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Cathedral of Junk, No-Show Bats, and the Burger Bar
For having lived in the state of Texas for over 35 years, this was my first time in Austin, and even now, it was only a half day stop on the way to somewhere else. Having only the late afternoon and evening hours with two of my kids, I tried to make the most of the time, and hopefully make a photo or two along the way.
A Quick Trip to Galway, Ireland - Part 2
For a quick business trip to Ireland, this ended up being a long post, so I’ve split it into two. The first post is more of a photo blog. This second part is more about my thoughts on food, lodging, and other things you might want to know if you visit Galway.
A Quick Trip to Galway, Ireland - Part 1
For a quick trip to Ireland, this ended up being a long post, so I’ve split into two. This first post is more of a photo blog. The second is more about my thoughts on food, lodging, and other things you might want to know if you visit Galway.
Ketchikan, AK
For us, Ketchikan was a day of stories. Our story of a run-in with two black bears, stories of a hawk who is scared of his prey, stories told in totems, and more. If any of that sounds interesting to you, click through!
A Quick stop in Anchorage, Alaska
The last thing we wanted to do was arrive in Alaska on our departure day. Too many things could go wrong, and we could wind up missing our train to Seward, or even worse, miss our ship’s departure, so we decided to call NCL to book an earlier flight and arrange to land in Anchorage a day early.
From Anchorage to Seward by Train
I definitely recommend taking this train excursion if you haven't already. Yes, it is a 4-hour trip, but I would rather spend 4 hours seeing Alaska like this than a 1 hour in a cramped bus. We chose to cruise Alaska instead of somewhere else, because we wanted to see Alaska. We could not afford some of the more expensive excursions, so this was a pretty good compromise that enabled us able to see parts of Alaska that you can’t see unless you take this train or fly in. The last half of the trip, not being accessible to those who take the Alaska highway.
Hubbard Glacier, AK
Trying to take photos of the Hubbard Glacier and the surrounding landscape was a bit of a challenge, but it was glorious! A cutting wind was blowing off the glacier, throwing water and ice directly at us and my camera and lens.
Skagway, AK
Soon after arriving in Skagway, we attempted one of several self-guided nature walks. We ended up biting off more than we could chew but before turning around, we were thrilled to experience some gorgeous landscapes, interesting conifers, and several varieties of moss and lichen that I have never seen before.
Juneau, AK
Whale-watching, Mendenhall Glacier, and beautiful mountain scenery.
Between Ketchikan and Vancouver, a Day at Sea
One of the great things about cruising Alaska is that compared to other cruises, there are more port days and fewer at-sea days. For me personally, I’d rather be off the ship doing something than spending the majority of my time at sea. However, an at-sea day on calm water did provide time to stop, look, think, feel, and listen. Oh, yeah, and time to take some photos too.
Port of Vancouver, Canada
Docking at the Port of Vancouver marked the end of the cruise and the start of the journey home. I had never been to Canada before, and one of the things that I found interesting was an obvious effort to make the dense city more “green” with gardens and trees growing on the tops of many buildings.
Hoona and Icy Strait Point, Alaska
Hoona truly is a beautiful place. To get the most out of a visit, you will need to spend more time here than we did. The hours we spent in Hoona served only as an introduction and still was one of our favorite destinations of the entire cruise.
Cruising Alaska with Norwegian Cruise Line®
My wife and I recently returned from a seven-day Alaska Cruise aboard the Norwegian Spirit. Neither of us has ever been on a cruise, and other than one bad weather day on the open sea before sailing through Alaska inside passage, we both had a great time.
The next several blog posts will cover various facets of the cruise including thoughts about cruising in general, our itinerary through photographs, a discussion of photography while on a cruise, and related gear and clothing for this unique cruise experience.