First a note about the slowness of posting blog entries: Despite purchasing talk, text and data packages from AT&T for both of our phones, actually GETTING good service has been a challenge here in the wilderness. We’re learning.

Today, we stopped at the small tribal village of Hoonah, at Icy Strait Point. The natives here started a corporation for the sole purpose of showcasing their culture and opening to cruise ships. It’s a lovely, largely unspoiled and very small port.  Everything is brand new.

With no excursions scheduled, we ventured out after lunch to explore the area. I was excited to put my fingers in the cold water, so we walked along the beach trying very hard not to step on the thousands of mussels clinging to the rocks.

Hoonah was a salmon fishing port for many years. In fact, on this trip we’ve learned that many coastal Alaskan towns have histories of salmon fishing and canning, as it was their main source of income for generations. We’ve seen many old and a few still functioning salmon fisheries and canneries. At Hoonah, we toured a small cannery museum, then decided to hike the nature trail. The minute we stepped under the canopy, the light took on a beautiful luminescent quality. It is actually considered a temperature rainforest. Reminded me of the Forest Moon of Endor, where the Ewoks lived. 

Short trip ashore. Back on the ship, we took a nap then went to the evening entertainment, which was a great singer from Las Vegas named Savannah something or other. She sang all songs from female singers through the decades. After dinner, Andy had signed up to play poker. He stumbled in to our cabin around 2 a.m., $55 richer. Woo-hoo!

We continue to meet lovely people on the ship. Besides the Kiwis mentioned in an earlier post, we’ve met people from Chicago, Sequin TX, Raleigh-Durham, and Mississippi.  Even though there are thousands of people on the ship, it really does begin to feel like a small community and we run into these same nice folks over and over.