Welcome to Skagway, Alaska, one of our favorite towns in Alaska. We love the old west kind of feel and we love that we feel like a local when we're here.
Part of the reason we feel like a local is because many of our visits are spent at one of two places:
1. Starfire.
I've mentioned Starfire on this blog more than once over the years for being the best Thai food in Alaska. It's a place where the crew hang out and a place that does a quick job of take out. It even made onto my Top 5 Things to do in Skagway list. We frequent the place, well, frequently. Today we made a run to grab some food to bring back to the ship for crew. I gotta tell ya, the smell of the food on the trip back made me want to break open the containers and take a couple bites before turning it over to crew. (Don't worry, I didn't. But when the fried rice box popped open when I got off the shuttle I was close. I could smell it even more and had a visual on it. Restrain yourself, Deb, restrain yourself.)
2. Sweet Tooth Cafe.
I've also mentioned Sweet Tooth on the blog before as having the best patty melt in the world. It also made my Top 5 Things to do in Skagway list. I had another patty melt today and yep, it still is number one. I mean, just look at all those onions on it.
Being able to say, See you next week! or See you next year! to the folks working in those places and knowing we really will see them gives us a nice, comfortable, warm and fuzzy feeling.
Multiple times in the last couple years I've told hubby we need to cut Alaska loose. After next week's cruise we will have been on 17 Alaskan cruises with Princess. Kind of excessive. But here's the problem with saying no more Alaska...I come out of our inside cabin and out onto the Lido deck on my way to wherever and see all this magnificent beauty around me. Water and trees and mountains and clouds and sun and snow and it just takes my breath away every single time. And then I second guess that decision to stop coming to Alaska.
Our first cruise ever was to Alaska 15 years ago for our 20th wedding anniversary trip. Now here we are, about ready to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, and I think I might want to do it in Alaska again. We were considering a cruise to Greenland to celebrate (now that's an expensive trip), but we both agree if we can make it work we want to come back - on this ship even - for a month long Alaskan adventure. Crazy, right? We'll see how it works out but we're both liking the idea.
Now speaking of ideas, Skagway has done something good in theory but dangerous in practice. They've lined up these metal shipping containers along the dock for passengers to walk through as they are leaving the port area. On a rainy day it's nice to have a covered area to walk through.
It also helps keep the line leaving separated from the line coming back onboard.
But here's the problem. The floor looks to be be painted plywood pieces.
With the rain we're having here, those floors are slippery. For someone with mobility problems like hubby (and so many others on the ship) it is pretty darn dangerous. It's a slow walk for sure. And here is where hubby ran into another problem. When he's walking slowly, trying not to slip and fall, he wants to make sure there is something nearby he can grab if he starts to go down. Naturally it makes sense since he can only use the left side of his body for him to walk close to the left side of the walkway so he could grab the wall if needed.
But check out the walls with all the windows cut into them. Windows with a caution sign attached to them.
While hubby made it with no falls (and no cuts from sharp edges) I am a bit worried if we have rain here again next week. For someone without a disability it probably wouldn't be a problem - an able bodied person might not even notice how slick it is - but for us, something like that becomes an anxiety-producing situation. If it's rainy next week we're going to have to talk to the security staff guarding the walkway and tell them our concerns and see if they will let us walk around it. If they don't do something about the slickness of the floor, it's an accident waiting to happen.
Some other things about today:
*We have Puppies in the Piazza at 5 today.
*Tracy's King Crab Shack didn't have any offerings at the Trident Grill.
*Crab Shack is tonight. (Maybe Tracy's is there? Have not a clue.)
*To celebrate 50 years in Alaska, Princess has now introduced McKinley "Mac" the Moose. You can purchase him in the shops (like Stanley the Bear) and today you could have your picture taken with Mac as you were getting off the ship.
*I left an Encouraging Words Project note and dollar in town at the Sweet Tooth Cafe and another one went into the Wake Show box. Matt has been reading them every day. THANK YOU MATT!!! I'll be coming to find you.
Want to know more about Skagway and other Alaskan ports? You can search using key words and come up with a slew of posts, but you can also check out my Cruising Alaska resources section here where you'll find the most recent posts.
Goodbye from Skagway. Tomorrow we are in magnificent Glacier Bay!
