Skagway - The Rush is On! (July 13th - 15th)

We were originally supposed to be in Skagway for 4 days/3 nights, but a change in the ferry schedule back in January shorted our time there by a day.  While at the time, I was disappointed, I now know it was the BEST THING that happened to my original travel itinerary plans.  By having one extra day/night in Juneau, we were able to make Hoonah possible and still keep the whale watching tour in the plans too.  And having now been to and done Skagway (and the Yukon) over these three days, I think that was really the perfect amount of time and adventure there.

Our ferry from Juneau left shortly after 7am on Saturday; with a short stop in Haines on our way into Skagway.  Along the way, we got a bit closer to the Sentinel Island Lighthouse we had seen the day before, so I was able to get a few nicer photos.   Bonus was the beautiful Elred Rock Lighthouse, with the glacier backdrop.  The ferry really was an amazing experience and opportunity to see a lot of beautiful sights along the way.  It definitely did not disappoint.

Once in Skagway around 3pm, our host from the Historic Skagway Inn met us. Karl was an interesting guy, originally from the East Coast.  He and his wife have owned the inn for several years, capturing the old world charm of this old gold rush town of the 1890's.

As a B&B, it was on the pricier side,over $200 for a room with ensuite bathroom (shower, toilet & sink) plus a hot breakfast entree served with home bakery items, juice, coffee and other continental breakfast type items.  I didn't mind the price considering they offered 2:1 through the AK Tour Saver discount book.

The Inn is one of the original buildings in Skagway, with a history as a bordello.  Each of the rooms were named after actually working ladies of the time.  We were in The Dottie Room which was very comfortable for David & me as we opted for two twin beds than a single double/queen or a pricier king bed suite.  They did have rooms that shared a central hall bathroom for around $159/night too.

Another nice feature of The Historic Skagway Inn was Olivia's Bistro, with their fresh locally sourced food to table menu that was eclectic and truly Alaskan.  We had dinner there our first night, and dessert the second.  Our hot breakfast entrees, while delicious were a bit on the scrimpy side however.  David and I shared the pair of desserts you see to the right here.  Both were moist and quite yummy.  A night ending to a full day after our Yukon adventure on Sunday.  (More about your day up in Canada on the next installment of this blog!)

On Saturday night we enjoyed the "Legends & Lies" show, which is also staged at The Historic Skagway Inn in one of their side bar areas.  Having read about this interactive show, based loosely on the life & times of this old gold rush town, we were happy to drop $69 +tax on this engaging show. Oh, and yes, they too were featured in the 2:1 AK Tour Saver discount booklet.

The show featured "Big Ed" the saloon owner and "Klondike Kate" the barmaid and showgirl.  She could sing, dance and play the piano.  We learned about the adult beverages of the day, made (and drank) a few, plus enjoyed yummy appetizers from Olivia's.  One of the best values of the things we did while in Alaska!  OH, I almost forget, we also got a nice Alaska Brewery pint glass as a souvenir.

After the show, we did stop in at Olivia's for dinner.  I had the halibut puff pastry, sorta like a pot pie with fish inside the flaky pastry shell and a side cup of halibut chowder.  DELISH!

David had the evening special . . . reindeer reuben & fries.  He said the red cabbage really added to the marriage of flavors and that it tasted DELISH too.

On Sunday we rented a car to venture north of the border into the Yukon Territory which I'll write about next.

That evening we had dinner in town down by the car rental station.  The Bonanza Bar & Grill was just that . . . a main street bar and grill that had very good tavern style food.  We both enjoyed fish & chips and a tall cold one (Alaskan Amber Ale . . . yes again!).

Monday in Skagway was all about enjoying the touristy area of town, since we had to check out of our B&B by 11am and the ferry didn't depart until 6:30pm.  We enjoyed time spent at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park buildings and visitor center.  It was a pretty nice day out, so the town was bustling with cruise ship people.  It was funny to watch them on their walking tours of Skagway, led by period costumed "ladies of the evening" . . . parading around town doing silly, goofy things.  Seriously, I am just not cut out for the cruise ship experience and all that comes with it.  I guess so long as they were having fun, I was certainly being entertained by how dumb they looked!

Skagway also has several tour options that include small bus trips around town and up into the forest and along inlet waterways; the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad and the "The Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith" are all excursion offerings for visitors.  We did do the 2:30pm "Soapy Smith" show.  It was a fun way to spend an hour hearing more of the Skagway folklore of what it was like to live and pass through here during the gold rush era.


The song & dance skits were well done; but at times a little bawdy for middle of the day family entertainment.  Perhaps kids don't follow closely enough to understand the double entendre?  That would be a good thing for parents.  Since these tours and show really do cater to the cruise folks in town for a few hours, they have to charge a pretty high price ($25pp) given the low turnout in the middle of the day.  Our show only had about 18 people; the earlier 10:30am show looked to be about the same when it let out.

All in all, we were very happy to have included Skagway in our travel itinerary!