Our second stop in the largest state of the union brings us to another cold spot. Icy Strait Point – or I just called it "Icy" for short. This is a dedicated, privately owned cruise ship stop near the town of Hoonah. The property is owned by the Huna Totem Corp and the only privately owned cruise ship port in Alaska. We dock here at 10:00 a.m. today, but before docking, I have my first on-board massage.
The young lady who does my massage is also very sweet and does a pretty good job. She finds that ‘spot’ – ever present – next to my right shoulder blade that is usually about 29 inches of solid rock (aka my knotted muscle) and exclaims “It is soooo bad!” Yep that’s the spot, dearie, just keep going.
Upon completion she explains to me about her life changing and extending products that I simply must buy to survive. Yes, yes I know – and now I must be going to meet mom for our tour.
Mom and I bundled up in our arctic wear and headed for land. Small gift shop, small museum and tram stop greeted us as we arrived. Humph. Not much here, but if you take the tram across the way there’s a tad bit more to see.
With our tour starting in about 30 minutes we just found what we wanted to buy at the shop and headed back to wait for a boat. (Yes, I see the irony, cruising on a boat and then getting off and waiting for other boats.)
Back by the ship we are waiting to go Whale Watching culminating with a Seafood Feast. Fortunately, we found a spot under an awning where mom could sit and I could stand without getting rained on.
We got on the (thankfully) ‘enclosed with plenty of comfy seats’ boat to head out to sea to spot some humpback whales during their annual feeding trip this time of year.
Cool point of interest: in January, 2020, mom and I took a trip to see friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (That was a trip for her birthday too, now that I think of it.) We went on a humpback whale watching boat tour then as well.
Now, we get to see the same whales feeding in June in Alaska. We saw whales both times. Although I must say, we saw a lot more whales and a lot more of the whales in PV. I think they prefer warmer weather too.
On this tour we got a bonus of seeing a sea otter colony as well as some sea lions on a buoy. One helpful suggestion I would like to offer any tour operators that are doing Whale Watching Tours (north or south): 2 hours watching these spectacular mammals is plenty. Seriously.
We were finally heading to the seafood feast portion of this excursion. Thanking God and the Baby Jesus in heaven (again)!
We arrive to an outdoor picnic area where they have a southern style crab boil for us. Snow crab, shrimp, mussels and sausage along with potatoes and corn on the cob – all you can eat.
A small fire roaring in the center of the area melted the marshmallows for our s’mores dessert. Food was great! I can’t say for sure if it is easier or harder to shell crab with numb fingers. Either way, just as messy.
The drawn butter was a lovely touch. And it stayed melted till we got to the table, put a bite of crab into it (after the shell removal) and was only slightly solidified for the first bite. Post first bite involved putting butter paste on the crab if you so chose.
Melting the marshmallows was a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of that thing they call “heat” and I was hopeful the sugar might give some increase of blood flow back into my extremities. Marshmallow melted, time to put on the chocolate and graham cracker. Alas, the cooling of the marshmallow from the fire to the table did not allow for any chocolate melting, but I ate it anyway. (refer back to the dream of sugar rush increasing blood flow)
Fully stuffed from our feast, we head for the tram to ride back to the ship and potential for that distant dream of heat and feeling my fingers once again. Here I am being reminded – it’s the little things that matter in life. Even mom was cold and that is not a common occurrence! I believe that I now know where the saying “colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra” may have started…
Upon return to the luxury liner with heat, a sun on the side and a Starbucks in-side, I headed for coffee. With Bailey’s. Ironically, the 3 shots per cup (yesTHREE) of Bailey’s I had the barista add to each LARGE cup of coffee were included with my drink supplement. Each cup of coffee cost about $6. Right then, I would have paid $60.
Finally warm and feeling most of the fingers and toes, we headed for our “fancy” dinner at Le Bistro – the specialty French restaurant. The spot where I did the wine tasting.
Ooo – la – la! In a gorgeous dining room with a table next to the window, the servers were spectacular. The appetizers of cauliflower puree and cream of mushroom soup were nothing short of luxurious. Entrees of crusted pork chop and filet were melt-in-our-mouths delicious and the decadent dessert, an éclair, may just have been life changing. (Maybe I should tell the spa girls about this…?)
