Jumping Whale Tails in Juneau

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Sharon went off to mass, and is really enjoying the priest who hopes to get a gig later this year on the Konigsdam on the cruise that we’ll also be taking in Northern Europe. Sharon returned to tell me that it was a special mass. Today was the 42^ndanniversary of the priest’s ordination along with being the Feast of the Visitation. He told them a story about his mother who used to write him a poem every year for this anniversary. He said the poems were pretty bad in a funny way as she tried to rhyme things. When she died in 2006 he wasn’t sure how he would spend his future anniversaries and shortly before the one the next year he decided he’d spend it reading thru the 30+ years of poems and crying. A few days before that anniversary he received a mail from his two sisters who had written him a poem for that year and have every year since. This year they sent it to him just before he left for the cruise (his first ever) and he opened it for the first time and read it to those in attendance. It was a special moment for all. He also had a photo taken of everyone with him at the end of mass to send to his sisters.



We went up to the Lido for breakfast. I was able to find a few demitasse cups of Swiss Muesli and took two for myself along with an almond Danish a fruit plate. I met Sharon by the pool on the Lido deck where she’d gotten a plate of French Toast and bacon. I got lost on my way to the Explorer’s lounge to pick up the Daily Sudoku. There were just a few sheets out so I only took two. Nobody gets to make any mistakes today or they’ll really be in trouble. And since I was there I happened to catch a glimpse of their daily special board that included a Bourbon Mint Breeze, whose main ingredients seem to be bourbon, crème de mint and white chocolate liquor; and, it seemed the perfect way to start the day, especially with whipped cream on top. Maybe the drink slowed me down some because I didn’t beat Sharon by much on either game.



Jordan announced over the PA system that passengers could disembark, and we decided to head ashore. We found our assembly spot beneath the “white canopy” and waited for others to arrive. Our driver and guide for the trip to the ship has been doing this summer work for her second year now. Before we left, she left us a bit confused since this was a bus and she told us where our “floatation devices” were located. We drove through town, starting out in Juneau along the waterfront. She challenged us to count the number of jewelry stores. She later letter said that she’d counted 42 at the end of last season. She pointed out the building considered the ugliest of all state capitols; and, then she pointed out the governor’s mansion. She pointed out the porch that Sarah Palin had said that she could see Russia from and then said, “To the left of the bus, you can see Russia,” and then disclaimed that it was just an island. We passed by the Red Dog Saloon in its third original location. It was moved from its first location by the first hotel in Juneau, to a location on the waterfront, and then to its current location. It’s one of the businesses in town that is open year-round. Government is the number one industry in Juneau, tourism number two and fishing is number three. She said that the local fishermen wives have a favorite saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for a weekend.” She then told a story of a 737 taking off from the airport. The pilot and copilot reported that their windshield had been hit by a fish. When the pilots insisted that they’d been hit by a fish after repeatedly being told that that cannot happen, the flight was diverted to another airport for inspection. The ground team noted that the cockpit windshield had been hit by something, and found that something in the engine intake, and it was indeed a salmon. The official report was that the plane had been slimed by a salmon that had been dropped by an eagle that had flown into the path of the oncoming plane. And that plane got a special bluish paint job in to give it the coloring of a salmon and is now known as a salmon thirty salmon. As we approached our marina and headed down the long steep ramp towards the water our driver said that she was going to do her brake test, and looking at the sharp left turn the bus needed to make once the bus neared the water, we understood the possible need for floatation devices (in case we didn’t make the turn or if the brakes failed).



We had a double decker boat the St. Gregory and went up to the upper level. As the metal hull catamaran viewing boat sat there bobbing at berth, I was wondering if maybe my drink earlier may not have been the best of ideas before whale watching. We weren’t far from the marina when we encountered our first humpback whale. We saw several blows followed by a shallow fluke as the humpback commenced a shallow dive in these waters of about 200 feet. We hung around and had several more sightings before continuing further south. Sharon went outside and was taking pictures. We both headed for the galley downstairs when they said that hot chocolate and smoked salmon was available, along with some donut holes. There was quite a line; but, the hot chocolate was extra syrup, hot, sweet and wonderful. We encountered some sea lions and also some harbor seals. We didn’t encounter any gams, finding instead a solitary humpback here and there, some a couple hundred yards off; but, one as close as one hundred feet. One engaged in about a several minute session of surface tail splashing, spraying massive amounts of white foam in the air and at times holding its tail above the water while repeatedly slapping the surface with its fluke. The wake from the splashes even rocked our boat just a little bit. On the way back to the marina we stopped to watch one additional humpback with a distant spray.



We boarded our bus back to the ship. Some were going on for another segment of their tour, such as visiting Mendental Glacier. This driver has been doing this for four seasons, and I think aspires to be a stand-up comedian and we got a sample of his spiel rather than tour guide facts. He talked of one business that is booming now that the bears are coming out of hibernation. People who are confronted by an unwanted bear can call this service to deal with the bear that had climbed a tree in his back yard. He said is neighbor just called this service the other day. The guy that showed up came with a ladder, a baseball bat, a shot gun and a pit bull. He handed his neighbor the shotgun and told him to stand over there. He told his neighbor that he was going to climb up the ladder and try to hit the bear with the baseball bat to knock him out of the tree. He said that the pit bull was specially trained that when the bear hit the ground, he would bite the bear in his testicles and this would drive the bear off. “What do I do with the shot gun?” the guy asked. “Well, this is most important. If the bear knocks me out of the tree, you need to shoot the dog!” The driver said that he told this to one group and a six-year-old boy began crying because a dog got shot. He assured everyone, “This is a public announcement that no dog was hurt in the telling of this joke.”



