We had fantastic pizza and cannolis at Maggio‘s Restaurant near Kenedy‘s place. .

…bought some new luggage (Jayme’s suitcase fell apart) and played pass the pig. It’s hard to say who won since we changed the rules 15 times.

Off to General Mitchell Airport! Even with the new TSA rules, Jayme still got stopped at security.

And after security, we “recombobulated”….

Had a few celebratory drinks…

Made a few interesting purchases

And headed to the gate 100% travel ready! Woo hoo!

We flew through Denver and landed safely in Vancouver, BC.

Heyyy Macarena….

To get to our airport, we needed to take the skytrain. When asked how to find the skytrain, the “very helpful” airport agent vaguely pointed and suggested we head “that way” and look up. 🤨

Vancouver from the skytrain…

What the… what? How did they get a street named after them?

We found our hotel on the absolute wrongest side of the skytrain tracks.

But it was a super cool hotel that started out as an indigenous artists’ retreat thingy and was later converted to a hotel and art gallery. Proceeds from the hotel are donated to native artists.

“Tutu” is the code word we decided we’d use to call each other out when we swear.

Anyway….we had dinner at a great seafood place

Authentic Canadian lobster poutine

An oyster shooter

More oysters

And bananas foster for dessert. It was amazing!

I don’t know what the heck this stuff is. Nasty.

We ubered back to the hotel in a fancy Tesla with confusing door handles and a glass top roof.

Back at the hotel, we toured the art gallery…

I know someone who might like this shirt!

And headed back to our room….

And the port where we had our first sighting of the Celebrity Solstice.

I left Jayme for literally one minute to take a picture of the boat. Apparently, that’s all the time he needed to make new friends.

We made it to the port!

We were able to board two hours early, so we mustered up and headed to our cabin.

We quickly found the martini/ice bar

The snowflake was my favorite drink. Jayme liked the Mexicali martini best.

Jayme waited for me while I made dinner reservations and raided the pastry bar at the coffee shop.

The moment he saw me….

We made new friends who were from Toronto….

And master martini bartenders.

I treated myself to a mani pedi at the spa…

And we explored the ship. It’s one of the only Celebrity boats with grass- including bocce ball and a putting green!

Our cabin number was 1283, so you’d think our cabin would be on Deck 12, right? \240Nope. It was on Deck 10. This caused great confusion throughout the week. Sometimes we looked for 1283 on deck 12…. or 1083 on Deck 10…or 1083 on Deck 12. Ugh.

And I managed to outlast the champ on day one! Boom!

The Inside Passage is a sheltered stretch of water running North-South between British Columbia and Alaska.

The land on both sides of the ship would’ve made it a great day for spotting wildlife and capturing amazing pictures, but… it was pretty foggy that day. We were able to get a few beautiful pictures, though.

Next stop, “on-ship excursion” (incursion?) for the Martini Master Class!

We each had our own station with martini ingredients, glasses, a Boston shaker, jigger, and a recipe card. We learned how to use the jigger - there’s a special way to pour it that helps prevent spills and had a tutorial on proper shaking techniques. (If your fingers are ice cold, you’re good to go.)

Here’s my first masterpiece - classic gin martini!

We also learned how to make cosmos and espresso martinis!

In this video, we shared our special vernacular with the masterclass martini guys….

See the difference between my espresso martinis and Jayme’s in this vid…

Afterwards, I got my hair done at the spa. It came out “okay.” Then, we headed out for our first specialty dining meal at “Sushi on Five.” Incidentally, I bet you think Sushi on Five would be located on Deck 5, but you would be wrong. It’s actually “on Six.” This crazy ship…

It was also “chic night” and someone was unhappy about wearing pants…

Jayme gave his Wisconsin hats to the martini guys.

On our way to Icy Straight Point we were treated to beautiful scenery.

And we made our very first sighting of orca (killer) whales right from our cabin balcony!

While waiting to be cleared for disembarkation, we played some trivia and grabbed the puzzle of the day.

