To celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, Bryce and I went on a 7-night Alaskan cruise. It was beyond relaxing and we had a lot of fun. Our ship had an amazing classical quintet and we went to almost all of their shows–they were fantastic! Cruising is just the best when you’re parents: no laundry, dishes, or cooking for a whole week!
Happy to be on board!
Enjoying the beautiful scenery at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.
Nugget Falls, right beside Mendenhall Glacier.
On our whale watching adventure. We saw several spurts of water from Humpback Whale blowholes and even got to see one of their tails!
We also got see and hear this big group of sea lions on our whale watching trip. They were loud!
Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park. Sailing through this huge bay was amazing–no humans or man-made structures in sight and stunning vistas. Park rangers boarded the ship to teach us about glaciers, narrate what we were seeing, and teach us a bit about the native Tlingit culture.
Waiting for one of the on-board performances.
At Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan. We learned about totem poles and local native culture. Raven is a major figure in local folklore and tradition–which was awesome! This pole has a big Raven carved right at the base.
A replica of a traditional native home.
We had the best tour guide! He was a fantastic storyteller and was so animated as he told us the stories related to each totem pole in the park.
Delicious salmon and clam chowder at Annabelle’s Famous Keg and Chowderhouse in Ketchikan. Mmmm….
This is the quintet I was telling you about. They were fantastic!
Arriving in Canada!
At the gorgeous Butchart Gardens in Victoria. So beautiful.
The gardens were lush and stunning.
Say cheese!
At the parliament building in Victoria.
The beautiful (and very windy!) coast in Victoria. We went down and walked along the beach.
The view from the Space Needle in Seattle.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Just spending time together and seeing all the beautiful sites was amazing. We had to skip our port in Sitka, Alaska because of rough seas. Guess we’ll just have to return to Alaska at some point to see what we missed! Happy 13 years to us!