Day 9 From the land of sky blue waters

Awakened this morning by the sound of the announcement that tenders were now boarding to go ashore. Guess that tells you we slept like the dead last night. All this good mountain air is getting to us. (The Absolut-Captain and a late nite show didn’t hurt either.)
Opening the curtains we were assailed by a 180 degree view of splendiferous snow capped peaks reflected in calm blue waters. No precip in site we knew this was going to be a great day…and it has been so far.
In no particular hurry to get to Icy Strait Point, which we learned later is the year round home to only 836 mostly Tlingit people, we took our time with breakfast and boarded a tender. We were pleasantly surprised with the natural settings of converted old salmon cannery. The original building and dock now house a FEW shops (no big name jewelry shops to be found) a simple museum and a couple of food places. The biggest concession to modernization is the longest zipline in North America…no we didn’t. We learned that it takes a 45 minute bus ride up the mountain for a 90 second, 60 mph, $107 ride down. Are we cheap or cautious? You be the judge.

We spent about 2 hours walking along the nature and beach trails. All along keeping an eye out for wildlife. Spied a few birds and a sea lion/seal but no big mammals except the 2 legged variety. Lots of flora native to this rainforest area with woods straight out of The Wizard of Oz. Stopped at the point where everyone was gathered…to see whales? No…cell reception. After all it is Mother’s Day.

Arriving back at the dock we rested ourselves on a bench to soak up the warm sunshine. A simple remark to one of the employees, Janice, resulted in an hour long discussion about her life her and the development of Icy Strait Point as a ship destination within the last 5 years. This native Hoonah corporation provides job and incomes to the community while protecting their heritage and the environment of the area. No bingo for these Native Americans.

Returned to the ship for a late lunch, again but in the sun on deck 12 this time. While eating several of our shipmates were noticing a whale blow. We finally caught site of this too and saw at least one whale frolicking in the icy waters.
Tonight…a Mystery Dinner Theater, The Curse of the Dark Star Necklace in Portofinos. Tune in later to see who done it.