Skagway, Alaska

Train car 202

Our first port on our Carnival Spirit cruise was Skagway (skaguay), and right across from the ship was our train for the White Pass & Yukon Route excursion!  Wow, we'd have to tour the town after our ride through the gold-rush country.  It was already filling up, but we (Ed, his brother and wife, and a friend and his daughter) lucked out by passing through several cars before finding car 202 (this is top secret info for my readers)) - it was the handicap car, but we had it to ourselves!

Lake Bennet, Canada

Here you can see a glimpse of Lynn Canal where our ship is docked.

As we chugged our way along, it was both exciting visually and relaxing.  The view from the top of the summit was breathtaking, and so very different than Florida's tropical scenery.

We learned much on this narrated ride up to the border of Canada/USA, and that we'd reach the summit at 2,865 feet elevation where the gold rush stampeders could pass only if they had a years worth of food and supplies. Needless to say, the gold-rush brought all sorts of "crazies" into this town, and the hardships were many.  The stories of the loss of human life, horses, etc., were sad...and all for money.  Did you know that Nordstrom and Trump's great grandfathers got their start up here with the gold rush?  Turns out Trump's grand daddy owned a brothel up there somewhere!  Nordstrom used his gold earnings to start a shoe store (knowing that women love shoes) so he could find a wife, and eventually lead to the famous Nordstrom Department Store.

USA/Canadian border

Besides the wonderful pics (too many to paste in here), there was some wildlife to see: from eagles to some type of otter.  We were all on the look-out for bear, but did not see any from our train car though others had reported seeing one.  At the summit, our train turned around, and as usual, many people enjoyed standing outside between the cars.  It was cold enough to need coats and see our breath; the air was so clean smelling and refreshing.

In town, we decided to stop for early dinner at a place called Stowaway Cafe.  You should check out the Jimmy fries and dippin' sauce!  We also enjoyed a meal of King Crab, though as it was explained, is still flash frozen on the fishing boats because they stay for days to get their quota.  Most of us have seen Deadliest Catch, so we enjoyed the crab anyway.  Other fresh catch of the day choices are listed - the salmon is always a favorite.

Skagway from our deck on the ship.

Fun store in town.

Well. Skagway is a fun little town.  There is the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park - a great museum, and the well known Red Onion Saloon.  As for shopping, there were lots of deals on T-shirts and souvenirs, and you can't get lost; its that small with only a few main streets.  I have one disclaimer - I loved shopping the most in Ketchikan, so save some money!

The next blog will cover Juneau, Alaska.