Incidentally, vacation seems to agree with me. According to my Oura ring, my stress level is as low as it can be! \240

Anyway, we left the ship and explored Icy Straight Point (ISP). From what I can tell, it was developed as an Alaskan port by several cruise companies and continues to be privately maintained for this purpose.

We attempted to find the meeting place for our excursion - the “Adventure Center” - to no avail. After roaming around the entirety of the Point, we figured out that our meeting spot was in Hoonah, the adjacent indigenous village….

…which is accessible by cable car!

Our search continued in Hoonah.

Would’ve been nice if there was a big sign like this for the Adventure Center…

Finally!

We shared our jeep with Jose and Cristina, a couple from Hawaii, and since they got into the jeep first, Jose had to drive.

We drove past Brown Bear Bay and through Hoonah, which is the largest Tlingit (pronounced like klink-it) community in Alaska.

Since it can be tough to get supplies to this corner of the world, even basic necessities can be expensive. Currently, a gallon of gas is $5.58 and milk is $10/gallon!

Scratch and sniffs!

This is the Tlingit school. They had 5 seniors in the graduating class this year, which makes Jayme’s class of 50 (53?) seem huge!

Our adventure took us to the Tongass National Forest, which is the largest temperate rainforest in the world. According to our guide, this means that it’s a rainforest that experiences all four seasons (as compared to the regular rain forests in South America, I guess).

Anyway, say au revoir to paved roads. From here on out, we travelled only on narrow and bumpy dirt/gravel trails, which made photography a serious challenge.

This is skunk cabbage. We were warned not to pick it for fairly obvious reasons.

Quarry…

So the description for this excursion suggested that the Jeep Adventure was a perfect way to enjoy the abundant wildlife in this area of Alaska - including black-tailed deer, eagles, and brown bears. Needless to say, we spent the entire trip with our eyes peeled looking for animals.

No bears here….

I couldn’t get a great picture of this, but I thought it was really cool - a natural tunnel created by the canopies of these Sitka alder trees. Jayme said it was similar to the scenery on Hwy 55 back in Wisconsin, only I wouldn’t know because I’m always looking down at my phone. 🤨

Close-up of the Sitka trees.

(No bears here either)

Midway through our trip we stopped at the hill crest to enjoy the beautiful view.

No eagles, deer, or bears here either. Not even a squirrel.

The Tongass National Forest currently uses sustainable select-cut forest management practices, but, in the past, many areas were clear-cut by the logging industry. Here are some remnants…

No bears here, but Jayme saw some fish jumping here. That was the extent of our wildlife sightings on this adventure. Booo!

We headed back to town and, after two hours of rugged and somewhat perilous driving, Jose said, “I can’t believe I drove today. Everyone says I’m the worst driver they know.” \240Wth?! Would’ve been nice if he’d mentioned that hours ago!

Okay I guess I lied about the wildlife sightings. We did see a couple of Orcas splashing in the bay, but we drove by them too quickly to get a picture.

I was able to get a good shot of this one, though…

This is the logo of Hoonah Trading Company, which developed most of the land on Icy Straight Point/Hoonah.

After parking our Jeep, we made a quick stop at the Crab House.

Jayme had this amazing seafood infused Bloody Mary.

We walked along the beach and then headed back to the cable cars and the Solstice.

We were starving by that point, so we attempted to eat dinner here at the Grand Epernay, but… pants required. So we hit the buffet instead.

And made a final stop at the Martini Bar, where Jayme lost his last hat to the fourth bartender who was off last night when everyone else got their hat.

Hatless….hoods only.

In accordance with our cruising tradition, we took time to appreciate the sculpted art on board our ship before heading back to our cabin.

Next stop: Hubbard Glacier!

Unfortunately, when we arrived at Hubbard glacier, the weather was not cooperating at all….

Even still, we managed to get a couple of decent pictures…

But here’s a video to give you a good idea of the weather that day:

Although the sights were obscured, the sounds were pretty cool. From our balcony, when we passed close to the glacier, we could hear loud, crackling BOOMS. The captain mentioned that these noises were “ice quakes” caused by the ice expanding as the temperature changed.