Back at the ship, we headed off to the Alaskan Fudge Company and ordered a “Six-Pack” of 6 different types of fudge: semi-sweet, coffee-chocolate, maple-brown sugar, peanut butter-chocolate, chocolate-salted caramel and goldrush (white chocolate with chocolate chips). It was already 3PM and we were getting hungry so we headed up to the Dive-In. I had the chicken sandwich (“Backflip”) and fries; while, Sharon had her boring plain burger and fries. Tonight, is our complimentary meal at “The Pinnacle” which is scheduled for 8:30PM. We had no choice in the time; but, being today it is probably good that it is later than when we normally dine.



I was hungry by our normal dining time and by 7PM when we went up to play Majority Rules my stomach was feeling somewhat uneasy, sort of the way I feared it might when I boarded the whale watching craft. I thought I might be coming down with something because I also had a bit of a chill; but, Sharon had turned the temperature up in the cabin again; because, she too felt the chill in the air. I wore my jacket up to the Crow’s Nest, and figured that would work for the Pinnacle Grille afterwards as well. We formed a team with two others; but, there was virtually nobody up in the Crow’s Nest to play. There were perhaps ten teams competing for the coveted Alaska Pins which we have been able to win at Team Trivia so far. Normally there are a couple of dozen and some of the answers can be hilarious. Jordan offered to perhaps offer bonus points for any “truly inspired” answers. He started with an easy one, “Name a famous Rabbit.” Bugs Bunny was naturally the answer; although, Peter was close behind. He wanted to know the name of another Holland America Ship; and, he got ten different answers so we each got one point. He wanted to know what the “ms” stands for in the name of each Holland America ship: for example, we’re sailing on the ms Zaandam. Sharon suggested “motor ship” which seamed like a pretty lame answer to the rest of us, so, I suggested going for “funny” and we agreed to go with Mother Ship; but, Sharon was clearly not thrilled with this decision and was giving me a look… how shall I describe it: The Sharon Scowl. (Sharon – I was only giving him the look because he didn’t believe that my answer was the real answer which it was. I didn’t think that’s the one we should go in the game though ? ) I must ask her sister Erin if she know this look. Jordan announced that to correct answer was indeed “motor ship”; but, since this is Majority Rules, the winning answer was “Mother Ship” (and that wasn’t for the funny consolation bonus either). The team at the front said, “But we had Motor Ship, and we’re right.” But Jordan reminded them, this is Majority Rules, so you don’t get the point!” We went through the “What’s in a woman’s purse” and “What’s in a man’s wallet” questions, and our previous cruise “experience” helped us not a bit, as our former winning answers were duds. When all the points were totaled though, we had tied with two other teams for first and Jordan gave us all the prized Alaska Pins from Holland America. One of the other teams that had won was the team sitting up front who had answered “Motor Ship”; so, if we had gone with Sharon’s answer with that one, we’d have probably still gotten the point, but the other team would have won outright. I was feeling better by the end of the game.



It was nearly time for our reservation so we headed to the Pinnacle. We had about twenty minutes to kill so we stopped in the Future Cruise desk where someone had just finished booking their next cruise. We sat down and in a very short while we had booked the 2018 sailing of Voyage of the Vikings out of Boston. “Ooh,” the Future Cruise Consultant exclaimed, “You’ll be getting a special ‘Casino Discount’ promotional price,” which was significantly less than we expected from the prices shown online. It is a longer cruise, so we had to put down a $300 deposit each (rather than the typical $100); but, no other money is due until the final payment in April of next year. We made it to the Pinnacle with minutes to spare. They gave us a choice of tables and we took a table bench near the rear. Sharon declined her amuse bouche so the waiter well he can have it and then set them both in front of me. Today it was a melon-berry puree concoction that had a hint of cucumber. Sharon ordered her petite filet with mashed potatoes (and the lobster bisque for me). I ordered the shrimp cocktail that comes with a bourbon-horseradish cocktail sauce; but, I asked for extra raw horseradish on the side. Both were delicious, and maybe I was fortunate that the horseradish wasn’t as high octane as I remember it being in Alaska; but, the four shrimps were quite plump, very fresh and tasty. I ordered the cedar plank halibut with Brussel sprouts. Our meals were delicious, as always. Sharon ordered the Baked Alaska and I the chocolate lava cake. Sharon was happy to see that the portions of these desserts were smaller now, and more manageable for one person. That didn’t stop Sharon from taking a single bite of my meager chocolate lava cake though.



After dinner, we went back to the cabin. Shipboard activities were somewhat curtailed today, as the all aboard time was 9:30PM. There was no Team Trivia or Night Time Trivia, and the single show was one part a BBC documentary series which we’d seen one part of in New England. This nature show is accompanied by live music from the shipboard musicians. We were ready to sleep though.

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