years. He taught us so much about the area, the salmon population and challenges and took us to some gorgeous scenic areas. 

Our dream team, Mayur and Chongan

Our final cruise day took us back to Vancouver. Greg and Chris toured the inner workings of the ship where they got to find out how they pull off running a city on water. While they were on their tour, Kristin and I attended a flag ceremony to celebrate all the people who took care of us all week. Our server, Mayur danced for his country, India. Serenade of the Sea employs 867 staff members from 59 countries. Only eleven are from America and twelve are Canadian. The entertainment director bragged world leaders could learn a thing or two from Royal Caribbean about how to work well with people from different cultures. He isn't wrong. The team was incredible. It was another sunny and warm day so we got some air on the top deck for the first time and reduced our step count considerably. 

One of us slept for a little more than an hour through alarms, announcements and people departing from red eye flights.

Getting home was more adventurous than appreciated. I trusted the cruise to navigate our transportation back to the airport since I paid for shuttle and luggage service. They manage this every week so I kept telling myself not to worry. Well.....I was right. They cut it too close and we missed our flight by an hour once we were through the understaffed United Airlines ticket counters. I was online with a travel expert getting a new flight while we waited in the lengthy line. We got rebooked and accepted a flight to Cincinnati and set up a late night rental car. It wasn't perfect but we would have managed. Halfway into our first flight, we diverted to Denver due to mechanical issues and loss of fuel. The transfer to a new plane and getting us back in the air, took three hours. Once again, I was online with a travel expert reworking our flight since we missed our connection in Chicago. The only thing available at that point was a 7am flight to Louisville. I couldn't do anything about our luggage but I could get us home mid morning. Greg was pushing for a rental car in Chicago to just drive home. I arranged it but was very nervous about driving all night after starting our travel day at 6am. We didn't land in Chicago until after midnight. I was then online for the third time that day with a travel expert setting up a hotel. Unfortunately due to the circumstances, it was 1am before a hotel could be arranged and shuttle service was finished for the night. The rental car was so far away from the area of the airport we were in, I called it. We spent what was left of the night in the airport. We lived on almonds all day and made due with light blankets a sweet custodian provided. In the end, we got home by eleven and our luggage arrived at our house nine hours later. It wasn't perfect and I'd very much like to NOT fly again anytime soon but the entire trip was so worth it.