Tuesday, July 15- Richard got up earlier than I did and went out of our cabin to drink coffee, so he got see the park rangers coming on board for our cruise in Glacier Bay. At 7am, we went to the Crow's Nest on Deck 11 for Glacier Bay Greeting with the Park Rangers. They explained what we could expect that day and they brought a national park bookstore on board for the day. I got a GB national park stamp.
We cut out a few minutes early to beat the rush to the breakfast. We thought Marions were coming, too, but they ended up trying the formal dining room instead and reportedly enjoyed being served vs. the buffet.
We spent the morning moving around the ship trying to find a good spot to view Glacier Bay. At first it was foggy, rainy and cold. We tried the bow, which was open again, but we lasted all of 3 minutes. This was maybe 1/2 way up the bay.
I think this is Mt La Perouse, but it's a little hard to tell in the fog...
The back of the ship was more protected so we lasted longer there. Slowly the fog cleared...
...and the sun started trying to peak through. Mount Bertha on the left.
Then the sun did come out and we got Richard's favorite snapshot of the trip! 
We hung out on our balcony for awhile but like I mentioned before, it was like a horse with blinders on- restricting our view.
We started seeing ice chunks (aka growlers) from the glaciers...
...and the water was spectacularly blue! This is not PhotoShopped, it really was this blue.
Only 2 ships per day are allowed in Glacier Bay. To preserve the habitat. Sadly, when we took this photo a family several cabins down from us were feeding the seagulls from their balcony, which is strictly prohibited. 😒 Those non-rule-followers who ruin it for everyone else...
We saw a lot of sea otters floating on their backs in the water.
This whole time -as we're sailing in Glacier Bay- one of the park rangers is talking over the intercom every 5 minutes, sharing facts & information about what we were seeing. I enjoyed that info, learned some new things.
Once we got to Margerie Glacier (in front of Mt Turner), we went up on Deck 11. Our side of the ship was towards the glacier for 30 minutes, then the captain did a 180° so the other side could see the glacier from their balconies.
I was really hoping to see a glacier "calve" and we did! Those big chunks floating here are fresh off the glacier. The park ranger said the only way to get a picture of it happening is to stand on deck with your camera focused on the glacier waiting for the right instant. There is no way to predict when a chunk will break loose. I did not get any pictures of the calving, but sometimes it's better to just live in the moment.
I lost all track of time with the beauty around me. All of a sudden, I noticed it was 10:15am. At 10, the ship was serving pea soup so I rushed inside to the Crow's Nest to get myself a cup of soup. Campbell's split pea soup was the first thing I learned to cook (at age 4) and I enjoy it -with a side of nostalgia- to this day. However it was news to me that it is considered a Dutch thing. According to Google, the Dutch version of split pea soup (known as snert), is one of the signature dishes of the Netherlands. During cold winters, small food and drink stalls spring up along frozen canals serving snert to ice skaters.
Fun Facts about Sea Otters: they can weigh up to 90 lbs...90% of the world's population live in Alaska... a group of resting sea otters (below) is called a raft... they rely on their thick, water-resistant fur for insulation; an otter pup’s fur is so dense that it can’t dive underwater until it gets its adult fur. This comes in handy when mothers leave their pups safely floating on the water’s surface while they forage for food... they use rocks to crack shellfish open, and they have a loose patch of skin under their armpit to store both the food they’ve foraged and their rock to crack it open...
We were not able to cruise into the John Hopkins Inlet to see the Lamplugh glacier as scheduled due to safety reasons ie. too many icebergs. So we headed back south through Glacier Bay. Same scenery we saw on the way up, so at 1pm, we went to the Glacier Bay Park Ranger program, "What Is Home?"
"In June 2020, tribal members of the Hoonah Indian Association traveled to Glacier Bay to continue a centuries old traditional cultural practice. Once banned by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Glacier Bay gull egg harvest is now cooperatively managed by the tribe and the National Park Service. Gull eggs are a treasured spring treat enjoyed by the Huna Tlingit and egg harvest provides opportunities for tribal members to connect to their homeland in Glacier Bay and engage in a longstanding cultural tradition." https://youtu.be/T8pz2hjl6vY?si=crplPf0hhK8iAi9b 
At 4pm we went to the David Jeremiah event with Harris III.
Right after the presentation was over, we saw the NPS boat coming back to pick up the rangers and take them back to the Visitor's Center in Bartlett Cove, so we rushed out on deck 3 to see the action; our ship slowed down, the boat pulled alongside, the rangers rappelled down and sped off, waving good-bye.
Afternoon English Tea was served at 3. Richard & I went to that. We were seated with some interesting people- a German lady, a school teacher, and a couple where the man was obviously way out of his comfort zone. 😉
Still not sure how he levitated the table...
He predicted answers from the audience, had a ring from a lady in the audience reappear in a gumball machine, and got out of a straight jacket- by his own admission this isn't a trick that an illusionist can perform frequently because it involves dislocating one's shoulder. I cringe every time I watch the video.
