We arrived early to Skagway and found it a chilly 53 degrees, mostly cloudy, light winds, and no rain. In fact, we could see the clouds breaking up and if we were lucky, we might see some real sun later. Last night, we had no daily newsletter, and now we fear the ship might be going "paperless". So on our way to breakfast, we stopped by the front desk to turn in our final customs and immigrations form for Canada, and also ask why no newsletter. The front desk folks said there had been a glitch in the system and they only printed a few one page newsletters for the folks who did not have a cell phone to bring up the Navigator page. We could have read this on the room TV, but it is not convenient. We like paper. Hope this is fixed soon.
Well, starting from the beginning, we woke up to "bizzarro-land". Yesterday we had received a notice saying that due to operational problems, we would need to tender ashore in Skagway. We figured two larger ships would need the docks, and we took third place. The Volendam was brought alongside the old Railroad Dock, right across from the graffiti wall, but also near the massive slide that occurred back in 2018. There was no gangway connecting us to the roadside. We would definitely be tendering to the small marina.
Oddly enough, the Sapphire Princess pulled in behind us, and not at the One or Broadway Docks. Except they had a gangway, and were required to take buses and shuttles to Congress Way to join tours or go to town. No one was allowed to walk the road. Docked portside, we watched the buses pass back and forth by our window. Very unusual as we have never had to do this before in Skagway. Oh well, first time for everything.
We left the ship around 10am, and were chased by that big moose again near the stairs down to deck A. The ship's photographers always try their best to get us to take pictures, but we always say no thank you. Now it is a game, more so when they have the funny mascots. We joined the tenderboat group going off by showing our cards. We did not need a tender ticket. The ride was 10 minutes tops. From the small boat marina we walked to Pullen Creek to see if there were any more pink salmon coming upstream. There were none, but we were more surprised not to find any dead carcasses like we saw two weeks ago. The creek was loaded with bodies. Guess the bears have cleaned up the creek, which was confirmed by one of the shop's owners.
We continued up Broadway, ducking in and out of shops, then followed the street to the Klondike Highway. We turned right at the beginning of the Pat Moore Bridge at the sign for the Gold Rush Cemetery. Lower Reid Falls is also in the same area, although the sign suggested it was ½ mile, we felt it was more than that. We walked past the White Horse Yukon Route railyard and that's where we finally heard the whistle from a train coming back from the Yukon. Two weeks ago we must have left the ship earlier, because the trains were coming back from their early runs. Today, we saw none, and thought perhaps they were closed for the season. Glad to see they began arriving one after another to load up with more guests. It really is a nice tour.
Reaching the famous cemetery by noontime, we relaxed on a bench before the climb, talking to a young couple from the Sapphire Princess. It may have been their first cruise, and were full of questions when they heard we have been on several trips, especially the longer ones. The young man said he would love to do that when he retires, which was a long way off. Yep, that's what we said years ago, and here we are.
We made the climb to the cemetery where notorious Soapy Smith and Frank Reid are both buried (far apart), along with many other townspeople from the Gold Rush Days. The story of the shoot-out between the two rivals have kept this place on the map. One thing sort of confused us concerning Soapy Smith. We read that there was a massive flood in 1919 and Soapy's gravesite had washed away. Will have to dig deeper into that theory. After reading most of the sad headstones, we headed up the slippery wet trail to the Lower Reid Falls, a 300 foot high waterfall. The trail was fairly steep with rocks and tree roots along the way. It wasn't so hard going up, but one of us had to be very cautious going back down. Once at the trail head, we had a choice of waiting for the S.M.A.R.T. bus, a $5 pp ride back to the pier, or hike back. Since we had the time, and it was downhill all the way, we chose to walk.
Our destination was lunch at the Station Bar and Grill next to the Morning Wood Hotel. We feared that with two ships in town, it might be filled with diners, or closed for the season. But we got lucky and there was one table left, which we gladly took. Even at 1:30pm, the place was full as was the bar. Without even checking the menu, we ordered two Alaskan Amber beers, and one 14 inch Hawaiian pizza. It was even better than the one we had two weeks ago. We saved a bit of room for another Alaskan Fry Bread at the Klondike Doughboy. Having tried our first taste of one two weeks ago, we think this will become a tradition when we visit again in the future. Guess we can describe the bread as a flat-like 10 inch square donut cooked in hot oil, then covered with cinnamon sugar. They are still piping hot when you buy them. And SO good.
Many of the ship's passengers were on spending sprees here, except us. We know the prices may be better in Ketchikan and we really don't need anything. One of us did spot a nice wool scarf with an artist's design, but it will give us something to search for next time. We will be heading into tropical zones soon and wool is not something we need.
Back to the tender spot, we were greeted with the Face Recognition computer ID, then boarded the boat for the quick ride to the ship. We were back to our room by 4pm, but had no TV reception and will not until we leave due to our location between the steep mountains. The internet was working fine.
The Pinnacle Grill was our dinner venue with Caesar salads, clothesline bacon, medium lamb chops, and one shared order of French fries….the skinny ones. Wish they were "skinny" in calories since we may have over-done it a bit today. Our long hike may have compensated for it though.
The ship left Skagway about when we returned from dinner….like 9pm. Looks like the Sapphire left ahead of us. Not sure we will meet again in Ketchikan.
Tomorrow looks like a promising day with the weather. Today turned out to be gorgeous with lots of sun, so we wish for the same when we entered Glacier Bay once more. We shall think positive.
Bill & Mary Ann
