July 2004
In July of 2004 Allan and I took a cruise to Alaska on The Celebrity Summit. We sailed the inside passage from Vancouver (7/15-16/2004) to Seward calling at ports in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, around Hubbard Glacier and ending at Seward. From Seward we traveled to Anchorage and spent a few days and then to Talkeetna and Denali National Park.
We booked a Concierge Balcony Stateroom on the starboard side of the ship facing the shoreline. We were able to watch for wildlife as we sailed up the Inside Passage and into the more protected Alaska Inside Passage. 7/17/2004
7/18/2004. Our first port of call was Ketchikan, known as the ‘Salmon Capital of the World’ and is also the ancestral home of the Tlingit people, who have carved the world’s largest collection of totem poles. We hired a float plane and flew over Misty Fjords.
https://shelleylevine.com/ketchikan-alaska/
7/19/2004. Beginning in 1897, Skagway and the nearby ghost town of Dyea was the starting place for more than 40,000 gold-rush stampeders who headed to the Yukon primarily by way of the Chilkoot Trail. The main event was a Temsco helicopter flightseeing tour with a glacier landing.
https://shelleylevine.com/skagway-glacier-landing/
7/20/2004. Juneau, Alaska’s remote capital is reachable only by boat or seaplane, is home to the Mendenhall Glacier. We explored the glacier and the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Allan did a “Bike and Brew” finishing the tour with a flight of Alaska beers at Alaskan Brewing. I road in the van.
https://shelleylevine.com/juneau-alaska/
7/21/2004. Icy Strait Point is Alaska Native owned-and-operated, with all profits directly supporting the community of Hoonah, Alaska’s largest Native Tlingit village. We did a disappointing Whale Watching Cruise here.
https://shelleylevine.com/icy-strait-point-alaska/
7/22/2004. The next day we cruised Hubbard Glacier.
https://shelleylevine.com/hubbard-glacier/#/
7/23/2004. We docked at Seward, took a bus to Anchorage, picked up a car at ANC and headed to Talkeetna. It’s about 2 1/2 hours from Seward to the ANC and another 2 hours to Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge.
https://shelleylevine.com/talkeetna-and-denali-flightseeing/
7/24/2004. We spent one night in Talkeetna and then drove to Denali National Park. We spent two nights at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge.
https://shelleylevine.com/denali-national-park-2/
7/27/2004. We drove back to Anchorage and spent two nights before heading home.
Overall, we had great weather, but we did have some rain in the cruise ports. A little rain is a big part of life in the temperate rainforest of Alaska. Allan and Clifton have a saying, “What happens when it rains? You get wet.”