Going sledding

---

Today was a long day.....up at 7:00, breakfast by 8:00, layering up for a 6 1/2 hour excursion up to Carcross. We had a terrific guide, a young gal named Candace who was very knowledgeable. She worked for Frontier Guiding, one of the private companies that was not affiliated with Holland America. Her company employs 9 people and she said they are looked after quite well but her boyfriend works for an affiliate of Holland America and although he is a guide on the helicopter glacier walks, he only makes minimum wage! When you book a tour through the cruise line, they apparently take 60% right off the top.

To start our tour she drove through the entire town of Skagway pointing out all the sights and areas we might want to visit when we got back. It didn’t take too long as the whole town is 4 blocks by 22 blocks with the most interesting spots on 2 blocks downtown. Skagway has 3 main districts, a red light district where you will find the bars and restaurant, a green light district where you can now find stores that sell recently legalized mariguana, and the yellow light district where the school is located as well as housing. It is a quaint little town that clearly survives because of the cruise ship business. Holland America is the largest stakeholde with Celebrity and Princess close behind. The cruise lines basically own the town. Candace told us there are 22 jewelry stores in Skagway, 5 are owned by local people and Holland America owns all the rest. Apparently Holland America is having the port enlarged to accommodate bigger ships and they plan to extend the season from mid-April to mid-October, adding another 6 weeks to the season. Although it will add a few more local jobs, it will have a huge negative impact on the environment.

As we headed out of town, the weather was cloudy and raining and it didn’t look like it would break.

---