Thursday, August 29, 2013

Mr. X's sister visits

The last full weekend of August, Mr. X's sister and brother-in-law came to visit. First on their list of things to do was charter fishing. We went out with our friendly captain and crew for a half day of salmon fishing near icy straits. We caught 3 silvers that we're sure to enjoy. All of my good pictures have Mr. X in them...so you don't get to see them.

After fishing we tried out the Thai Kitchen which we've been told for years is the best restaurant in town. I'm not sure it lived up to its reputation. In the afternoon, we headed downtown to shop and go up the Mt. Roberts tram. We hiked the alpine loop and even made a quick jaunt up to the cross - the first time Mr. X and I have made it that far up the mountain.

Mr. X then treated us to gelato and then we drove to Last Chance Basin to talk about mining in Juneau. For dinner we went to the Island Pub. I think this is my new favorite restaurant. The next morning we went to breakfast at the Sand Piper and then went to the Mining Museum.

We then went out to the Mendenhall Glacier where we saw three bears (including one with a radio collar) and BIL taught us about rocks. In fact he looked around picked up a rock and said, "See here, this is a great example, here's quartz, sulfides, and see that glitter, that's gold. Do you have a back pack?" No, we didn't take the rock. We didn't have a pack and well, who knows what a park ranger would say about removing "artifacts" from the recreational area.

For dinner Saturday night we had a fish bake on Sandy beach. The weather held and Mr. X's sister, created the best salmon, potato, zuchini foil dinners ever, a variety of deli salads and fire roasted stuff peppers. We finished the night off with s'mores with peanut butter cups. The out-of-towners left Sunday morning. It was a good visit, especially since I now know where to eat out!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Whale watching

John Harrison's last week of work, we finally took him up on his offer of a complimentary whale watching tour. After work one night we headed to Auke bay for a cruise out to the Orca Point Lodge on Colt island for dinner, beach combing and touch tank viewing.

The salmon bake dinner was excellent. After dinner we headed out to do some whale watching. We saw a calf, cow, escort whale and Spot, the local non-migratory, non-reproducing whale.

After a bit of that, we stopped at hump island to see some seals reclining on the beach. We've seen plenty of sea lions hauled out in places, but never seals on a beach. It was a beautiful evening and totally worth the price. :)