A Garth Event

Yesterday, Katy and I were able to attend a Garth Brooks concert down in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium.  About 80k of our closest friends, many from Low Places, decided to join us.  

When tickets were announced months ago, did I have the foresight to reserve a hotel room downtown for when we would buy tickets? I did not, and therefore, the only option was to park, watch it, then drive home very late...which we did.  That was absolutely fine, but it would have been nicer, and we would be much more well-rested today, if we had gotten a room. Oh, there were still rooms to be had, but when Motel 6 is going for $450 a night, something is a little fishy, so no thank you.

Upon arriving outside our gate for entrance, Katy had me take this picture of her in front of the statue of Nebraska's legendary football coach, Tom Osborne, along with one of his quarterbacks who, to this day even though he is no longer alive, still has an impact.  Brook Berringer was an amazing athlete and student and more than that, man, who impacted so many kids and so many adults in his short time. He died in a plane crash shortly before he would be drafted into the NFL and just re-telling his story around here brings tears to those who watched him.

But this was a happy occasion!  The statue sits outside the current weight room and training facilities for the football team, which will soon look tiny compared to the new facility being built just to the east of here. It's one of those iconic spots you want to see whenever you visit, and to be honest, this was the last quiet moment we had for the entire evening.

Because after this, we entered the chaos of the stadium, chaos in a way I have never seen before.  I've been to, I think, 50 Nebraska football games or so. All sellouts, as they have been for decades, with lots and lots of loud, rowdy fans. Sometimes concession lines get long, but not usually. Sometimes it's harder to navigate around, but not usually. Sometimes it even took longer to get out of the stadium when the game was done, but not usually. I say all that because the experience last night was the first time I have ever thought that gosh, they don't know what they are doing here in managing this event.  Concessions were an absolute mess. I have no idea how they screwed it up, but it was BAD, as in, people would go for food and not return for 30-40 minutes bad, something I have never seen in Memorial Stadium at a football game.  A few pics here to share from our seats:

So how was the show, you ask? Meh. Look, Garth Brooks is known as one of the best entertainers of all time, and he has fun on stage. But for almost $100/ticket, I'm expecting Springsteen levels of entertainment and longevity. The show was supposed to begin at 7 and there were rumors we'd have an opening act.  It didn't, and we didn't.  Garth popped up out of the stage at 7:50 and played, and talked, and played, and talked, and talked...a lot, for about 2 hours and 15 minutes or so, then he was done.  

I waited years, paid $100 a ticket, took 2 1/2 hours to get home and missed supper entirely...for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  And to top it off, he talked about as much as he sang. He did a few songs at the start and then it was sing, talk, sing, talk. He spent more time trying to soak up adoration than singing once the show got going. He spent about as much time talking about his band and the crew as he did singing the last third of the show.  So would I pay to see Garth again? Not on your life.  Am I happy I got to experience it?  Yes, because there were some really neat moments, and for Katy and me to be there together, experiencing it, was very, very special. I can't stress that enough. There are songs where if you are a couple you are thrilled because it feels like it is meant for you and you feel closer than ever. And it was AWESOME to be in a huge event. As humans, we NEED this, we CRAVE this, it is built into who we are. We need community, and that has been stolen from us for some time.  Was it worth it in the end?  It was, but would I do it again? Nope!  Now, for some rest...  :)

 

The Cruise - Brief Recap and Video Links

I kinda wonder what Zac was thinking in this pic, looking out the window of a pizza place in downtown Seattle a bit after his cousins had left the first night we arrived. He knew about the cruise (we caved about two weeks before we left) but probably had no idea what to expect. I hope that he had fun, and we did ask him about every day if he was enjoying it.  I know the kids were a little bored at times as the cruise really didn't have much for teens, but I also know Zac in particular is a big fan of the beauty in nature and in architecture. Several times he noted this as we were looking at something from the ship or walking through a picturesque Alaskan city. I'm so glad he had a chance to experience something like this.  I carry with me the memory of many family vacations as a child, vacations of different types of trips, different times of year, different types of transportation (no planes, but trains and automobiles!). They mean a lot to me the older I get, and I am so thankful to Katy's parents for taking us on this trip. It was so special.

My favorite on-ship activity during the cruise were the nightly shows in the theater. I shared this one previously, but this is from the final night, when they presented a Broadway-inspired musical to us, singing songs from multiple shows. It was AMAZING. Zac is a huge fan of Broadway, just like Katy and I are, so he really enjoyed it as well.  He asked after if we could watch 'Chicago' at some point.  Well...maybe give it a year or two, son. It's a little, um, more adult than perhaps I'd rather you see just yet.  :)  When I first saw the entertainment options I honestly didn't think much of it. I thought well, maybe we will go to one or two...that comedian looks like he might be funny...but I had no expectations of it being a highlight. Every evening was something new and fun. We saw two excellent comedians and saw an Adele tribute show from a vocalist who, my gosh, is so much more than just an Adele cover artist. During a variety night show on night 6, she sang "Alone" from 'Heart', a 40s version of "All About that Bass" from 'Meghan Trainor', then an aria from her favorite opera. Her classical training blew us all away. It was incredible.  The cruise director himself did a Neil Diamond tribute show, with mostly songs I had never heard, but he made it so personal that it was very touching. Diamond was his mom's favorite singer and you could sense how meaningful this show was to him. He lost his mom, I think within the last year, and it was emotional for him.  

