With no plan for the day, we do the continental breakfast routine in the room again and leisurely get ready to disembark. I believe I have purchased the Skagway disembarkation photo that the cruise line makes you wait to pose for before you can leave the ship. A double bonus chance to make another $20 and slow the disembarkation line down to avoid stampede. [And slow means slow - see old people comment from few blogs back.] I think the picture has a moose in it. As in a crew member dressed as a moose. Brian looks thrilled for yet another photo opportunity.
The cruise dock is a nice walk along the seawall from "downtown" Skagway. Without an excursion already planned, we check into pricing of activity options at the "excursion" hut. Mysteriously, the prices are about the same as on the ship. Hmmm... these people are no dummies. Edwin's age and size excludes us from most of the fun activities - biking, rafting, kayaking. The train ride (the popular option for most people) is 3 hours. At over $100 a piece, we're not sure the train ride is right for our kids - they'd probably all sleep through it. And that's an expensive nap. It has started to drizzle and the wind is picking up, so we opt to stay in town and check out Skagway. Four cruise ships have docked in this little town (population 800) so the raised wooden sidewalks are PACKED.
This town is super quaint, and has a distinct amusement park feel. Complete with "panning for gold" option. Like Knott's Berry Farm. Pay your $20, and real gold is guaranteed! Aidan, Julia and Edwin elect to try their luck at mining. Colin declines and proceeds to read about the history of Skagway from a free newspaper we've picked up from the Visitor's Center. The three kids get their (plastic) mining pans. Curiously, they already have some silt in them before the shopkeep even gets to the trough to demonstrate the proper mining technique. Aidan and I figure out later that the gold flecks that the kids find were put in the pans to begin with, then covered with some dirt. All the panning for the next hour was just basically playing in the water, as there was no gold in the trough. But they were entertained for a while, and took home real gold. Ed certainly scored on this trip! All of this was done in the rain, while the rest of us watched for awhile and toured the shop surroundings (outdoors, with a variety of planters recycled from bathroom fixtures.) I leave for a bit to find good coffee - on a tip from a dock worker back in Seattle - but end up with some bad coffee instead. I will not be successful finding good coffee in Alaska.
On my coffee expedition, I notice tours being given at the Red Onion Saloon. Going for "Mom of the Year," I decide to take Colin on the tour of the former brothel. We leave the minor miners, and make our way down the boardwalk into the crowded saloon. We must wait for 15 minutes until the tour starts, so we take in some of the local color. And by local color, I mean the waitresses in push-up corsets. (What?? I can appreciate a good looking waitress too.) Tours cost $5 a piece and last 15 minutes. Just like it did in 1898. Very authentic this is. I take Colin's picture with the Madame/tour guide. She packs more into 15 minutes than any other docent I've ever had the pleasure to meet. She's both eloquent *and* voluptuous. I was extremely impressed. Some of what we learned: the Red Onion was one of 60 establishments in Skagway's heyday; 15,000 men and 300 women "worked" in Skagway; girls worked from 6pm to 6am, 7 days a week; the girls got $1.25 for each job - the bouncer got $1.25 and the madame got $2.50; the 2nd floor rooms were not insulated and were used year round (our June 28th day was a warm 55 degrees and rainy...); the gold collected for payment was dropped down a hole in the floor, through copper piping and deposited into the safe behind the bar; the Red Onion is haunted by the ghost of Adele, who committed suicide after being branded on her face (to prevent her from working at another establishment) for contracting syphilis; Diamond Lil worked at this establishment and was quite a wealthy woman in her day. There were 2 couples, Colin and myself and a small group of old men on this brothel tour. We were allowed to tip the tour guide in her decolletage: I opted out and just handed it to her with a smile. After I took a picture of 16 year old Colin half lying/sitting across the original madame's bed looking very uncomfortable. Yep, sounds about right. Mom of the Year!!! Woo hoo!!!
Finding the rest of our group - Aidan was pretty bummed to miss out on the tour... - we did a bit more shopping (which hardly seemed possible given the amount of shopping done in Juneau) and Aidan found the hat he'd been searching for, Julia the sweatshirt she's worn every day for the last week (and it smells like it too..) and I found the "Sarah Palin Store." Not kidding. I guess Skagway was Ms. Palin's childhood town. I managed to keep a partially smirk-free face the whole time while purchasing momentous to take home to my father.
And now we're hungry. And wet. And some of us are cold (me). All-we-can eat food is just a mile away back on the ship - which we choose to do rather than fight the hordes of trinket buyers and cruisers in town. The little two kids and the tired parents pay for the shuttle back to the ship. The big boys are made to walk. (Seriously, it's only a mile. If that.) We grab lunch on the ship and then Julia and I head to the indoor pool. I'm supposed to swim with her, like I've promised, but all I can seem to do is take a wee nap on the lounge chair. I try and make it up to her by going to the formal dining room for afternoon tea (I got in the mood for tea at the Palin store...) We are joined by 2 couples - one from Arizona and one from Northern Ireland. It's a lovely tea - but Julia would enjoy it more, she says, if Maria and Sarah were with us. So we plan to ask them to come tomorrow.
To recap: breakfast, lunch, tea, and now it's time for dinner! Because it's vacation! As we have the second seating in the formal dining room, we miss out on some of the evening shows - or at least miss getting to see them with the kids, as a 10:30 show is a bit late for the younger two. (Nothing is too late for Aidan. Too early? Yes. But not too late). So we make the decision to eat early in a different dining room and try and catch the Magic Show at 8:15. The kids decide to eat at the buffet and we are treated to a meal with a honeymooning couple from Georgia. She's stunning - like a Real Housewife, but younger. He's loaded. [$wise, well maybe the other too as he's drinking dirty martinis with dinner. Not wine. Dirty martinis. With food.] I get her talking about her wedding, and she happily retells all the details. It sounded wonderful ("A hell of a mess to clean up for 3 days after," mutters the new husband through the martini.) She wanted to go someplace warm for the honeymoon, like Tahiti. He suggested Alaska. She is less than thrilled. He is paying for every possible expensive excursion to make up for it. Dinner runs long and we catch the very last magic trick of the show. The kids have seen the whole thing, and liked it. We meet up with the Dulacs at the end of their formal dinner, and they've had a great day in the Yukon with their rental car. Ask Maria about the Klondike bars. It's fun.
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