What’s It Like, In Kodiak, Alaska

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Kodiak is one of those smaller towns in Alaska which has not been transformed by the large jewelry merchants of the Caribbean who come north for the summer and hustle the tourist trade. We’ve had more than one tour guides, train guides, bus drivers and such ask, “By a show of hands, how many of you came here to shop in the diamond stores?” So far nobody has raised their hands. One bus driver apologized for asking, saying “I just had to ask. I haven’t found anyone yet to say yes!” But obviously, some cruisers must buy from them or they wouldn’t be here! It is one of the reasons that Kodiak is a nice place to visit; because, it hasn’t been spoiled yet by outside influences. It was one of the reasons that we wanted to come and sail on the 14-day cruise out of Seattle. We took our time making it to the Lido for breakfast. I opted for some fried eggs over medium with sausage and potato cakes; while, Sharon had her scrambled eggs and crispy turkey bacon. And the bacon was crispier today!

As I’m writing this we noticed in the running text commentary of news highlights that there was an earthquake in Anchorage yesterday, where we were just two days ago. We popped into the Explorer’s Lounge and did our daily Sudoku Challenge. As we played on a crossword puzzle table for two, on gentleman came over and asked about how these puzzles get done. He complained that when he tries them he must write down each possible solution for each cell and it takes forever. Sharon explained, that she annotates more than I do. The man said he saw someone the other day who just wrote down answers, with hardly any annotations. I showed him how I look at a couple of numbers, and found an easy solution for one cell. He said, “Yeah, well that was an obvious one.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that for the most part, they are all obvious ones, you just have to see them. If it’s not there, then you skip it and you check another number or another cell. I came in just ahead of Sharon on that Easy puzzle. The next puzzle required a bunch of annotation, even for me! Sharon finally just threw up her hands saying this one was too cramped to do because of the small puzzle size; although, we were both using pens this time. She left me to struggle on and I realized that I’d made a mistake somewhere, for just the reason Sharon was complaining about: Too many small numbers in most of the cells. I took an extra puzzle sheet back to the room, and finished it later, so I guess I get credit for the win after all!

We took the free school bus shuttle into Kodiak and were dropped off at the visitor center. We looked at the sign showing the sites around Kodiak, and decided to walk on down past the Trident fish processing plant and then out onto the spit. The Kodiak spit was nothing like the Homer spit which really was a tourist destination place with things to do and see. This spit wasn’t much more than a parking lot with a view of two working sea channels and a bustling ocean front community engaged in maritime pursuits. I’ve never seen so many really fat sea birds just lounging around, perched on various poles and piers and content to stand there as little more than living weather vanes. We did walk around a little and there are some museums near the visitor’s center, and also a Russian Orthodox church with its onion spire shaped top in blue. We came, and we saw, and at least the shuttle that got us here was free! Kodiak is a great place to come; but, you will need a tour if you want to come and see the wildlife, such as the famous Kodiak bear; which, is akin to the grizzly. It is larger than the grizzly bear; but, not as ferocious because of the more than ample berries and salmon for it to gorge on. This abundant food source lets the Kodiak bear really bulk up during the summer. This bear is bigger even than the polar bear; although, standing on its hind legs the polar bear would be taller. There are boat and plane tours that get you in to see the wildlife; although, these tours including some for whale watching tend to be more pricey than in other ports of call in Alaska.

We went to the Lido lunch, passing through on our way to the Dive-In. But they were serving Sharon’s favorite: roast turkey breast. I chose to have the Asian vegetable noodles, chicken satay, Indonesian meatball, and peanut sauce. I also got a couple pieces of pizza; although, I find the onboard pizza to not have the crust crispy enough (it’s too doughy and soggy).

After lunch we both took a brief nap before team trivia. We’re both recovering from a mild cold and congestion; which, we believe might have been a gift from our Trivia Team mate John. He was evidently really under the weather the day we missed trivia, and the day before his wife kept urging him to go back to the cabin and lie down. We got up in time to head for the Crow’s Nest to see virtually no place to sit. We found a table by the window that really wasn’t big enough for our team. One lady came over and tried to take the one extra chair that we had, and Sharon asked her “Are you here for trivia?” The lady said that she was, to which Sharon replied “We are also, and we need that chair for our team.” The lady was a bit indignant, muttering that “This is our chair, and you are in our spot.” About this time we found a roomier spot in the center section and we settled in there.

Our whole team showed up, and John seemed to be feeling much better. The first question was what country boasts the longest longevity on average? We had proposals of Finland, Sweden, Tibet and even the right answer Japan (from Irene, and we really need to pay more attention to her answers). What metal is most common in the earth’s crust? We went with iron, but the question wasn’t about the core! I was hung up on silicon because the question was too similar to what two elements are most common in the earth’s crust… a previous trivia question from another cruise. Then came the trick question, “What is the largest island?” Evidently Ross was being considerate to any Aussies present saying that some of them might be offended if you called their country an island. We had two team members confirm what year Elvis died (Sharon remembers working at Penny’s when Elvis died in 1977 and they had a massive run on everything Elvis). How many world records did Mark Spitz break in 1972? Leah blurted out 8, claiming that she absolutely knew this from another question in their Pub Trivia challenge; then, qualified that that question might have been about how many medals were won. I knew that Mark Spitz set a world record with every gold medal that he won. Unfortunately, she was mixing up Mark Phelps with Mark Spitz! The answer was in fact seven! The bonus was what system or glands controls the body’s hormones? Well, we didn’t come up with the Endocrine system, and I guess that’s a note to get a doctor on the team in the future. This was our worst showing ever, making just 11 points. And Ross was a little smug in noting our fall from grace and it solicited quite a few cheers or chuckles. Okay, we ate our piece of humble pie. What is it that Annie sang, “Tomorrow is another day.”

