Souvenirs From Alaska

Alaska is one of the few places you can feel comfortable buying ivory. The carved ivory there is made from legally harvested walrus or whale bones that have washed up onto shore after a storm. The last time we were in Alaska, over 20 years ago, I purchased a small hand carved ivory seal. I cherish it as it is signed by the artist. Only 4 inches long, back then it cost me a hefty $100.00!

Ketchican: If I new then what I know now, I would not have bothered to shop in Ketchikan. It was difficult to find any shops that sold authentic Alaskan goods and when we did, there was a much smaller amount to choose from.

On this trip, I took some money specifically to buy another piece of ivory for my collection. In Ketchican, I found this small 2" whale for $78.00.

We also found this unique young eagle carving..made from a buffalo horn. This piece, roughly about 8" tall was a very reasonable $60.00.

Our next stop was Icy Strait Point, but this is where we went Whale Watching and our ship left port earlier than other ports, so we did not shop much here.

Juneau was a shoppers paradise. It was here that I found a unique sweater shop that sold hand made Alpaca fur sweaters... Oh my they were so beautiful, but with a price tag of over $300.00 I settled for these unique fingerless long gloves. They are so Victorian and I love how they feel on! They cost about $40.00.

It was here in Juneau, where I also found the oldest Trading Post store that was in itself a tourist attraction. They had EVERYTHING Alaskan made, including hundreds of pieces of carved ivory! HUNDREDS! I chose this whale, on an ivory pedestal and over 3" long for $212.00. Ouch - I know .. a bit high..but I have no regrets.

You can compare the 2 pieces side by side.

By the time I reached Seward, I thought surely we were done shopping, but while we were looking for an Alaskan patch for Don, I found a shop where I was delighted to see unique Ulu knives made with Elk horn handles and stands. This one cost just $55.00, which was a steel compared to every other place where they were charging upwards of $200.00!

..this is NOT something you can put in your carry on luggage!I had not planned on buying so many souvenirs for myself... but I smile every single time I see them...for they trigger many wonderful memories!

So this wraps up my posts on our Alaskan cruise. I hope if you are thinking about taking a trip to Alaska, by ship or any other way, that this has helped you. It was hard to leave and come back to reality.. even though I did miss our family, friends and beloved pets!

Alaskan Cruise - Dome Top Scenic Train Ride

The train ride was the last leg of our journey.. unless you count the plane ride from Anchorage back to Texas!

There were 2 choices for this train ride.. either coach which would have been about $85.00 per person. With this we would have ridden in a car further back and it would not have had the glass dome top. You can however, rotate in and out of one dome top area and incidentally.. $85.00 pp is the cheapest way to get from Seward to Anchorage!

We opted to buy the Gold dome tickets though. They cost $130.00 each. With this, we had seat assignments in a car that was very forward in the train and was a dome top car, so the entire trip we experienced the full view! Well worth the extra money in my opinion!

The total ride was 4 hours long. There was a bar tender in our car and beneath us was a dining car, just for the Gold Star Dome passengers.

After we boarded and got settled, one of the cabin stewards told us that the train conductor realized that this was a scenic train ride and would slow the train when we approached a scenic area so we could take pictures.

.. but if anyone spotted any wildlife, we should shout it out, so that everyone could get a chance to see it too.

We were told to look for bears, moose, eagles and Dahl mountain sheep!

We did see a bear, but he was so quick, I did not get a picture of him!

We also saw eagles and Dahl sheep... but no moose.





Here we are in the dining car. The food was excellent.. not just your normal sandwich and fries.. but really nice cuisine!

I loved the art in the dining car as well.

As we were traveling, I realized that I had never heard anyone make a comment if one side of the train was more scenic than the other..

.and while there were beautiful views from both.. I do believe if you are going the route from Seward to Anchorage, the right side of the train is a bit nicer.


If I got up and walked to the back of our car, there was an area outside where we could take pictures without worry of glare from the windows.

I enjoyed going out there.. but had to rotate inside and out..

..because it was quite windy!


As our journey continued, I was able to strike up conversations with some of the other travelers. I mostly talked to the woman seated directly behind us. We were both so amazed by the beauty we were blessed to see!



