Bear Island - North Carolina

We recently visited Hammocks Beach State Park and took a ferry out to Bear Island.  The ferry service runs from the Hammocks Beach State Park headquarters on the mainland to Bear Island via Cow Channel. While the ride, which some 200,000 people a year take, is only 15 minutes long, it is narrow and winding.  It offers a great spot to launch kayaks so we will be returning with our kayaks once the weather is cooler and no hurricanes are in sight. 

Due to its location, Bear Island and nearby Huggins Island have often played a role in the protection of the mainland. During the Civil War, Confederate troops on Bear Island defended it against Union forces.  


We also had the rare opportunity to view loggerhead turtles making their way to the surf.  This was truly a rare event to witness such a sight.  Our photos were requested to be provided to the state of North Carolina for education programs.  We obliged.  

FYI...Loggerhead turtles are the most abundant of all the marine turtle species in U.S. waters. But persistent population declines due to pollution, shrimp trawling, and development in their nesting areas, among other factors, have kept this wide-ranging seagoer on the threatened species list since 1978.  Mature females will often return, sometimes over thousands of miles, to the beach where they hatched to lay their eggs.  

Memphis vs. East Carolina University (ECU) Football Game

Last Saturday we attended the University of Memphis vs ECU game in Greenville, NC.  Some friends of ours are alums with season tickets so we tagged along.  The folks in east carolina take their football seriously.  There were 50K people in attendance.  Sadly, the game was not very good as ECU scored 28 points in the first quarter before Memphis woke up from the plane ride.  Better luck next time for Memphis!

Victoria, British Columbia

We visited Victoria, British Columbia on our final stop before heading back to Seattle.  Victoria was a beautiful town with lots of shopping, restaurants and beautiful architecture.

Ketchikan, Alaska - Salmon Capital

Ketchikan relies on tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World."  For those interested in politics, the ½-mile-wide channel called the Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan from Gravina Island (where Ketchikan International Airport is located) is now famous. In August 2005 the 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223m to build the Gravina Island Bridge (nicknamed "the Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics) between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Ketchikan also hosts members of the "The Deadliest Catch" crew regularly.

On our day in Ketchikan, we took a short bus ride at 6AM through town and out to another bay area to go out salmon fishing.  We were accompanied by a man and his son who were visiting from the Caymans.  We caught about a dozen salmon (king, pink, silver).  We witnessed many eagles and even trolled past a lighthouse on our trip.  Our captain offered to smoke/ship the salmon to us back home, albeit for a hefty fee, but we declined.

We returned and did some shopping in town before heading back to the ship to head to Victoria, British Columbia.

  

Glacier Bay National Park - Alaska

We spent nearly an entire day cruising through Glacier Bay National Park viewing glaciers and wildlife.  Photos cannot do this day justice but we provide a sample here.  We got up at 5AM and claimed a prime table/chairs on a back deck of the ship.  The temperature was in the 40's so we put on layers and hit the coffee machines pretty hard.  We stayed outside for about nine hours so we were very glad we had packed some warm clothes.  The unfortunate part of having a great photo spot on the ship was constantly being ask to play photographer for the 3,000 others that woke up at 10AM.  At any rate, the scenery was unbelievable and we even witnessed some small brown bears eating a beached whale carcass.  Rangers from the park boarded the ship and narrated the major glaciers/attractions.  We would highly recommend this park (and the cruise for that matter) to anyone that loves the wild outdoors and raw natural wonders.

Yukon territory, Canada

The train ride that took us into the Yukon territory was fantastic.  We got to see some very remote and beautiful places.  We went into Fraser, Yukon, Canada.  Small place....in fact, the only people that live there are the border patrol officers!  It is a subartic tundra and the temps go to 60 below zero in the winter.  Needless to say, I still needed my long sleeves and fleece in July.  

Skagway, Alaska

Just chillin' out with a cup of coffee after breakfast.  We were in Skagway on Wednesday.  It also is a fairly isolate little town, but I believe it's one that you can drive to at least.  It has about 2400 residents in the summer and then after tourist season is over, it goes down to 400 residents.  One tiny little IGA grocery store that is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS in its prices (ask me how I know this---I needed some Crystal Light at $6 and Bottled water at $2.90 each!) 

We did book an excursion here on the train that took us through the old gold mining country and up into the Yukon territory (or is it a province?) of Canada....a place I never thought I'd get to go.

But while in Skagway, I couldn't not shop and go to the Sarah Palin store! 

Juneau, Alaska

See this little town at the base of the mountain?  Well, that's Juneau....the state's capitol.  It didn't seem that big.  But was nice.

The Alaska Governor's mansion.  I'm sure you all remember seeing it in on the news a lot when Sarah Palin lived there.

Juneau is apparently a city you pretty much can't drive to.  You have to come in by plane or ferry or cruise ship.  It did look a little rough around the edges, but everyone seemed very nice.

Seattle

Saturday afternoon we flew into Seattle, Washington to catch a cruise ship to Alaska.  We've been wanting to take an Alaskan cruise for quite a while and finally decided to do it.  Because of the total 7 hours of flying time from east coat to west coast, it was a good idea to fly into Seattle the day before so that we wouldn't be rushed. 

We flew Southwest, and had a very short layover at Midway in Chicago.  We forgot to check in online early and didn't get to sit together.  That's one of the few things I dislike about Southwest.....no assigned seating.  Ugh.  We arrived at about 10 p.m. Pacific time and after a forty dollar cab ride to the hotel, we didn't get in bed until about 11:30pm, which is 2:30 a.m. eastern time.....needless to say it was WAY past our bedtime.  But with our bodies still on eastern time, we were wide awake at 5:30 a.m. and the sun was coming up.  We have an awesome view of the bay from our hotel windows.  Mark did an awesome job of finding this great little boutique hotel, El Gaucho.

Hunger started to set in and we decided to take a walk at 6 a.m.  The temp is in the 50s here, a nice break from the 100 degree weather we've been experiencing in Raleigh.  We hit a Starbucks for breakfast, and then I simply HAD  to get my coffee from the ORIGINAL/VERY FIRST EVER Starbucks down in Pike's Place by the water.  I was shocked at how small it was.  They didn't sell anything but coffee (and it's variations), no muffins, etc.  And there was not a single place to sit.  Very different from the Starbucks we're used to nowadays.  

After that, we went down near the water and took some pictures.  Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible and you can't see the snow capped mountains in the background very well.   Then we walked several blocks to see the Space Needle.  Neat to see it in person.  And then we went on a quest to find a Rite Aid that was supposed to be near the hotel to acquire the MANY things that we forgot to pack--both of our razors, hair products, his deodorant, dental floss, shaving gel, and much more.  Yeah.  I did a pretty poor job of packing this time. I will be making a list of items to pack so that this doesn't happen again.

The Original Starbucks.  Or, as Shonda said "The Mothership". LOL