Anyway, with less than stellar views and, at times, pouring rain, Jayme and I spent the morning at Cafe Barria, where we played cribbage (I lost 😡 ) and enjoyed Irish coffees and aspens.

At noon, we headed over to the Tuscan restaurant to meet Dennis and Pam for lunch. Despite the crummy weather, lunch was amazing.

We had Alaskan king crabs, mussels, shrimp, and two additional courses of lobster bisque and fish fry. Plus dessert, of course.

After lunch, I went to the spa to get my hair braided and then met Jayme, Dennis, and Pam at the Sky Bar for drinks afterwards.

….and took a few moments for sculpture appreciation…

Pam and I hit the gift shops afterwards (I picked up a cute purple jacket at the 50% off sale). \240We also paid a visit to the casino bar because “Mr. Jayme” decided the bartender there seemed lonely and needed our sparkling company.

Pam beat the martini bar challenge. Move the can from one cup to the next without touching it….check it out in the vid below:

But they still had a few tricks up their sleeves.

We headed back to the cabin shortly thereafter to rest up for our excursion tomorrow in Juneau.

We loved these amazing waterfalls!

I initially wanted to do the cable car excursion to the top of the mountain, but since we didn’t get to see any whales last year in Iceland, we selected a whale watching expedition instead. Turns out that this cable car tour can be somewhat dangerous, so I think we made the right decision.

Our excursion didn’t start until the afternoon, so we spent the morning walking along the pier and the main streets in town.

Our tour through Juneau was the pinnacle of our trip in many ways. Particularly, it was the height of me mixing up geography, history, and pretty much everything else. For example, I started wondering about the pier numbering system, and I was sure that the numbers corresponded with latitude. Since Juneau was a big gold rush town, I figured it must’ve been on the 49th parallel: hence Pier 49. So, I was pretty sure I cracked the code on piers, but... first of all, Juneau is not on the 49th parallel (58th actually) and secondly, Google confirmed that pier numbers have absolutely nothing to do with latitude, longitude, or anything else. They’re essentially random. Anywayyyy….

Watch this quick vid for mistake number 2…(tutu).

Okay, here’s the picture I intended to take. Juneau is the only capital city that can’t be reached by car - only by plane or boat.

We walked past the City Hall building, and its mural of the Tlingit creation story in which the Raven opens a clamshell to release Mankind.

We walked on through the town, checked out a few of the shops, and bought a few things. (Ever notice how I’m always walking behind Jayme? I am too slow.)

Made a new friend!

Totem poles in front of the City Hall.

And more of this beautiful artwork that I want in our house.

You always learn something new when you visit a new part of the world. Apparently, there is a large Filipino contingent in Alaska. I guess this makes some sense geographically, but I was still surprised to learn about it. This small park was built in honor of the many Filipinos who helped develop the fisheries and other industries in Juneau.

Dennis and Pam!

Since our suitcases are both maxed out at 49.9 lbs each, we stopped at the world’s smallest post office to mail our purchases back home.

Next stop: Red Dog Saloon, one of the oldest taverns in Alaska. Founded during the gold rush in the 1800s, it was originally just a tent on the beach.

Some of the old timey playbills and posters still hang outside the tavern door, which are actually the real flappy saloon doors!

Of course, it was imperative that we finally have Alaska’s official cocktails: duck farts and glacier margaritas!

Wyatt Earp’s gun (maybe…?) It’s kinda hard to see but this sign behind the bar says, “checked, but never claimed.” Let that be a lesson for Alaska’s visitors - don’t leave your shit behind.

I have no clue what this is. Jackalope maybe? Hodag? It’s like a badger/beaver with antlers.

Video below gives you a sense of the atmosphere.

This mural at the pier is weirdly called, “Passengers Not Allowed on Top of This House.” It’s a tribute to Juneau’s pioneers (colonialists). Forty-nine of their descendants were used as models for the faces depicted in the mural.

Adjacent to this mural is a “countermural” created to honor Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Tlingit activist who played a prominent role in passing the Anti-Discrimination Law of 1945. She is also the first Alaska Native to be featured on an American silver dollar.

