We woke up in Haines this morning. One of the best things about traveling by cruise ship is the ship moves to new places while you sleep in a comfy bed. We had reserved bikes at the Sockeye Cycle Shop for a morning ride. We road up the valley created by a glacier for about 5 miles. The views of the fjord around us were wonderful. We spotted an eagle with a fish, it flew into its nest! It was cold and windy so we didn’t go too far especially because the wind was at our backs and we’d have to ride into it on the return trip.
After our ride we walked around Haines. We found Fort Seward, built during the gold rush days to keep order, we also found some totem poles and a replica of a tlinket meeting house. Before heading back to the ship we toured the Sheldon Museum. It was small and not really worth the $18 entrance fee, but we figured that went to the community.
We had a quick lunch back on ship and headed out againt for our kayaking excursion. We layered up because it was cold and threatening rain. There were 14 other crazy people willing to kayak in this weather. We loaded up in two rather old vans and drove to Chilkat Lake. The driver gave us a tour of Haines on the way. At the lake we were issued paddles and safety gear and the guides helped us lunch our two man kayak. Even with the low hanging clouds, the lake was beautiful. The guides told us to look for “golf balls in the trees” - eagles. We saw five. After our paddle they provided a light lunch (which seemed silly because there’s all that food on the ship for us). They had wraps and PB&J sandwiches. They also had bags of “branded” chips. I was quite happy with my PB&J and a bag of Doritos. Some familiar comfort food! (I am not a foodie). The young guides were fun to chat with. They live in Haines in tents and DYI RV’s. Our driver used to be a second grade teacher, but he quit to be a summer kayak guide. In winter he races sled dogs in the lower 48. He also told us why seagulls don’t fly in the bay,, because that would make them bagels! Lol
Back on the ship we rested, stopped at the panorama lounge for a drink before dinner at the Italian restaurant. We both had soup, pasta and Cathy had steak while Andy had the fish of the day, grouper. For dessert Cathy had chocolate cake and Andy had a selection called “your favorite coffee and a trio of small pastries”, when the plate arrived it had a severely undersized biscotti and the tiniest sandwich cookie we had ever seen! Not to mention the trio was short one item, but who’s counting ! We had a good laugh. After dinner we went to the show where a woman in a very shimmery dress sang popular old show tunes and pop songs.
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