When the show was near the end, the captain made an announcement over the ship intercom about a pod of whales around the dock, slowing our docking procedure. A number of people jumped up and ran out on deck to see the whales. A couple minutes later he made another announcement. We were not sure if it was for real or a joke to upstage the show. Turns out it was for real and Marions got to see the whales bubble feeding. That would've been cool to see, but we were ok with staying for the ending of the show because Harris had a really good lesson at the end.
Till the show was over, we were docked in Icy Strait Point. ICP was only developed into a cruise port in 2004, so it's relatively new and small/not much to do. The very first thing we did on land was connect to their fast, free internet and upload all our photos to the cloud and retrieve messages. I expected it to be slow with all the people sitting on the benches of the welcome center doing the same thing, but it was lightening fast. 👍👍 for Icy Strait Point! (FYI, we had cell service whenever we were on land, but while we were at sea, we were in roaming/international waters.)
Next we went through the Cannery museum, Hoonah Packing Company, where you can see how salmon were caught, then processed and canned for delivery to the lower 48 states from 1912 to 1953. This was an automated salmon cleaning machine.
Typically men were recruited to work on the fishing boats, and women worked in the canneries due to smaller hand size.
We went up to the Crow's Nest on deck 11 with Marions , to watch the sail away and sunset.
The salmon also went through a chopper, filler, weigher, curler clincher (put lids on cans), vacuum sealer, and labeler (below). 
This is the dock where the catch was brought to the cannery. The fishing industry is currently the third largest industry in the state of Alaska, behind the oil industry and tourism.
We browsed around the shops in the cannery a little, but didn't purchase anything. Maybe we should have because it was less touristy than any other port. We walked along the beach but didn't spot any whales or starfish, which [allegedly] are frequently sighted there. A couple people were swimming, but we thought they were "nuts"- it was much too cold for that! I did dip my hand in the water just to check them temperature.
After that, the line to ride the free gondola was thinned down, so we rode in a car with 2 other couples.
There really wasn't much to do at the top, so we simply hiked through the rainforest back down to town -instead of riding the gondola back down. The forest was gorgeous, well worth the hike! Richard & I got in 18,000 steps this day.
Having exhausted all the port had to offer, we got back on the ship around 8pm. The buffet started closing down shortly after we filled our plates, so we were glad we didn't stay on land any longer! Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but the food was amazing that night. LOL
We worked on communal puzzles for a time; Marion & Marlene joined this gentleman working on one.
Wednesday, July 16- Richard will tell you this was his favorite port/day. We met Marions in the main dining room at 7:30; the host seated us at the back of the ship right by the window so we were able to watch as the ship tied up in Sitka. 
Thanks to our waiter tipping us off, we disembarked promptly after breakfast to beat the huge Royal Caribbean ship that was arriving in port shortly after us.
As we walked up the pier, there were multiple folks selling excursions. We were looking at a float plane ride advertisement, but we ended up booking a different splurge. Best impulse purchase EVER! Read on...
Richard ordered the Full English breakfast; I was skeptical that he would like it, but he cleaned his plate without complaint. Bangers & baked beans for breakfast?? 🤷
I went with a smoked salmon omelet and figs.
View from our balcony- this is what I expected Alaska to look like!
Oh my! As we were sitting in our meeting spot for the tour, all at once the pier was positively swarming with tourists! Quantum of the Seas (visible in background here) was barfing its 4000+ passengers into Sitka. We bought our tour just in time!
I wanted to see St Peter's Chapel By the Sea. The stone church was built in 1899, and was the first substantial Episcopal church in Sitka.
At 6pm we went to David Jeremiah event- Concert with the Martins. These are siblings from Arkansas.
Cape Decision lighthouse 😍
Our tour guide was Robbie, originally from England. He was an excellent tour guide with a great accent, but he also has led an interesting life. As he drove the tour van, he regaled us with his impressive life story. His most popular claim to fame is that he was the personal body guard of the late Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1980s!!
He moved to Alaska from Michigan. When people asked him why Alaska, he says to get away from all the snow. Sitka's annual snowfall is considerably less than Michigan's, believe it or not.
Our first stop on the tour was The Raptor Center. https://alaskaraptor.org/ It's a rehab center for eagles and other birds. (Let's play a version of "Where's Waldo?" -look for a massive camera in this pic)
Richard's wingspan vs. an eagle
Eagles in the weathering yard The Weathering Yard gives our residents a safe spot to perch during the day, while also exposing them to sunlight, rain and other elements, which are essential for their physical and mental health.
Red tailed Hawk
Replica of a bald eagle nest
We could have taken more time there, but we only had a 30 min time slot. The tours operate on a strict schedule and 1 person being late causes a problem for everyone, as one lady in our group found out here.
Our next stop was Sitka National Historical Park in Tongass Forest. The main attraction here is the totem pole trail, which we didn't take time to do. Tour guide Robbie did teach us something new about totem poles though. The expression about being at the bottom of the totem pole is not considered a compliment, but in native culture the most important person is at the bottom of a totem pole. Because they hold everyone else up. Interesting!
