Y’all, we went to Alaska. Alaska!

Alaska is so incredibly beautiful. I thought I knew how lovely it would be, but I was not prepared for the majesty of this part of the country. I have never seen so many waterfalls in all my life. They were so long and so full and so loud. We could hear waterfalls from the cruise ship, such a magical sound.

The forest was lush with crazy tall Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlocks. We saw wild blueberries, red and black currants, and wild salmon berries on a walk in Saxman, AK.

Would it even be a trip to Alaska if you don’t see a couple glaciers? When we stopped in Juneau we went to Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongans National Forest. Seeing a glacier is an indescribable experience. You are in the presence of a natural phenomenon that is larger than life and older than time. Mendenhall glacier has retreated over 2.5 miles sine 1500, and will continue to do so. When a glacier retreats, it scrapes away everything from the rock beneath leaving a blank slate. The blank slate left behind is then a new home to lichen and other plant systems that don’t have roots or at least not very deep ones, until they create a soil for shrubs and eventually trees to grow in. It takes about 350 years, but a new patch of forest will grow where the glacier used to be.

We also saw a giant rainbow over the glacier, bald eagles, salmon swimming to spawn, and a sea lion. It was an afternoon we won’t forget.

We also cruised through Glacier Bay National Park and saw Margerie Glacier. This bad boy is huge and only accessible by boat or plane. It’s one of the most active and stable glaciers, neither growing or receding. The day we cruised through Glacier Bay we had three park rangers on the boat with us sharing information over the PA system, hosting seminars on glaciers, which we obviously attended, and answering questions. When we got to Margerie glacier Christopher and I went outside on the front of the boat to take it all in. All of the people outside with us were completely silent. It was the largest crowd of silent people I had ever been in. It was another indescribable experience with a glacier. We were cold, it was misting and drizzling and foggy, but it didn’t matter. We were in the presence of something magical. Something we might not ever get to experience again.

Next, we stopped at Icy Straight Point, Hoonah, AK. Hoonah is a small city, only about 850 people live there, and is a mostly Tlingit community. The Tlingit people here had a long history of fishing and logging as their primary industries, but as regulations changed they weren’t able to make a living in those ways any longer. As a community they decided to take advantage of their beautiful land and create a place for cruise ships to dock and share their rich history. They built the world’s largest ziprider, two gondolas that take you to different parts of the island, which is insanely steep, and in an old fish canning building created a museum, opened restaurants, and shops selling local art and goods, and touristy items. The Tlingit community has maintained 100% ownership of the attractions on their island, and are one of, if not the only native community to do so. The facilities are incredible and it’s defiantly an accomplishment to be proud of.

We took a nature tour tram ride at the top of a mountain and saw beautiful vistas, learned about the community and history from a man who had lived there his whole life, and saw lots of the native plants and trees. We saw a lot of birds, but not many other animals on our little ride, which was a little disappointing, but still a lovely experience.

The second to last port was Ketchikan, AK. We chose to visit Saxman Native Village, about a 10 minute bus ride from the port. We got to learn about the Tlingit people that live here, meet and hear from a master totem carver, learn the stories told by the totems in their totem park, take a short walk through some of the extra tall trees, see some of the wild berries that grow there, and watch a traditional dancing and singing performance in the Beaver Clan House. It was incredible. I am so grateful to native people who allow tourists to visit their communities and share their history and traditions. They have every right to be like fuck off, but I love learning about how other cultures and communities live, what they eat, what they do for work and fun, and how they carry on traditions like languages, celebrations, clothing, story telling, etc.

I think many Americans who had ancestors come from Europe very early in the settlement of what would become the US, like my family, lose a lot of the traditions that might have otherwise been passed down had our families stayed in their country or region of origin. But so any early settlers came to America to make a new life, so our history is short compared to native communities that have been passing on traditions since time immemorial. I think we need to look to those communities for ways we can preserve the traditions we’ve created and want to pass on.

The final port was Victoria, BC, Canada, but because of intense fog we were delayed getting in, and only had two hours in port. We arrived at 9:30 PM and decided it probably wasn’t worth getting off the boat. All of the excursions had been cancelled, it was late, we’d all been to Canada before and felt like we’d rather just visit Victoria another time, during the day when things would be open.

The picture above was the view from our balcony for several hours the day we were cruising to Victoria. It was kind of nuts. I’ve never seen fog that dense. But Christopher and I love the fog horn, so that was fun to hear it almost all day. We went to the front of the boat and outside to get the best blast sounds, but holy shit it was cold and wet in that fog.

The most bizarre part of this trip was how empty the boat was. There were about 650 passengers on a boat that can accommodate 3900 people. There were almost 1000 crew and staff members, so we had the absolute best service imaginable. There were times we’d be in the main dining room with only five other tables of people, or at the outdoor buffet and bar that had enough tables for probably 150, alone. We’d walk by the pools and hot tubs, empty. It was so strange, but also amazing, like we were on a semi-private cruise. We cruised on the Norwegian Sun in a family balcony stateroom.

If you are a brand picky basic bitch like me some of the highlights were: Heinz ketchup, Lipton tea bags (several flavors), and they are in the process of switching to Coke products. Our boat literally changed over the day we got off, so I cried a little inside when I saw the pallets of Coca Cola as we disembarked.

We had a really nice time and my only complaint was that the port stops were too short, most were only four hours, and then the last one was two hours. I need more exploring time, NCL!