…and here’s the next stupid thing I did today. There was no plaque or writing of any kind to explain who she was (I had to ask Google to find out later). So we called her Evita….

As you can hear in this video. (I blame the duck farts.)

Quick stop at the Alaskan Brewing Company, the home of Polar Bear beer.

Once again, I am trailing behind.

Then, back at the pier we waited to catch our bus for the excursion.

Eagle totem at the pier.

Here’s me making fun of the people on our ship. \240So, this morning, when we got off the boat, I couldn’t believe how many people walked to the end of the pier, turned around, and took pictures of themselves in front of the cruise ship — instead of using the beautiful water and mountains in Juneau as their photo background. So, here’s me in front of a cruise ship.

The bus finally arrived and as soon as we boarded, we heard, “Hey, Green Bay!” It was our friends from Toronto who we met on the first day of the cruise. We would spend much of the day with them, although I somehow neglected to take any pictures of them. \240

Anyway, I took these pictures from the bus as we headed out of town.

An eagle! Not exactly a “wildlife” shot since he’s perched on a light pole, but I guess it is what it is.

Aha! Wildlife shot! (Still no bears, though)

What the heck? Who knew Jayme’s family owned a little store in Juneau?!

We arrived at Auke Island and boarded the St. Herman, a two-tiered power catamaran that’s ideal for zipping around the water to spy on wildlife.

Heading out from Auke Island to Auke Bay and out to the “Alaska Marine” Highway.”

After our zero-bear encounter in Hoonah, I wasn’t holding my breath that we’d see anything on this whale watching tour, especially since the weather forecast called for another nasty day of rain. Our luck turned, though, and somehow the weather not only held up, but also gave us some sunshine— and we saw whales!

Apparently, whales are too tricky to be tagged and tracked like wolves, but they can be identified by the patterns on their tails. The patterns are recorded using algorithms and fancy computer magic to identify and track the humpback whales in Alaska. They’re all recorded in a “flukebook,” which was available on our ship.

According to the Flukebook, the two whales we saw in the pics above where named Kelp and Flame.

To avoid posting a whole bunch of whale videos here, I combined all our whale sighting vids into a single video (about a minute long). It’s posted on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/Nb2UKSIzfnk?feature=shared

At the end of the excursion, we sailed out to Colt Island for dinner at Orca Point Lodge.

We ate dinner with the Toronto crew who couldn’t understand why we kept calling our friends from home, “hookers.” Ha! Anyway, dinner was excellent and made from nearly all locally grown foods.

I went down to that beach to collect a few rocks. Jayme took the opportunity to make fun of my non-existent rock skipping abilities. Grrr.

Back to the St. Herman and, eventually, Juneau and the Solstice.

We even caught a quick view of the Mendenhall glacier on our way back!

Our last photo of Juneau as the Solstice pulled out of port that evening. Juneau was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. We had good weather, great company, a new and wondrous experience, and an altogether amazing adventure both in town and on the water.

Onward to Ketchikan!

A new Kate Spade purse! What a guy \240- I knew I picked a winner!

Also, note what’s under my lovely new purse: our passport for Ketchikan, the last port we’ll visit on this cruise. \240We had decided not to do an excursion here as we’d heard there were lots of shops and pubs near the port. Instead, we made our own “excursion” - Totem Trot 2025! We checked the interweb and also asked Aaron for some ideas since he used to live in Ketchikan. Based on our research, we came up with SEVEN potential places to visit and included them in our passport book.

Armed with my new purse and pub crawl passport, we hit the town.

We walked to our first stop, Bush Pilot’s Lounge, which was was the pub located farthest from the port. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until later in the day, so we had trekked the whole way there for nothing. At least we got in some steps and saw some Ketchikan scenery.

I loved these stained glass banners hanging on the light posts in town.

Moose!

Moose Lodge 224. We wondered if they also had a Ladies’ Auxiliary!

