Video trip to Skagway

 https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvr14MnXL

We shower and get going early for breakfast at the Chilkat Restaurant & Bakery. First we get a picture with Rose and Mila.

Nile, Mila, Linda & Rose

We drive by it on a side street, but can’t find any place to park.  We park on the main street and walk back to the restaurant. Doesn’t look open as we approach. Someone ahead of us walks up to the front door and turns around walking towards us.  Tells us it is closed for some unknown reason and suggests another place and we walk along mainstreet with her.  Turns out she grew up here in Haines and frequently visits family in the summer from Seattle where her family lives.. We get a little history and have breakfast with her. Eventually her mother and sister shows up.

We have a little extra time so we drive to the state park, Chilkoot State Recreation site on Chilkoot Lake about 5 miles north of the ferry terminal. The lake flows into the inlet the ferry terminal is on via the one mile long Chilkoot river, which is a salmon run, with lots of fishermen.  We were hoping for bears, but they tend to show up in the evenings.

Salmon run

We drive back to the ferry terminal and get in lane 7th, the Stand By lane. After everyone else is loaded on the ferry we are the last vehicle to board.

Very nice boat ride 16 miles or so to Skagway, a very different place than Haines. Four very large Cruise ships, much larger than the one dock yesterday at Haines. For all the people walking around there are few cars, plenty of parking on main street, if you don’t run over someone.

Approaching Skagway

We have 4 bars 3G “cell service”, but with four cruise ships the data rate is zero, until they all leave by 9:00 PM.

Lots of pedestrians, few cars. One sharp person in the crowd yells out “Size Matters” as we drive by

A 6:00 PM they roll up the side walks and close the shops

We head to dinner at The Fish Company, recommended by a local. Actually a Canadian from Whitehorse that keeps a small fishing boat in the boat basin here.  Linda and I split a King Crab dinner. It’s ok, but it isn’t lobster.

End of the day for the Skagway Train