MY ALASKAN CRUISE, September 15 through 23, 2012
9/15 Saturday. Spent the night in Anchorage.
9/16 Sunday, went on the Anchorage City Trolley Tour.
I learned that the 1964 Alaska earthquake was a 9.4 and lasted almost five minutes. (Internet sources say it was 9.2 and lasted 3-5 minutes.) Anchorage suffered the most damage and loss of homes. The Turnagain neighborhood there has been turned into Earthquake Park.
I saw this Wyland mural (“Alaska’s Marine Life”) painted in 1994 on 5th Avenue in Anchorage and felt like I recognized an old friend. I often enjoy seeing a similar mural (“Life Size Blue Whales”) on Gower Street in Hollywood painted by Wyland.
The motor coach ride from Anchorage to Seward, where the Holland America Statendam was docked, took about three hours; I met a massage therapist from Mill Creek, Oregon (Wendy) on the bus and we shared a couple of meals together during the cruise.
In Seward, I would have liked to visit the Seward Museum, where there is a three-part video about Jujiro Wada, an adventurer, entrepreneur, and musher who helped define the Iditarod Trail and attract miners to Fairbanks. (William H. Seward was the man who made the purchase of Alaska possible for two cents an acre, and many streets and landmarks are named after him.)
We were at sea on September 17 and 18. Our cruise departure was delayed by 10 hours because of stormy weather in Glacier Bay. Many of us were seasick because of the uncomfortable pitching of the ship.
I was determined to offset the high calorie meals by walking around the deck, but someone called me in on the first night because it was too windy and dangerous to be outside. I saw two glaciers while in Glacier Bay National Park.
On the ship, a Tlingit Native gave an informative lecture about ancestry and stories depicted on totem poles.
Our first port was Haines, Alaska, and I enjoyed a self-guided tour to find ten totem poles around the city. The only one I did not visit was one that had been moved to a family owned location about 10 miles away.
9/20 Thursday. In Juneau, I took a shuttle bus to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and followed the Nugget Falls Trail to get close enough to touch the falls and take a photo of the glacier. It was the highlight of my trip.
In the city museum in Juneau, I learned about Lee Hing, fondly nicknamed “China Joe” by the local miners. Hing owned and operated a restaurant in Fort Wrangell and moved to Cassiar in Canada after gold was discovered in 1872. The winter in Cassiar was bad that year and shippers could not get supplies to the camp. Two men wanted to buy all of Hing’s supplies in order to resell them to the miners at exorbitant prices. Hing refused to sell but instead called a meeting and divided his provisions among all the men, including the men who were pressuring him to sell to them. The miners never forgot how China Joe had saved them from starvation.
The boomtown at Juneau took Lee Hing and his friends there in 1881. By 1886, a bad economy moved disgruntled white workers to charter a schooner to take the Chinese immigrants to Juneau’s Treadwell gold mines to work as cheap laborers. The Chinese were told not to return. Upon hearing that there was one Chinese man left in Juneau, a mob assembled to take Lee Hing to the ship. A friend came out of the back and addressed the mob, telling them of Hing’s kindness and generosity and how he had saved many miners from starvation. Other men came out of doorways and behind trees with guns drawn, ready to give up their lives for their friend. Lee Hing was allowed to stay, the only Chinese man in Juneau for 20 years. When he died, it was said that he was “the only man in Alaska without an enemy.”
9/21 Friday. When I disembarked in Ketchikan, it was clear and beautiful but within the hour, it was cloudy.
I went on the Amphibious Duck Tour. Interesting facts:
The Ketchikan Tunnel is one you can drive around, through, and over.
Burger King closed after only a year because even though the restaurant was located close to a high school and shopping center, they had not factored in the wind. It could blow 35-70 miles an hour. With all the wind howling in the background, the orders were not clear. Once customers drove to the window to pay, the money would often fly away in the wind! Ketchikan gets 332 days of rain a year; they close the schools when there is sunshine!
We saw a row of houses built on the third level – the occupants have to climb 200 steps every day to get to and from home, so they are in good shape. Our tour guide said the owner would only forget his keys once!
I visited the library, a small history museum next to the library, and then walked around Creek Street, formerly the red light district. I ordered beer battered halibut and clam chowder at a restaurant called Annabelle’s – delicious!
It was formal night on the ship so I enjoyed steak and lobster and baked Alaska for dessert. I sat with Kat and Wesley from Lubbock, Texas, Claire and Bemma from Anchorage, and Brenda from Arizona, all good company.
9/22 Saturday. The chefs had prepared a dessert extravaganza for us complete with ice sculptures.
9/23 Sunday. Vancouver, B.C.
Went on a bus excursion and drove through Chinatown (one-third of the population is Chinese), then drove through Stanley Park, a wonderful place for bike riding, family gatherings, and community festivities.
Totem poles in Stanley Park.
Our tour guide ended the tour by telling us about a Chinese proverb:
“Before you try and change the world, let the world change you.”
I met some awesome people on the cruise, ate well, and didn’t pay to see eagles or orcas since eagles could easily be recognized by white spots in trees and two baby orcas swam right next to our ship. Salmon too were spawning, and I am glad I didn’t see any bears up close!
These are my memories of a fantastic trip…
Sally Yamada
September 27, 2012