Up this morning to another perfect day! It's getting warm - mid 70's. We are sleeping now with the windows open at night - two days ago we had the heat on!
This is fishing derby weekend, so we expect it won't be so quiet here in the park. Joyce got us tickets on the 11AM fast ferry to Skagway. We'll spend the day there. Off to the Blue Moose for breakfast.
After browsing the Native Art store we strolled to the ferry dock. The fast ferry serves as a shuttle up the Taiya Inlet to Skagway. The ferry sails through a fijord and past waterfalls gushing from the Chilkoot Mountain tops. Today there are only 6 of us on board as we ooo and ahhh past spectacular scenery.
Skagway is the northern most point on the Alaska Marine Highway's Inside Passage. Pulling into Skagway there are 4 cruise ships docked and lots of people! The ships really are awesome. Leaving the dock we walked the 1/2 mile trail along the harbor to town (there is a shuttle, but we needed the walk).
In the town's heyday it was the boomtown gateway to the Trail of '98 and the Klondike gold fields. Our first stop in town was The Days of 98 Show. The events depicted in this original play come from the Skagway historical record and focus on 'Soapy' Smith's reign over the town during the Gold Rush of 1897 and 1898. 'Soapy' was a con man and tried to establish himself as a solid citizen of Skagway. Frank Reid, a city surveyor, and others saw through Soapy's good deeds and tried to run him and his gang out of town. Soapy rallied the business community around him and riding a popularity wave rode his white horse up Broadway on July 4, 1898 to stand on a platform next to the govenor of Alaska. Four days later Soapy was dead! His gang robbed a stampeder of $2800 in gold dust. Soapy stood by his men and refused to give the gold back. Reid's vigilante group gathered at the Juneau Co Wharf. Soon threre was a large mob. Most of Soapy's gang ran for the hills. Soapy grabbed his rifle and headed for the wharf to break up the meeting. In the play you witness the events that led to this historic moment.
The cast was great and it was a fun and showed Skagway as the rough and notorious place it was in 1898!
Skagway is a browser's paradise, a great place to sit, shop, look, and linger. Gold Rush-era buildings now house local businesses, turning every shopping exursion into a history lesson. We walked the board sidewalks, had hot dogs in a little souvenir market place, ice cream on Main St and watched people. Later was a trip to the landmark "Red Onion Saloon" - an old bordello. We had nachos, drinks and fun with the 'ladies' of the saloon!
Soon it was time to return to the dock for our 6pm departure. We strolled along the shoreline, boarded the boat and got settled in, oops broken. We waited for another boat from Haines which brought the engineer. He spent some time looking at the boat - after 3 1/2 hours they took us home.
Back home it was a beautiful night. We relaxed and then went to bed.
Pictures: Alaska Ferry sailing Lynn Canal, Sailing up Taiya Inlet to Skagway, Broadway, Days of 98 Show, Cast of Days of 98, Red Onion Saloon, Fun at Red Onion, Sunset on Taiya Inlet
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