Tracy Arm Champagne Brunch. Dad & I were honored with a treat from the Executive Chef, Joseph Strummer and his wife La Tin of a full champagne brunch in our stateroom the morning of the venture into Tracy Arm to see the glacier and wild life along the fjord. I snapped the above view as we were making our way out of the fjord. The unfortunate thing was that the icebergs were so thick, unusually so, that we could not go far enough in to see the glacier. A disappointment, but better than hitting an iceberg and ending up like the Titanic!

I did see some 'wild life' on the top deck and snapped a photo quickly. They were so cute in their 'fur' coats, I just couldn't resist.

The day before we landed back in San Francisco, I attended a cooking demonstration led by Josef, who is shown in his hat and with awards around his neck. He's a much decorated chef, and it shows in the excellent food which unfailingly was served at our table.

Now the champagne brunch - room service knocked on our door with no less than THREE trays laden with food. The first one had coffee, orange juice and a full bottle of champagne!

You can see the daunting eating task before us! And I didn't take a photo of the matching tray on the bed behind me!

First up we each got the above plate of Alaskan King Crab Legs, Quiche Lorraine, Baked Tomato with Herbed Cheese, Beet and Green Salads. This alone would have been enough!

Next we each tucked into our fresh plate of loks.

We believed the lobster rolls were to go with the loks. One each.

Then we shared the plate of breakfast breads... we couldn't finish this one, as delicious as these were. Not pictured is the lovely medley of fresh jams and marmalades which accompanied this plate.

And well over the top was the fabulous fruit plate, one entire plate for each of us! I also have to mention that all the fruit on the cruise was served at its peak freshness and flavorful ripeness. I was impressed. I often ordered a fruit plate as either my appetizer or dessert on this cruise since it was unfailingly perfect. This fabulous champagne breakfast treat went a long way in making up for the disappointment of not seeing the glacier.

PS. And can you believe that I only gained 2.4 lbs on this 11 day eating extravaganza!

Juneau to Skagway. We're taking a break from food reporting as I report on the cruise Dad and I took to Alaska. In Juneau our big adventure was visiting the Mendenhall Glacier, pictured above. We also saw the most eagles of any place on our trip to the glacier from downtown Juneau. The eagles seemed to have favorite hangouts along the way to the glacier, so we enjoyed observing this most majestic bird.

In Skagway, we wandered around the town more before our train trip. We noticed the above unique building. I thought it most photo-worthy.

We then caught the Can Can girls with Soapy Smith an infamous Skagway legend, in a "Days of '98' Show". It was a colorful way to catch some local history.

We then boarded our White Pass & Yukon Route Rail Tour. The first reasonably decent photo I got from the window of a moving train was Bridal Veil Falls, pictured above. The whole panhandle that we saw reminded me so much of home (Seattle). So many Evergreen trees and similar plants, such as Devil's club and ferns.

We could see the train ahead of us clearly at many points as there were such steep curves. The line is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a distinction shared with the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, and the Statue of Liberty! The ride was 3.5 hours round trip, and it crossed into the Yukon territory of Canada. A ride well worth the time and money. Spectacular sights!

Whale Tales. And what would a trip to Alaska be without some whale tails? The humpback whales were all around, although I did spy one gray whale. We learned that the whales "breach" (jump completely out of the water) when they are young, and usually in Hawaii where their breeding grounds are, not in Alaskan waters. So we saw a lot of whale tails during the trip. On the sea otter watching cruise we were treated to the rare event of a humpback whale completely breaching the water, sailing in the air in an arch, and sitting in the front seat, one eye seemed to look at us quite directly. On the way out of Tracy Arm, we also neared migrating whales on their usual path, 15-20 of them giving quite the 'tail' show.

The cute sea otters were the object of the tour in Sitka that we took, and we were delighted with a whole 'village' of them preening and playing in a bed of kelp.

My 87 year old Dad posed in front of a tourist shop as he noted the beautiful fur. Tomorrow I'll fill you in on Juneau.

Local News: My how things change! I came back to find that Saylor's Landing has closed (been evicted), and Fabrizio is either renovating, or has closed as well. Piatti's is STILL closed for renovation, and I wonder if they are ever going to lease the old Samurai Restaurant building in Sausalito?

New Archangel. When Russia established its first permanent settlement at present day Sitka, it was named "New Archangel". Fitting name for such a beauty spot. The early settlers were fur trappers and traders who nearly decimated the local sea otter population. The last thing we visited there before heading back to the ship was Totem Square, which boasted not only an old beautiful totem pole, but a wonderful vista of the sea. The weather had been sunny and even hot the entire visit, until clouds started moving in as we reached the park. Our timing for the visit couldn't have been better. In the background of the photo stands the "Pioneer Home" a historic building. I learned that totem poles are generally not maintained as a representation of the forces of nature. When one becomes decrepit, sometimes a new copy is put in its place and left again to rot and decay.

The one thing I really missed on the ship was Asian food, in particular, Japanese food. So it should come as no surprise that the first opportunity we had for a meal on-shore I found a Japanese restaurant! Little Tokyo had rather marginal Japanese fare (I had to ask for soy sauce! and the tempura did not come with dipping sauce), but it was as close as we got on the trip. Instead of the bento boxes we ordered, we should have tried the sashimi, as Gluten Free Girl reported it to be superb.

First we had some water, True water, bottled from glacier water in Sitka. Cold and refreshing, we practically drank our bottles to the bottom before our miso soup even arrived.

Then the miso soup came, rather nondescript, but soup nonetheless.

The bento box had salad, tempura, California roll, salmon teriyaki and gyoza. Nice variety, but not very impressive in taste. I have to say that even though it wasn't so impressive, I was sure happy to have some Japanese food.

Reindeer dogs on the Tsunami Evacuation Route. Yes, Dad & I are really back home, and after a glitch where my bag was taken home by another passenger, all is back home with me. Shortly after being shuttled to shore via small boats from the ship, I snapped this photo of Sitka's harbor. Thinking back on it, Sitka was my favorite port on the Alaskan voyage.

We passed this rather ominous sign nearly immediately after leaving the harbor area. At least we can say the town disaster preparedness team has thought this possibility through!

On the next corner, we spied the Reindeer Redhots umbrella where authentic reindeer hot dogs were being sold.

The owner/proprietor explained that the reindeer were raised up north and a meat processor turned the meat into hot dogs for him near Anchorage and shipped it to him. While talking with me he was coaching his young teenager on customer service, the first necessity being taking the earphones from the iPod out of your ears!

Dad and I shared a Reindeer Redhot, topped with sauerkraut and a little yellow mustard. Better than most franks I've tasted, flavorful and moist without being overly greasy, this was quite good! And I'm not a hot dog fan. I also chose the whole wheat bun. Fresh, 'local' ingredients at their best!

Sitka was the first town we visited in Alaska. We had an unusually sunny day and I saw a humpback whale 'breach' and leap in a big arch right in front of our small tour boat! We were told that this was a relatively rare happening as the leaping usually takes place at their breeding grounds in Hawaii. We also saw a gray whale diving and a bunch of adorable sea otters floating around on their backs looking cute. Most of the photos snapped this trip were taken from behind windows in moving transportation, so many didn't turn out so well. The St. Michael's Cathedral is also fascinating to visit, full of icons and information on Alaskan saints, and alas, no photography was allowed. I think this was Dad's favorite place as a lovely older lady (but still his junior) invited Dad to rest by her. He then had no further interest in icons! Imagine that...