As we walked, we noticed that most of the houses were built on hillsides and accessible only by traversing ridiculously intricate sets of stairs. I wondered if maybe they had to build the houses up so high because it snows so much here in winter, and while that might’ve been a factor, Google told me that building these “death stairs” was cheaper and easier than constructing separate roads to each home. Rumor has it that some of these staircases are so long they have their own street names. \240

Undaunted by our uneventful first stop, we headed to the next stop on the passport: the Asylum.

All of the pubs we visited were littered up with lots of silly pictures and stickers all over the walls. This one, hanging up in Asylum, made me laugh. Especially considering the amount of food I’ve eaten on the cruise this week.

I haven’t seen a functional cigarette machine in probably 20 years, but they were everywhere in Ketchikan.

The bartender signed our passport book and even gave us a sticker. We also met the owner, a short guy with a booming scratchy voice, who absolutely loved the idea of our passport and signed it too. He basically made us swear that the bartender didn’t charge us for the sticker (“that would be bullshit”). He also did a round of duck fart shots with us and asked Jayme if his shots were better than the ones at the Red Dog Saloon. The guy was so nice to us that Jayme lied and said, “yes.”

We headed back out to the street for some statue appreciation pics.

Don’t be a-scared….

(These were the only bears we saw on this whole trip…)

Leaving a space here for Jayme to write a comment about the 49’er Bar. He insisted that I take this picture and send an uncomfortable text with an Indian joke (that I didn’t understand) to Alex and Calli. Everyone thought it was hilarious except the white girl who had to send the message.

I wanted to do a statue appreciation pic with this eagle, but it was across a busy street and we didn’t get the chance.

On to other side of town for our next stop, the famous Totem Bar.

This reminded me of a Rhinelander Bar, but with cooler stickers. We got one for our passport and…

There were several behind the bar.

(Tutu)

And….the bathrooms were just like Forest County’s…. minus the ice in the urinals

Next stop: Creek Street Caberet!

Where for stopped for some live music

… “lunch”…

…and a couple of \240finger tutus

On our way to the next stop, we browsed around the cute stores on Creek Street.

A picture says a thousand words….

I guess this is the Creek Street creek…

Next stop: Alaska Uncharted Distillery

The Distillery is owned by one of Ketchikan’s Bravest, a local guy who comes from a long line of Ketchikan firefighters.

The kid at the bar got us all kinds of free stuff like stickers and glassware with the bar logo. He signed our book and then went to the back to get the owner because he thought the owner should really be the one to sign it.

THEN, the owner’s dad dropped by. He \240happened to be the Mayor of Ketchikan, Bob Sivertsen. We thought this was complete Bolshevik at first, but we looked it up and Google said this guy is the Mayor - and that’s the guy we met! \240

He even signed our passport book!

As it happens, the distillery has a sister bar, so we had to, of course, check that out too. We got them to sign our passport book too!

Honestly, I don’t remember what he did, but I’m sure he deserved it.

We hit the Sourdough Bar next, but all my pictures from there look like this…

And this.

We had fun there, though. We met a bunch of locals, including a Tlingit Tribal member who was skilled at scoring free drinks. Also, I spent significant time playing Ms. Pac-Man. Apparently…

Then, we stumbled upon the Stoney Moose and that’s when things took an interesting turn.

It was our first visit to a legitimate dispensary. We decided, “Hey, we’re cool people - we can try new things, right?” So after discussion with the owner, we decided to pick up a cookie to share. One little “harmless” cookie.

He even signed our book on the “Random Find” page.

For no apparent reason, Jayme giggled all the way to our last passport stop, the Arctic Bar, where we met lots of random people, bought lots of merch, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

No clue who she is…

We bought our merch from this chick

Guess who danced?

Jayme made me do this, I swear.

I guess the cookie kicked in when I was sitting by myself waiting for Jayme to buy merch.

In case you forgot, this is what I was referring to

Afterwards, we walked to the pier

And headed back to the boat

We had a fantastic time in Ketchikan - Jayme took this vid on the way out of port.

We had reservations for the Italian restaurant that night, but…well…the day finally caught up with me.

Jayme was able to get the food delivered to the room, though and it was fantastic!! I especially loved the pistachio crème brule they served for dessert.

I would go on to sleep for literally 16 hours straight.