We couldn’t hang around for the Food Trivia challenge because we had to get back to our cabins, pick up our bath robes and wear them to the $20,000 jackpot Bingo to collect our extra chance on the jackpot blackout game. The ship was pitching and rolling a bit more than it had so far on this cruise, and Erin who calls Bingo appeared to be a bit woozy from the ship’s motion. She was having quite a bit of trouble concentrating and recording purchases. Her partner was handling about twice as many people. She got my order wrong, and had to change it from a 6-pack to a 3-pack. When I tried to get my extra bonus play, I was having trouble getting just one card from the stack, as the ship was moving quite a bit. Erin obviously wasn’t being helped in my moving back and forth in front of her trying to take just one card, that she grabbed a lone card that she’d previously gotten for me with the six pack and said, “Here, take this one, maybe it will bring you luck.” I had trouble locating where Sharon had sat down; but, finally heard her call to me. She was tucked in the center row of couches with tables, and penned in on both sides by other bingo players. As I wriggled in I said, “I’m going to have a hard time getting up to turn in my card when I call ‘Bingo’ sitting stuck in here.” Sharon muttered something about how I should have such a problem. I ordered a Long Island Iced tea before the game started. Somebody else won the first simple bingo game after just six numbers. We didn’t come close on horizontal bingo or 4 corner either; with the stander after the first 4 numbers were called called. The fifth number was then called… and after a long delay, the stander in disbelief blurted out “Bingo” barely in time before the next number was called. I didn’t have any numbers on my 4 chances for the first two calls of the blackout jackpot game. The bonus card that I got from Erin had no numbers called on it for the first seven numbers… I told Sharon “This is my stinky bingo card!”, but it did have the eighth number called. The 46^th number came and went and we missed out on $20k. Four calls later I needed just two numbers on one chance. The next call I need just two on bonus card. I stood on the next call, waving at Erin, but she wasn’t noticing. Still waving, she was about to call the next number when I finally did catch her eye, and so she played the sounds of harps for the first stander. All other cruises that we’ve been on they boo the first stander. I sat down then, with the ship moving some. With the next call I was down to one number on the bonus card as well… Do I stand again? I better not, I probably would get booed this time, and I was feeling pretty good needing two different calls to give me a win with nobody else standing. Two calls later I blurt out “Bingo” as soon as I heard “G-6 (ty)”. And I really didn’t have too much trouble getting my card up to Erin where it was confirmed as a winner. I missed the $20,000 jackpot by about nine calls; but, I did win $375!

We went back to the cabin and Sharon went off to mass. I got the laundry ready, and then got dressed up for dining at the Pinnacle grill this evening. I decided to save the tux for the final formal night later in the cruise. I ordered the shrimp cocktail, and asked for the cocktail sauce on the side, and I also asked for extra horseradish, which the server agreed to bring. There was ample sauce in its separate tureen, and a bunch of fresh horseradish in its separate tureen with a quaint tiny spoon to add the horseradish to the cocktail sauce. I used more than half of what they gave me, and it was knock-your-socks of delicious. I love the ultra-thin sesame and poppy seed crisps that they offer in the bread bowl. As I was snacking on one, the server came and filled my water glass, not thinking that it had my San Pellegrino in it because I’d added ice to it. I was unable to stop him before he’d filled the glass. This had happened the first night we’d eaten in the Pinnacle and once in the Dining Room. So I guess I need to be more careful. They did bring me another bottle. I also ordered the crab cakes, and the bone-in medium rare ribeye with green peppercorn sauce. Sharon ordered the small 7 ounce filet, along with her carrots and whipped potatoes. I ordered the grilled mushrooms and shoe string French Fries with aioli. The steak was delicious. And what they called shoe string French Fries were really Dive-In fries (which are still excellent crunchy coated fries, just not super thin); but, the garlicky aioli really made the fries pop! Not that Sharon would care for that! Sharon, I cannot believe it, decided not to order dessert. She couldn’t finish her steak because of having too much turkey for lunch, and now she was turning her back on Baked Alaska or soufflé. I had a Sambuca on the rocks to go with dessert. I ordered the chocolate lava cake, and Sharon did help me with a couple of bites.

Sharon and I decided to skip the show this evening’s performance of “Unforgettable” featuring a hit parade by the ship’s performers; which, we’ve seen before on another ship. Sharon tried her luck at her slot machine, and I watched a crowded blackjack table being quite rowdy, and was happy I’d already decided to catch up on rest this evening. It is funny how early in the cruise you couldn’t pay someone to sit down at the blackjack table, and now it’s full of regulars. One lady who sat down just as I started to watch, and the dealer started to ask for her room card and the pit boss waved that off, saying “Hello Melissa.” She said to the table, “I’m not sure if that’s good that they know our names.” She may have a point. After watching the next shoe, I knew that I probably wasn’t up to sitting with this crowd. After my Long Island Iced Tea with bingo, and cabernet with dinner and Sambuca with dessert, I might say something I’d regret. I was biting my tongue as it was, and I was “just watching”. I returned to the cabin, and it wasn’t long before Sharon joined me.

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