Skagway, Alaska

After cruising all night, the ship docked at Skagway, Alaska at 7:00 a.m. and left a little before 1:00 p.m. so again we knew that we had just a few hours to soak in all of Skagway. While there we took a train ride up to White Pass, ate lunch at a building that was once the oldest brothel in town, mailed a few post cards and of course, walked through a few shops. Skagway is most famous for being the starting place for men who were seeking their fortune in the gold rush of the late 1890s. Like most of the places we docked, tourism is the main industry. Skagway was no different as you can tell by the number of ships at the dock. There are not enough locals to provide all of the man power needed for all of the tourism so college students are brought in to help. The waiter at the restaurant was from California and the man who helped us at one of the shops was retired from working in Las Vegas. He told us that he just pulls a fifth wheel up and works for the summer. Along the board walk there were women dressed as ladies of the evening sitting on second story window ledges promoting their dance hall show by yelling out to prospective customers. We especially enjoyed the train ride to White Pass as you will be able to tell from the next post. While walking back to the shop we saw this little harbor seal all by himself very close to the shore.