We hiked back a trail to this bridge & creek instead. This location wasn't something on my agenda; we only went here because it was included in the tour package.
Foxglove & Lupine 😍
Our last -and best- stop was Fortress of the Bears. A rescue center for orphaned brown & black bears. https://www.fortressofthebear.org/ Smokey, Bandit & Tuliaan are the only black bears in Sitka.
We got to watch them feeding the bears. According the dry erase board posted on the wall, the day's menu was salmon, venison, beef, chicken, apples, carrots, mango, cabbage, cantaloupe & pears. One of their bears knows sign language for "more".
Wow, look at those paws/claws!
This one just stared at us apathetically while resting its head on a rock on the water -too funny!
Tour guide Robbie took us back to downtown Sitka and dropped us off, to do some exploring on our own. He gave us his business card in case we ever need a place to stay or have any TSA issues in Alaska (he is the head of TSA in Sitka and they pride themselves in being the friendliest TSA in America.) Wow, that is quite generous to offer lodging to strangers in your home! 10 out of 10 recommend him for a tour guide!
We did not know it until we got home, but right around that time was when a major 7.3 earthquake struck Alaska. Apparently we had some family back home concerned about us. We did not feel anything. Alaska is huge and we were a really long way from the quake- the whole way on the other side of the Gulf of Alaska!
We walked around town, checking out the Russian Bishop's house... The oldest intact Russian building in Sitka was built in 1842 by the Russian American Company as a residence for the Bishop of the Orthodox Church. Bishop Innocent (Ivan Veniaminov) was its first resident. It has been restored to the 1850s historic period when it functioned as a school, Bishop’s residence, and a chapel.
We walked the other direction in town to find St Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral...
An important collection of Russian Orthodox art and rare church treasures. Built in 1844-48, the church was totally destroyed by fire in January of 1966. Many of the precious icons and religious objects were salvaged and are in the rebuilt structure.
All the gold and tapestries and formality of Orthodox churches stun me. I'm thankful for an approachable God that I can have a personal relationship with.
Historic wedding crowns... hmm, imagine keeping that on your head during a ceremony.
Ok, that is one large communion cup!
I had read the Sitka Pioneer Home has a beautiful flower garden, but we only trotted past. Built in 1934, this is a state home for elderly Alaskans. The 13½ foot bronze statue entitled The Prospector, in front of the Pioneer Home was made by Alonzo Victor Lewis and was dedicated on Alaska Day in 1949. The model was a real pioneer – William “Skagway Bill” Fonda.
Bingo! This is what I was really looking for- Castle Hill.
Disappointingly, when we climbed to the top, there was no actual castle. The hill, providing a commanding view over the city, is the location where Alaska was formally handed over to the United States by Russia in 1867 after the Alaska Purchase was negotiated. It is also where the United States flag was first flown after Alaska became a state in 1959, though the ceremony was unofficial and secret.
View [in just one direction] from Castle Hill
We were blessed with another beautiful day in Alaska!
I might be a lighthouse junkie... Google it. 😁
We browsed through some tourist shops until we decided its time to mosey back to the ship. We weren't in any particular hurry. There was a long line and a short line for the shuttle buses back to the pier. A guy directing traffic ask us which ship we're on and directed us to the short line. We got right on a bus, ahead of all the people in the long line. Hmm, it took me a bit to figure out that we were on the last load going back to Eurodam; our departure time was earlier than the other ship. It's good we didn't fool around any longer in Sitka! We picked up a few souvenirs yet from the shops on the pier. One of us may have spent 'too much' on roasted nuts and the other of us splurged on a limited edition float plane watercolor, which the artist autographed because he just happened to be near the booth right then.
When we got back on the ship, we ordered a burger & cheese fries from Dive In shop- for a very late lunch. We enjoyed it on our balcony while we sailed away from Sitka.
It was Orange Night in the main dining room. We don't own/wear much orange, so I rather prefer Royal Caribbean's White Night.
I ordered extra anchovies with my Caesar salad -unpopular choice, I know. See, there used to be this little hole-in-the-wall pizza shop in town when I was a youth that made the best anchovy pizza... I get hungry for anchovies once in awhile! 😋 Besides, it's so fun to ask for something different and have the waiter say "absolutely!" Richard had steak tartare.
My main dish was called hodge podge klapstuk. What a delightful name! It's brisket. Richard had beef tenderloin with mushrooms.
And for dessert, Lindt chocolate tulip... and tampounce (puff pastry with vanilla custard).
We went to the Holland America's comedy show with Chris Pendleton. I was expecting a man, but Chris was a woman. We were late so we mainly caught the part with her & her daughter playing violins.
Sunset was at 9:30pm -gradually adjusting to this Alaska time...
The first attempt to light these waters was an acetylene lantern. The lantern was proved ineffective and consequently Congress appropriated $59,400 in 1929 for a lighthouse and construction began in September of that year. However, weather and inadequate funds delayed the completion of the station until it finally became active in March 1932. The total cost ended up in excess of $150,000.
Ketchikan coming up next...
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