June 23

Our cab was right on time at 6AM, and we caught a 7:30 flight to Juneau. Another cab whisked us through light rain to the ferry terminal, where we checked in for our 6-hour ride to Skagway aboard the Taku. We staked out three chairs in the front observation lounge, and then I went exploring. Taku is one of the bigger ferries in the Alaskan Marine Highway. She was built in 1963, and has been lengthened and refitted a couple of times in her life. In addition to the front observation lounge, she had several other public lounges (some with big, airline-style reclining chairs), a bar, a cafeteria, a small game room, and a few dozen cabins.

The Coast Guard pulled a surprise inspection at the dock, making the crew launch the lifeboats and go through emergency drills. This delayed us more than an hour, but it was interesting to watch. Once we got underway, we saw two humpbacks almost immediately, and had a beautiful ride up to Haines, then Skagway.

We arrived about 2 hours late, at 9. We, along with several other ferry passengers, jumped in the courtesy van and rode about 6 blocks to Sgt. Preston’s Lodge, a cute and clean little hotel that I had found on Tripadvisor.com. The rooms were basic but comfortable.

We were not sleepy, so we walked back down to First Street, sightseeing and taking pictures. The last cruise ship of the day had pulled out just before we had docked, so the streets were empty and quiet, except for the noise of the locals celebrating the end of a workday in Moe’s Frontier Bar.

Biker Bar

Mom went to take a picture of the Artic Brotherhood Hall, and just as she was getting ready to snap, a black dodge truck pulled up in front. Mom was miffed. As the driver got out, she yelled “Move your truck!” “Why?” was the response. “Because I want to make a picture of that building!” “But it’s 100 years old, the truck is brand new!” So we became friends with Stewart, a local decked out in Harley apparel, a Montana native that had been in Skagway quite a few years. He was quite entertaining, and gave us a little overview of local history. And he moved his truck.

We stopped into a little bar for a nightcap, then headed off to bed.