Another pictorial presentation of one of my trips.
This time to Alaska on a Carnival Cruise on May 24th to May 31st, 2011 with some of my U.P. friends. We started from Seattle and on to Alaska and back to Seattle with a stop in Victoria, B.C.
(Please click on any picture to enlarge it.)
This time to Alaska on a Carnival Cruise on May 24th to May 31st, 2011 with some of my U.P. friends. We started from Seattle and on to Alaska and back to Seattle with a stop in Victoria, B.C.
(Please click on any picture to enlarge it.)
MAY 22, 2011
NEW YORK***SEATTLEI met Bob and Luz at SEA-TAC airport then checked in at our hotel which was just a stone's throw from the Space Needle and Experience Music Project and Space Museum which was designed by famous architect Frank Gehry.
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Bob and Luz, in front of the Bamboo Garden Restaurant, after our nice vegetarian lunch. We then went to the Space Needle for a panoramic view of the city and Puget Sound.
Dinner was at Bahn Thai Restaurant after which we just went back to the hotel and enjoyed the night view of the Space Needle and the warmth of the fireplace.
MAY 23, 2011
SEATTLEThis morning we decided to take the Seattle Duck Tour which turned out to be a hilarious way of sightseeing by land and water.
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We walked around the Space Needle area to take the monorail to Westlake in downtown Seattle...
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then to the Public Market on Pike Place with its interesting fish stores, shops, graffiti, and markers...
then to the waterfront and lunch at Ivar's Seafood Restaurant...delicious clam chowder...
Took a nice boat ride on the ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island with Bob and Luz and enjoyed a nice view of the island and Seattle.
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More pictures of Seattle sights.
MAY 24, 2011
SEATTLE***CARNIVAL SPIRITIt's cruise time! Got picked up at noon to embark on the Carnival Spirit for a week trip to Alaska and back to Seattle.
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Karaoke Night with singing stars Doug and Bart.
MAY 25, 2011
DAY AT SEAToday it's a leisurely day at sea and time to familiarize ourselves with the ship and just relax on the deck chairs around the swimming pool before the formal Welcome Dinner on board the Carnival Spirit.
MAY 26, 2011
TRACY ARMWe arrived at Tracy Arm fjord before noon today and saw from a distance the Sawyer Glacier. We also saw several bald eagles standing on the floating ice floes.
MAY 27, 2011
SKAGWAYDisembarked and walked to town where I checked out the Red Onion Saloon (and its brothel museum) and the WP&YR depot and its snow fleet; had a picture with Sarah Palin and her smelly salmon.
Took the White Pass & Yukon Route train in the afternoon...
which took us to the White Pass Summit (elevation 2865 feet) and to the Canadian border.
Our conductor and our guide gave us insightful information as we passed Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point, Dead Horse Gulch, the original Klondike Trail of '98. The breathtaking panorama included snow-covered mountains, glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels, trestles, and historic sites.
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MAY 28, 2011
JUNEAU***MENDENHALL GLACIER
Disembarked in Juneau after breakfast with Heidi, Elvie, Linda and Bart and walked to town where in a distance we spotted a bald eagle atop a tree. We took a bus (the driver did his shtick about the city) to Mendenhall Glacier which is about 12 miles from the city and part of the Tongass National Forest. We marveled at the glacier and the cascading Nugget Falls which is fed by the Nugget Creek down to Mendenhall Lake.
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Walked around downtown Juneau and saw the Red Dog Saloon with its sawdust floor and kitschy decor and right across from it was Manila Square with a bust of Filipino hero Jose Rizal.
MAY 29, 2011
KETCHIKAN
Bob and I disembarked and took the free Salmon Bus in downtown Ketchikan to go to the Totem Heritage Center with its collection of 19th century totem poles, rescued from abandoned Tlingit and Haida villages...
and the nearby Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center, which offers an educational look at Alaska’s salmon hatchery program and showcases raptors and other birds that have been rescued and are being rehabilitated.
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Took the bus back and got off at Creek Street by the Ketchikan Creek and walked on the boardwalk past interesting souvenir shops, museums, galleries, restaurants and former bordello houses like the Dolly's House; a mask carved by a Tlingit artist.
More totem poles near Creek Street and at Whale Park...
close-ups of the Whale Park totem pole; another totem pole inside the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, an outstanding interpretive facility highlighting Tongass National Forest; a sighting of "bigfoot" in downtown Ketchikan...
a bronze statue of a Tlingit woman with a drum and some very colorful Gaudi-inspired sculptural mosaic pieces of aquatic life in the harbor.
MAY 30, 2011
VICTORIA
Bob and I did not join the Victoria/Butchart Gardens Tour so we decided to just take a bus tour of the city. We waited for a few minutes for the tour bus to come and when it did, the people who got out were livid about the driver and the fume-filled bus. We had to wait for a different bus and we got lucky because the bus was fine and the driver was very funny and informative. Among the sites we saw were the famous Empress Hotel, the well-lit British Columbia Parliament Building and the harbor.
Out-of-focus but interesting pictures of Victoria.
MAY 31, 2011
SEATTLE***SAMMAMISHDisembarked this morning after saying our goodbyes to some of our friends who were going home. Elvie, Caloy, Heidi and I picked up our car rental then we met the rest of our group at Tony and Gay's daughter's home in Sammamish. Dungeness crabs caught by Luisito, squid adobo and seafood etouffee, cooked by Gay, were among the delicious food we had at Rosanna and Brian's home. We also enjoyed their woodland backyard which had a lot of flowering plants and trees, a deck, a gazebo, a trampoline for the couple's children, Christa and Brianna, and a hiking path.
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Christa and her beautiful artwork.
Thus ends our Alaskan trip and next day begins our Mountain Trip to Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier and Mount St Helens.
Thank you for viewing my website. Thanks also for the use of some photos taken by Elvie, Caloy, Bob and Bart. The link to my main website is:
http://jaypee1.blogspot.com/
