We had no excursion planned today (we wanted to do the ATV ride but it wasn't being offered) so we were in no rush to get off the ship. Also, its a tender port so we wanted to let the crowds thin out. They tell you it will get crowded from 9:30-11 but it didn't really pick up until 11am. In fact they made an announcement at 10am that there were no lines. At 10am we headed up to the centrum to enter in the Baggo tournament. They had games in the centrum all morning to entertain people while they were waiting in line for the tenders. They also had someone in a whale costume that you could pose with. The whale was very friendly and liked to sneak up on people (side note: Lindsay is afraid of mascots so this was not the most enjoyable part of the day for her). The Baggo tournament had 8 players and we finished in first and second place (Jason won the gold...this time)
After the tournament we went down to deck three to wait in line for the tender boats (they use lifeboats that fit 125 people). The line was snaking around and down one of the halls on deck three, but it didn't take more than 15 minutes to get off the ship. The ride to shore is about 5 minutes. We noticed during the day that when there were sealife spottings in the area, the tenders were slowing down so that the passengers could view.
When we got on shore the first thing we did was stop for some Alaskan king crab. Jason had wanted oysters in Seattle and didn't get them- so we weren't missing the chance to have crab in Alaska. We ordered a half a king crab and it was plenty of food. We walked out onto the dock and that was when we had our first wildlife sighting of the day. There was a sea lion in the water near the shore. We took some pictures and then decided to take the walk out to Hoonah. Hoonah is about a mile and a half away and there is a trail/sidewalks you can take. There is also a shuttle that runs between ISP and Hoonah. Its $8/round trip, one way is $5. If you are able to walk it- we recommend it- as you get a chance to see a lot of wildlife. If there is a sighting the bus will try to stop- but may not always be able to.
Along the walk we saw tons of bald eagles and other birds, lots of waterfalls and pretty scenery. As you get closer to Hoonah there is a very old cemetery on the land side. We found graves from the early 1800s and even a woman from that time that lived to 115 years of age- wow! The walk took us about 40 minutes and that was with stopping for pictures every few feet. Once in Hoonah- there wasn't much to see. There were a few shops, a local bar, and several churches that were closed. Even though there wasn't much there we are glad we walked out there.
On the walk back we were talking about all the great things we saw and how we hadn't yet seen a whale. As if on cue, we hear a giant whoosh (the blow hole of a whale). With camera in hand we started snapping away. The Whale couldn't have been more than 100 yards from shore. We ran with it for a while as it was hard to track when it went underwater.
As we got back into Icy Strait Point we thought we had seen it all. We were wrong. Sitting on the back of a pickup track was a baby bald eagle eating something (perhaps someones lunch) out of the back. The bird, we guess, wasn't more than 2 or 3 years old as it had almost all of its brown cap on its on head. We were able to get less than a car length from this bird without disturbing it. No mom or dad in sight.
We then followed the nature trail on Icy Strait Point. The signs are well marked. The trees are 100 years old (originally cut down and then replanted in 1912) There are a few lakes which i imagine will have mosquitoes later in the season. As you walk through the trail it leads you to the beach where you will see a bunch of islands across the way. If its low tide you can walk out and there will be mussels everywhere. The trail brings you around to the landing zone restaurant where the zip line finishes up. There is also a fire pit, with a fire active (not sure of the significance there). We walked through the shops (the salmon store has samples of salmon jerky- jason says it was ok, lindsay spit it out- and then headed back to the ship)
Back on the ship we once again tried rock climbing but we were told they were closing down due to weather. Instead we played mini golf (lindsay won this time) and went to the under $500 art auction. A note about the art auction: They give you white cards for asking/answering trivia questions during the auctions. You have to bring all of the cards you collect to the last auction and you are entered into a raffle. The winning prize....the $20.00 watch gift set they sell on the ship and a few poster prints of art you would find on a wall in the olive garden. Sail away was around 6pm so Jason went out to the helipad to watch while Lindsay got ready for dinner.
Dinner tonight was strawberry bisque, tomato and mozzarella, scallop risotto, grilled shrimp (which ioan took out of the shell for me..and then brought me more even though i was full with one plate) and lamb shank. As for dessert, we placed our order and then Ioan told us to make some room in the middle as he had a surprise for us. Uh oh! Well, he felt we weren't eating enough on the cruise so he brought us one of every dessert on the menu so we could try them all. As he explained, no pressure to eat them all as they get thrown out anyway so we should have a bite of each of them and enjoy. There was: raspberry panna cotta (lindsays favorite), tiramisu, chocolate mint cake(jasons favorite), angel food cake, warm chocolate cake.
They also sang to us this night (one of two nights they would sing) that's Ioan posing with the glasses.
After dinner we headed to the centrum for the 70s party. This was hosted by the CD and his staff. Everybody was in the typical RCCL 70s costumes (village people, bright shirts, wigs). It was a great crowd and very active. They tossed out bracelets and rings- Lindsay was able to snag a yellow bracelet (it said have a nice day and had the royal logo) there was a scheduled afterparty in the starquest but no one was up there.
We ended up in the solarium that night and Jason shared a hot tub with John Lennon who was leaving the ship the next day with his family to board a different ship in Juneau. As we were sailing we past another ship (possibly celebrity) and tried to grab a picture of them.
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