Rugged landscape, whales beside the ship and Disney hospitality. I’m glad we did this trip and the timing is perfect. I needed something to restore what most people refer to as their soul.
Sly and I have fallen into our cruising behavior: she wants to walk around the ship and find all the Easter eggs and hidden Mickeys that she can. I’m content to take my binoculars onto the deck and search for wildlife.
I’m just wandering around Skagway and finding all the usual tourist attractions. Much the same as what you’d find in Banff but with an Alaskan twist: lots of indigenous crafts. I didn’t know what a Ulu knife was but they are pretty important to Hunter/Gatherers. Otherwise it’s the usual: ye Olde candy shops or jewelry that is more than likely under weight and over priced. I won’t get sucked into that.
I am curious as to what life looks like here in the winter. The mountains rise up just outside the city center. I imagine with a good deal of snow you’d get stuck here pretty quick or hope that there was a man with a big truck and a snow plow that could clear the road out of here. I would imagine it creates a sense of isolation that only gets broken up by the cruise ships that show up twice a week. I’m not sure this is a place for retirement, but I’ll bet you it sure is nice to live in for a while. As they say it’s a nice place to visit…
I’ll probably head back to the ship now. I’ve been here for about an hour. I’ve seen everything I need to see I think. I was kind of hoping for a gemstone I could find here that would allow me to grab a coffee and maybe make a memory. Right now I’m relying on the local banks Wi-Fi to get any sort of signal out of here. More on that later.
There are four cruise ships at the pier right now. I expect that’s probably about 10,000 tourists looking to come in and wander around as well. I think it’s time for me to get back to my shift and chill out for a while because there’s not much here for me. I would love a souvenir but I really don’t have $900 to spend on an Ulu knife. Might have to settle on a hoodie or something like it. I’ll post a picture if I settle on one.
For the time being, know that my head is in a good place, I’m getting to spend some time with my wife away from home and we’ll be home soon.