Day 5 - Skagway, Alaska

We awoke Tuesday morning to the sounds of

men shouting and motors grinding as

we docked into the Skagway port.

One of the many other cruise ships that

followed the same route as us

was coming in behind us.

We had a gorgeous cool and sunny day.

The town was about 1/4 mile from the dock

but we really enjoyed the view before we

even left the boat.

Skagway was a railroad town and port of call

back in the day of rail travel and the rail trips

were the main attraction here.

It sounded like a neat tour up to the

Klondike Highway and the

Yukon Suspension Bridge.

But it was an all day trip and that suspension bridge

thing made Steve a little nervous.

We had some time before our tour so we walked into town

and enjoyed the view along the way.

Skagway is a little town -

only 800 when the cruise ship season is over.

They have one school from Kg - 12th grade

with 9 teachers and 76 students.

The Red Onion Saloon is known for

its 'spoiled doves' historical reputation.

Our first tour took us on a scenic drive up over the town.

The mountain here was Harding Mt. and they said

it was named after President Harding who was the only

U.S President to visit Skagway.

He complained constantly of being cold and then

promptly returned home and died of pneumonia -

at least that's what they said.

We did see an airplane arrive at their 'airport'.

The tour then took us to a museum - a very good one actually.

They had a lot of artifacts from the miners and

we could have spent more time there.

We also went to a Sculpture Garden - this was the only

sculpture I found interesting but they had enlarged photos

with a miner's notes about their lives -

it looked like an awful life.

They said only a small percent actually made

and KEPT their earnings of gold -

some guy named Nordstrum was one of them.

Most was spent on prostitutes, staying alive

or swindled away from them.

The tour we took of the Red Onion was led by this 'madame'

The was NOT Steve's favorite tour - he didn't like her silliness.

The history she told though was pretty sad -

some of it downright criminal which was

a large problem Skagway had.

Here in St. Louis we have our Jesse James

there they have Soapy Smith.

We enjoyed Skagway for it's scenery

but it's not a place I'd want to live.