Seattle

Seattle is a great city! Our cruise left out of Seattle so we decided to spend a couple of days there before we left. And I am so glad we did. There is so much to do in Seattle and you can walk or find transportation anywhere. We stayed in the Marriott Waterfront hotel which is in a great location - right on the water and within walking distance to anything. We were just a couple of blocks away from Pike Place Market. The market is so much bigger than anything I had ever imagined. There were so many things there. Tons of fresh flowers, fresh fruits and veggies, and lots of fresh fish. We also had coffee at the original Starbucks. There is a restaurant in the market called Lowell's. I had the best dungeness crab omelet for breakfast. Just amazing stuff! We decided that one day we would explore the Space Needle. We walked a few blocks to catch a monorail that went straight there. The Space Needle was great. At the base of the needle is Music Experiment Project and Science Fiction Museum. They are housed in the same building and a definite must see. We also decided to take a DUCK ride around Seattle which the kids loved. We also spent a day at the Pacific Science Museum, which is really large. It is a really amazing place because almost everything is hands on. Its like a huge children's museum for everyone. We even saw Kung Fu Panda there on the IMAX screen. You can spend several hours in this museum, which is exactly what we did. On the way to the museum we walked through the Olympic Sculpture Park. Gorgeous views of the water with a hillside of unusual artwork. There is a small museum with a cafe inside, which is were we stopped to grab a quick lunch. We ate so much great food in Seattle. Lots of really fresh fish prepared in some really unique ways. I am definitely going to miss Seattle. For more Seattle Pictures, check out the 1st slideshow on the right or got to my Seattle web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationSeattle

This is my dad singing at the cafe in the Music Experience Project. He is always good for a song!

On the Ship

We traveled on the Star Princess. We did a round trip cruise from Seattle and chose a mini suite with a balcony, which I would definitely have to have if I ever cruise again. We saw so many great things from our balcony it was amazing. Several times, after a long day, or even a long morning, we would come back to the rooms to let the kids rest. We ordered room service, which was pretty good, and sat on our balcony watching the amazing views. The ship was incredible. So much to see and do and everything going on at once. You don't have time to do it all. We had a seated dinner time, but found ourselves using the 24 hour buffet or one of the burger or pizza grills. It was easier with the kids to be able to eat when they were hungry instead of waiting for our dinning time. The food in the dinning room is a little better than the buffet, but a lot of it is the same or similar. The food on the buffet was not bad. I could always find something I liked and I was never hungry. In fact, feel like we were eating all of the time. There was always food available. There were so many activities to choose from going on all the time. I felt like I did not get enough time just to hang out on the boat. We went to a champagne art auction, a trivia contest, large lectures on wildlife in the area, music performances, and so on. We even found a nice deck area on a warm day and, once the kids were in the kid zone, got our books and read on the deck, watching the wake of the ship in the ocean. It was all really amazing. My boys loved the kid zone. Lots of activities for them to do and keep them busy. The service was great and everyone was really friendly. Cruising is a wonderful experience. To see more great pictures, check out the slideshow or http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationOnTheShip

Ketchikan

Ketchikan is a neat town right on the water. Lots of great shops and resturaunts. If you don't have a tour booked, there are tons of things you can do even after you get off the boat. There is some sort of tour offered on every corner. We decided to do a personal tour and it was wonderful. We used David with Ketchikan Taxi Cab Tours (http://www.ketchikantaxicabtours.com/) He showed us all around Ketchikan in a small van. My family of 4, along with my parents fit nicely in the van. It was a great tour and I highly recommend it. David, a native of the area, took us to some really great places. We saw lots of eagles and eagles nest. We saw a totem pole park and met a lady who carves totem poles. We saw a lot of things that we would not have seen on a regular tour. We really enjoyed it and my kids had a great time too. Ketchikan is a really neat town and a great place to walk around. Creek Street is a small series of stores and homes that are on a beautiful creek. Check out my pics of Ketchikan http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationKetchikan

Juneau

On this day we went to the Gastineau Mill and Gold Mine Tour. This excursion was interesting, but the kids were a little bored. We traveled to an old gold mine. You take the tour into the mine and they demonstrate tools they used while the tour was being used. They showed pictures and explained how they got the men and gold, up and down the mountain. At the end of the tour, we got to pan for gold. We each found a few flakes of gold in our pan and got to bring it home with us. Stone actually found a very small Garnet to bring home as well. The best part of this day was taking the tram in town and going up to the mountain top. There is a small museum and gift shop there, as well as an eagle you can see up close. And trails that continue up the mountain. Lots of snow still on the ground and we got to have some snow ball fights. The view was amazing. We ate some incredible food on this trip. I have never had so much great food than what we had all over Alaska and Seattle. On this day we ate at the Twisted Fish Company which was near the base of the tram. Fantastic fresh Black Cod and Hallibut Tacos. And more Alaska Summer Beer which is a staple at every resturaunt. Check the pics out on the slideshow on the right or go to http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationJuneau

Skagway

What a fun day! We got off the boat early that morning in Skagway. We met our group at 7:45 am. The sun had been up since 4:00 am so it felt a lot later in the day than it was. Also, the sun sets after 10:00pm so it really got our body clocks off. Once we met our group we took a ferry boat to a very, very small town called Hanes. It is a beautiful little town, supposedly one of the most photographed in Alaska. We took a bus to Takshanuk Mountain Trail (takshanukmountaintrail.com). We then took Kawasaki 4x4 mules up the mountain. It was awesome! We went up around 1,000 feet and stopped at a lodge for fresh baked cookies. The view was amazing. We then went further up the mountain for some incredible views and amazing scenery. My boys even had a snow ball fight! Then we went back down (which is a little more scary than going up). We went back to the lodge for baked chicken and fresh fried Hallibut, which was really pretty amazing. Then back down to the base of the trail. It was really an amazing adventure. For more pictures, see the slide show or got to my Skagway web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationSkagwayAndHanes . Here is a short video or our crazy ride! (I chose not to put the one with me screaming in the back ground). Its really hard to hold on and record a video or take pictures.

Canada

Canada was the last excursion on our trip. We arrived in the early afternoon, around 4:30. Our excusion was aboard a double decker bus. We were kind of taking it easy toward the end of our cruise. There are some gardens in Victoria that are supposed to be some of the most beautiful anywhere, but we opted to check the town out. We walked around the square, which went around their harbor and found a place to have dinner. When we got there, the temperature was sunny and in the 60s. It quickly dropped and became windy. The wind was chilly too. We were dinning on a patio and not quite prepared for the colder weather. We took a pedi cab (bicycle driver) back to the boat. Earlier that day it was warm enough to enjoy a drink on an outside deck on the boat. The boys swam in the hot tub and took a couple of dips in the freezing cold pool. You can see pictures of the decks and pools in the bottom slide show, as well as shots of Canada. You can see more pics our Canada day by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/tammie.lb/0806AlaskaVacationCanada