.. as our train ride came to an end.. we started to get closer and closer to Anchorage. The closer we got, we began to see more and more houses. At one point there were houses in a row, with the back yards facing the train tracks. Lots of people were waving at us. I noticed that a lot of the homes had second story porches and that even though it was after 10PM, many of the homeowners were relaxing on their porches-

I sat lazily looking out the window when all of a sudden I could not believe what I thought I saw... I blinked (HARD) and looked again... stunned to silence, I quickly looked over the back of my seat to my newest friend to see if she saw what I was looking at. Our eyes met and she had the exact same look of disbelief as I. We both were bewildered...A RATHER LARGE STARK NAKED MAN was walking across his balcony... Not close to the house, not trying to hide himself in any way ... but wide out in the open. I was not sure what to do... so in following the cabin stewart's instructions to point out wild life, I stated rather loudly.... "WHALE!"

Alaskan Cruise - Seward

Our ship arrived in Seward about 4am Friday morning. We disembarked by 9. We did not have any formal plans for Seward..so we were waiting to see what was available to us. When we left the port, a free city bus was waiting for us. It was less than a mile to the train station... but with so much luggage in tow, we needed the ride. I give the train a 10+ for the way they organized the flow of passenger traffic. You see, we arrived at the train station at 9:20am and our train was not scheduled to depart until 6pm! They gladly took our checked bags right when we got off of the bus, and allowed us to check our carry on bags inside the depot. We were allowed to enjoy our day without worry of lugging anything around with us!

After a short walk through the city, we realized that it was too small to entertain us for the whole day. We went to the visitors bureau and learned about a movie that played daily at the town library about the town's historic earthquake, and flooding tsunami. We also learned that the salmon had just started to run!..

I wanted to rent bicycles.. but with salmon come bears.. so Don vetoed that idea. No problem - we can rent a car... and am I ever glad we did! It was over $150.00 for the one day though - OUCH!

We first drove to a place called (ironically) Bear Lake. We did indeed see the salmon running.. but I could not snap a picture quickly enough!

There were other places though where they were just hanging out in pools of water.

This is Bear Lake. It was beautiful.. and every homeowner had a sea plane. I have heard that over 50% of the population of Alaskan residents are pilots!

It was so beautiful, I could imagine living here... errr well - in the summer anyway!

After doing that, we headed back to Seward, ate lunch in a wonderful bakery and headed over to the library to see the movie. It was very interesting. After the movie, we were directed to a collection of pictures children who lived through it drew after the disaster. Some of them were very dark and sad.

Our next destination was to drive up to Exit Glacier.

The drive there was just breath taking. It was clear sunny and just warm enough to not need a jacket.

Once we arrived in the parking lot for the Glacier Park, we found out that there were trails that would take us right up to the glacier. It was only about 1.2 miles. The trails started out very well paved and easy.

..but the more we hiked..

..the steeper the trail got.

No matter.. we made it and it was more than worth it!

Lots of people were out hiking that day, so we did not worry much about bears.

When they said the trail would take us right up next to the glacier...

..they were not kidding!

..it was right there, in front of us!!!





..this was the Exit Glacier Information center...and gift shop.. and BATHROOM!

On our way back to Seward to return the car.. we thought that our trip was coming to a close. We looked over to the side of the road and saw something...

We stopped the car and backed up... luckly no one was behind us..

..look what we got to see!

We spent the last 2 hours driving back to Seward and walking around the city.

I felt a touch of meloncholy.

I will miss Seward.. and Skagway.. and Juneau too..

I thought I was done shopping but found a very reasonable store selling Ulu knives. They are great for chopping vegetables and are unique to this region. The one I purchased was made with a handle of Elk antler. It was reasonably priced at $55.00 compared to so many others I had passed by in other cities for way over $100.00.

I also purchased a barrette hand painted in Russia. There were a lot of Russian made items in Alaska.. I suppose due to the heritage that Russia used to own Alaska.

I have heard people say that the minute you get back from an Alaskan Cruise, you start to plan the next one. I did not feel that way about the Caribbean, but I do about Alaska!



I hope you enjoyed my write up about our trip. I will do a few more posts.. the train ride and one on the things we purchased!