Keeping up with the Manssons: Alaska, Part 2 - Skagway, Juneau, Ketchican and Victoria


View from the balcony of Skagway

We LOVED Alaska. I know that we had an excellent experience (from the wonderful cruise and cruise staff) to the weather being PERFECT the entire time we were there! Sunny and warm in each port! I know it would have been very different if the sun didn't shine and you could not see the beautiful snow capped mountains that surround all the cities. But it was amazing. What a beautiful place. All of the shore excursions we did were geared towards what the kids would like. We only had a handful to pick from because we had to work with a small time frame (less than 3 hours) and they had to be kid friendly. Overall, we think we did pretty good an enjoyed ourselves.

Trying to teach Henry the art of gold panning

In Skagway, the first port, we decided to do Liarsville Gold Panning. Liarsville was the north most town before the miners left on the Yukon gold trail. They called it Liarsville because the reporters would go to this tent town and stay their and report all of the tales from the acutal gold miners coming back as their own. Panning for gold is very tedious and Henry had more fun dunking the plate in and out of the water. Each pan had 2-4 gold flakes in it, and it took FOREVER. But the puppet show was fun, we got to roast marshmallows, meet Chip and Dale and Donald, and have a Salmon back (very delicious salmon and baked beans). Well worth the money even though the kids didn't enjoy the panning for gold.

Alaskan Husky puppy

Next port, Juneau. We did Summer dog sledding. What fun! This was by far the most enjoyable for everyone. We got to go on a 10 minute or so Dog sled ride, learn about the dog sled races, how the trainer train, breed, and race them, got a cup of hot cocoa, and got to hold an adorable Alaskan Husky puppy. Jillian LOVED the dogs. She also really enjoyed the sled ride. It was kind of scary since she had to sit in our lap with no seatbelt, but you really don't go to fast (about 14 MPH). Even thought it feels like 50. There was also a suspension bridge there that you got to walk across. It was very reminiscent of the bridges on a playground set, but the trees that held up each side were gigantic. Henry kept trying to reach around it, but it took Andrew, Grandma and Henry fingertip to fingertip to get around. We also really enjoyed seeing all the bald eagles there were in Juneau. They are huge and beautiful creatures.

After flight to St. George Lodge

The last Alaskan port was Ketchikan. We wanted to do a boat tour along with a dungeness crab feast, but it was sold out. So, we ended up doing a flightour instead. Surprisingly, it cost about the same amount since Jillian didn't need a ticket on the plane, but needed a ticket on the boat. We all got to experience a float plane. Henry liked the headphones the best, but both kids did really well on the plane. The both ate a little of the crab too, but it was a wierd time of day (around 9:30 AM), so I think I was the only one who really did the All-you-can-eat crab (since I absolutely LOVE dungeness crab!). These were not ordinary crab either. They were GIGANTIC. Huge! Even my mom said she had a better experience than she could remember. Andrew did take one for the team and had a beer (which was included in the price of the tour). Just could not make myself have a glass of wine that early, plus I needed all the room I could get for the delectable crab!

Character Breakfast, Henry smiling. Jillian watching

The final day of the cruise was the morning of our Character breakfast. We had a good time and the kids got to meet Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, and Minnie. The pictures were not that great because Jillian would not look at the camera. She was totally entranced by the characters and didn't want to take her eyes off them. We did get pictures with some character along the way of the cruise, but mostly we will wait for the really good photo ops for when the kids get older. The final port was Victoria Canada. We didn't actually get off the boat because the ashore time was 6:30 PM-10:30 PM. The kids were still on a pretty strict schedule (going to bed around 7:30, which was right after we finished dinner and gave them a bath). But, that is how I make my kids roll. We did get to go out and see the port after dinner, but basically we had dinner and went to sleep. We had an early start traveling back to Phoenix the following morning.

There was so much more to see and do in Alaska. We had a great time and it was one of the best vacations we have been on. We will definitely go back!