A night cap listening to the playful piano music in the Windjammer topped off a great day. Yes, despite my frozen fingertips, it was another great day full of fun.
NOTE: If you click on the pix, you can read the captions and see the entire photo.
The young lady who does my massage is also very sweet and does a pretty good job. She finds that ‘spot’ – ever present – next to my right shoulder blade that is usually about 29 inches of solid rock (aka my knotted muscle) and exclaims “It is soooo bad!” Yep that’s the spot, dearie, just keep going.
Upon completion she explains to me about her life changing and extending products that I simply must buy to survive. Yes, yes I know – and now I must be going to meet mom for our tour.
Mom and I bundled up in our arctic wear and headed for land. Small gift shop, small museum and tram stop greeted us as we arrived. Humph. Not much here, but if you take the tram across the way there’s a tad bit more to see.
With our tour starting in about 30 minutes we just found what we wanted to buy at the shop and headed back to wait for a boat. (Yes, I see the irony, cruising on a boat and then getting off and waiting for other boats.)
Back by the ship we are waiting to go Whale Watching culminating with a Seafood Feast. Fortunately, we found a spot under an awning where mom could sit and I could stand without getting rained on.
We got on the (thankfully) ‘enclosed with plenty of comfy seats’ boat to head out to sea to spot some humpback whales during their annual feeding trip this time of year.
Cool point of interest: in January, 2020, mom and I took a trip to see friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (That was a trip for her birthday too, now that I think of it.) We went on a humpback whale watching boat tour then as well.
Now, we get to see the same whales feeding in June in Alaska. We saw whales both times. Although I must say, we saw a lot more whales and a lot more of the whales in PV. I think they prefer warmer weather too.
On this tour we got a bonus of seeing a sea otter colony as well as some sea lions on a buoy. One helpful suggestion I would like to offer any tour operators that are doing Whale Watching Tours (north or south): 2 hours watching these spectacular mammals is plenty. Seriously.
We were finally heading to the seafood feast portion of this excursion. Thanking God and the Baby Jesus in heaven (again)!
We arrive to an outdoor picnic area where they have a southern style crab boil for us. Snow crab, shrimp, mussels and sausage along with potatoes and corn on the cob – all you can eat.
A small fire roaring in the center of the area melted the marshmallows for our s’mores dessert. Food was great! I can’t say for sure if it is easier or harder to shell crab with numb fingers. Either way, just as messy.
The drawn butter was a lovely touch. And it stayed melted till we got to the table, put a bite of crab into it (after the shell removal) and was only slightly solidified for the first bite. Post first bite involved putting butter paste on the crab if you so chose.
Melting the marshmallows was a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of that thing they call “heat” and I was hopeful the sugar might give some increase of blood flow back into my extremities. Marshmallow melted, time to put on the chocolate and graham cracker. Alas, the cooling of the marshmallow from the fire to the table did not allow for any chocolate melting, but I ate it anyway. (refer back to the dream of sugar rush increasing blood flow)
Fully stuffed from our feast, we head for the tram to ride back to the ship and potential for that distant dream of heat and feeling my fingers once again. Here I am being reminded – it’s the little things that matter in life. Even mom was cold and that is not a common occurrence! I believe that I now know where the saying “colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra” may have started…
Upon return to the luxury liner with heat, a sun on the side and a Starbucks in-side, I headed for coffee. With Bailey’s. Ironically, the 3 shots per cup (yesTHREE) of Bailey’s I had the barista add to each LARGE cup of coffee were included with my drink supplement. Each cup of coffee cost about $6. Right then, I would have paid $60.
Finally warm and feeling most of the fingers and toes, we headed for our “fancy” dinner at Le Bistro – the specialty French restaurant. The spot where I did the wine tasting.
Ooo – la – la! In a gorgeous dining room with a table next to the window, the servers were spectacular. The appetizers of cauliflower puree and cream of mushroom soup were nothing short of luxurious. Entrees of crusted pork chop and filet were melt-in-our-mouths delicious and the decadent dessert, an éclair, may just have been life changing. (Maybe I should tell the spa girls about this…?)
A night cap listening to the playful piano music in the Windjammer topped off a great day. Yes, despite my frozen fingertips, it was another great day full of fun.
NOTE: If you click on the pix, you can read the captions and see the entire photo.
RSS Feed
