North to Alaska A BLOG meMior of Our 2022 AlaskaN Sea-Land Cruise

After waiting two and half years, we were finally able to take our COVID delayed Holland America sea-land cruise. This came after our delayed Viking cruise from Barcelona was again canceled because of COVID in May. So, we were more than ready for a travel adventure, and Alaska did not disappoint. During this two-week trip, we visited family in Seattle, attended cultural lectures, Glacier Bay talks by rangers, musical and dance performances. and danced late into the night to the eight-piece BB King Blues band. We also took guided tours of Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, Anchorage and Denali National Park. Along the way we saw a salmon run, grizzly bears, reindeer, Dall sheep, eagles, and buffaloes. We even saw a moose near the Anchorage airport. Our transportation included planes, cars, buses, a glass-dome train and the Holland American Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship that is 936 feet long with a crew of 930 (and was half full at 1,250 passengers).

Thanks to our tour company, ‘Travel with Alan’ and Holland America line, our complex trip went very smoothly, all events were on time, well organized, and very educational and entertaining. Our Delta flight was even on time.

A bear encounter did not even slow us us down.

Our trip started with a three-night stay visiting the Kevin Leneway family in Seattle during the hottest days of the Seattle summer. We had a delightful day trip to visit Heather’s mother Jo Marie, at her home on Whidbey Island and had a great adventure at the Seattle Zoo. It was fun getting reacquainted with grandson’s Ethan and Owen and granddaughter, Norah.

After a four-hour bus ride from Seattle to Vancouver including the complexities of clearing Canadian customs, we boarded the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship in Vancouver. One night we were greeted by a “towel bear” and had our first of many wonderful gourmet meals before arriving at our first stop in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Ketchikan, Alaska, Totem Capital of the World

A rainy tour of Ketchikan started with a tour of Potlatch Park, which contains the largest collection of native totem poles in the world. This is a wonderful place to see locally carved totems and other native carvings. We enjoyed the recreated village that illustrated how primitive life was for explorers in Alaska’s history. Our young guide did a great job of explaining the role of totem poles in Tlingit Indian history and culture.

Here is Carolyn at the park entrance with one of the oldest totem carvings.

The Tlingit were master cravers that used their skills to retain and retell the legends of their gods.

Some the totem poles were over 40 feet tall. This shows the entrance to a clan house near the bottom of the pole. It was designed to keep bears and other enemies out. But, it required a tight fit to enter.

Each section of the poles tells part of a story. These poles stood guard over a Raven clan house..

Here are the tools that were used to make the totem craving, including part of a Moose Jaw bone and teeth in the upper part of the display.

We also toured Creek Street, Ketchikan’s infamous red light district , which is now full of gift shops and tourist attractions including a personal tour of Dolly’s House and it’s role in Ketchikan’s growth and history. The sign below was next to the Dolly House entrance.

Colorful houses are part of Ketchikan’s colorful gold rush past.

A sign outside of Dolly’s house alerting women where to find their husbands. Ketchikan was at the entrance of the inner passage. The next blog posting will detail the next several days of our great 2022 Alaskan adventure.

Lessons Learned

1. Alaska is a very big and diverse state, much more than we expected.

2. All of the COVID testing, forms, phone calls and waiting for two years was worth it.

Next stops Juneau and Skagway.

Click Here to see Other Stops Along the Inside Passage

Appreciate