Skagway

Skagway is the furthest north our cruise ship goes into Alaska.  Population is 800 during the winter and goes to 2,000 in the summer.  On cruise days the town can have 10,000 people in it.  Weather was very windy, cold and showery which is very much like a winter day at home.   We had breakfast then took the bus into town (actually only 3-4 blocks) to see the sights.  Skagway is mostly very old buildings with boardwalks to walk on.  It has an old west theme which they successfully use to their advantage with the tourists.  Like most of the Alaska ports we have been to they have lots of jewelry stores for those inclined to make diamond purchases.  The whole town is protected because it is a historical landmark.  We took pictures of downtown, some bed & breakfasts and of the airport.   One of the paid attractions was a play on the history of the town in 1898.  We spent an hour watching a program about the town villain, Jeff Smith, who was killed in a shootout with the town hero in 1898.  Very well put on program and Goni thinks she is bringing culture to Grover by seeing plays.  We'll have to see about that.   At noon we met our bus for the Skagway and Yukon train ride up to Fraser, British Columbia.  We rode to the train depot and boarded an old train pulled by early 1900 diesel engines.  The tracks go along the same route that many of the prospectors walked to the gold rush in the Yukon before the railroad was built in 1898.  The weather was still overcast but the scenery we could see was beautiful.  At Fraser we boarded a bus and did a tourist trip to the Yukon Suspension Bridge then back to Skagway to meet the ship.   At the ship we settled in for a couple of shows including a ventriloquist in the theater and then a show in the lounge.  The lounge show was music from musicals including Rogers & Hammerstein and Cole Porter.  Very well done show and enjoyable.   Thursday morning and early afternoon is travel for our final destination at Prince Rupert, BC.