S is for SHIP to SKAGWAY

Hi everyone! Sorry not to have visited any of your great posts last week, but I was away on a lovely cruise to Alaska. As such, I'm going to show you the town of Skagway, famous for being part of the Klondike Gold Rush. Which of the following pictures do you think were the most important places in town?

You're right! All of them - for different reasons, of course!

When we arrived at 7:00 am, we were still asleep in our comfy cabin. However, D2 and I finally got up and ready for our day of adventure. We had decided to do an excursion on the "yellow streetcar," a 1927 Mack Model AB that was restored in April 2001 by Boyd Coddington. We were picked up promptly at 10:30 am right on the dock. The driver was a young lady dressed up in period costume and she was super in making us all comfortable and giving us a great tour of the town. The pier was a good 15-20 minute walk from town, so it was a relief for me that she picked us up at the pier. Because it had taken us over 3 hours to embark in Vancouver, I was in a lot of pain for most of the trip and it was hard for me to even walk for 3 days into the cruise. (Some of you will remember that I had serious back surgery 2 years ago.)

Our first stop was in an old building where we were entertained by a man giving us a dramatic rendition of the history of Skagway and welcomed us all into the "Arctic Brotherhood." We even got membership cards!

Then, our tour guide drove us slowly through the downtown area and part of the residential area, pointing out historical sites. Finally, we arrived at the historic cemetery where we were again entertained by a dramatic rendition of the story of Skagway's famous gunfight between "Soapy" Smith and Frank Reid. (Click here on Wikipedia and scroll down to "History" beside the photo to read about the gunfight. It's quite fascinating and amusing, too!) It was actually a bit sad to see the graves of babies and mothers who had died in childbirth and the graves of young men who had travelled so far to seek their fortunes by mining for gold.
Here's our tour guide telling us about the famous gunfight in front of Frank Reid's tombstone.

Our third stop was way up on the hillside where we had beautiful scenic vistas of Skagway. We could also see our ship docked at the pier in Lynn Canal, the most northern fjord on the Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle.

It was a great day, a bit chilly but no rain at least! D2 was dropped off back in town where she wandered happily on her own, while I opted to return to the ship for lunch and a good read by myself. A great day, part of a wonderful cruise and bonding time with my lovely daughter. More about the cruise as it fits into our ABC Wednesdays.

If you missed my R post, which I had automatically posted, be sure to check it out as it tells about Rome and Ravello. ABC Wedesday is the brainchild of Denise Nesbitt, who is now assisted by a sincere team of people from all over the world. Click here to check us out and please join in the fun!