One of the other things I mentioned briefly before was my surprise that art auctions are a big deal on cruises.  I would NEVER have thought of this...ever. This photo is of a painting by Alexandre Renoir labeled "Evening Calm". I have no idea what this would sell for, but surely FAR more than I would be able to afford at this point in my life. Maybe someday. This one spoke to me, and the picture does it zero justice. In person it was just stunning. I saw the name of the painter and obviously knew the last name, but couldn't figure out the first name. Alexandre is the great-grandson of the Renoir we are familiar with, Pierre-August Renoir. Now I KNOW I could never afford one of HIS paintings, but maybe someday I'll get this one by his great-grandson.  :)  Jewelry is also a common purchase on a cruise, either on the ship, where everything was duty and tax-free, or in the ports, which are just lined with jewelry store after jewelry store. I expected local shops dotting the downtown areas, focused on local gifts and items. I didn't expect to see so many jewelry stores. They make a big deal out of which ones are locally owned, but to be honest, even the local shops carried plenty of items that were not made in Alaska, so it wasn't that much of a pull.  We sure did enjoy the three rings we bought Katy, though. I'm so pleased with those purchases and love that we were able to do it.

I'll leave with this pic and a link to the videos I have uploaded on YouTube.  I grabbed this picture because, to me, this is the serenity of a cruise. Perhaps it's not always this way...I wouldn't know as this was my first cruise.  But having a balcony room...if you cruise you HAVE to do this. We all seek ways to detach from our busy lives and for 11 days, 7 on this ship, I was able to do that completely. Didn't think about work, didn't think about life at home or what I had to do next inside or outside the house...I just...breathed. I think it's important to take as many moments as you can to just soak in whatever respite you can, recognize the beauty around you and just breathe it in.  I hope you enjoyed the posts I made of our trip. They weren't complete, by any stretch, and I'm happy to engage in conversation with anyone who wants to hear more, here or on FB.   And now, the link to the videos I have uploaded:  

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gy3hpNW5VqhezwyNy4bHJxzqf2qB-KG

 

The Cruise - Day Seven - Endless Views

To the left you will see how Katy and I spent much of our final day at sea, just relaxing somewhere on some deck, enjoying the end of a busy, but rarely exhausting, week on the cruise ship.

I think it captures perfectly just how we felt...sipping on lemonade, or a coffee, resting up after several days in a row of off-shore excursions and so, so much time on the water, and finalizing a last mad dash to assure we had everything out of all the drawers and closet and hidden compartments and back into our suitcases, which had to be outside our doors by 11 p.m. Sunday night.

An endless sea view...literally all of our waking hours, at least on our side of the ship, our last day at sea.

For dinner our last night I chose the lamb chop, something I rarely get to enjoy, and it was incredibly tender and delicious. They paired it with some mashed potatoes, spinach and lentils. Obviously this is not an Alaskan meal, but is representative of the quality of food we were served in the main dining room during the entire trip. Breakfast and lunch was always at a more casual venue up on Deck 11 that had a variety of options, while supper was in a more formal setting, even if we weren't always dressed up. Our waiters Viktoriia and Hannah were amazing, adding to the experience. We made sure to leave a nice tip for each of them through Guest Services on the last day so they would see a little extra.

It took me six nights, but I finally figured out I could order as much food as I wanted, so I began ordering double desserts just to try something new. Below were my choices from the last night, an INCREDIBLE Pavlova and a cheesecake which was, well, it was OK. But the Pavlova!  Wow. Never had one before. If I see this on a menu again, I am ordering it for sure. If you don't know what one is, it's a meringue filled in the center with a curd or cream of some sort (this was lemon) and fresh berries in this case.  Katy and I have watched every episode of 'The Great British Baking Show' and they have many times referenced that a meringue should taste like marshmallow. Until this one last night, I had never had one that tasted this way. It was so, so good.

My Pavlova on the left along with cheesecake for dessert.

Our last night finished with the best show of the entire week, and there were some really good ones. This one was created brand new as an homage to stage and screen, primarily Broadway. We LOVE Broadway, so we were really looking forward to it.  What we did not expect were some vocalists, the blonde in the middle of this picture in particular, who were Broadway quality. My GOSH was she good. It was 47 straight minutes of non-stop action, moving between different numbers, different sets, different dances...it was almost dizzying and again, the quality of it was absolutely incredible. I could have watched that for three hours. 

And this concludes my blogs on our cruise. Our last day, on which I am writing now, has been spent back in Seattle. We disembarked a little after 8 a.m. and grabbed a cab back to the Edgewater Hotel we stayed at last weekend, just to stow our bags (Gary & Nell had a room for the night). Did a little more exploring, had a nice lunch and just relaxed until being driven to, almost, the right hotel in the afternoon.  See my FB post for that, but if you can't get there, our limo driver took us first to the airport, then dropped us at the wrong hotel. Luckily he dropped us at another Hilton property, and they had their shuttle driver bring us to the correct Hilton property. Phew!  :)  If you have me on FB, I'll be uploading a lot of images this week sometime and will add links to videos which I intend to post to YouTube. If you don't have me on FB, feel free to find and add me (profile name is jewfrat1).  God bless!

The Cruise - Day Six - Ketchikan

Day six found us on our way to Ketchikan. When I awoke before 7 and went out to our balcony, I spent about an hour just enjoying the view and watching the world pass us by. One thing that caught my attention was just how serene the waters were. I tried to capture them in this picture here, and also the variances I saw in currents, or whatever that is where you can clearly see differences in the water. I also saw a whale pop out of the water and go down, tail and all. Not as chilly as it had been around Juneau the day before, it was a relaxing morning to settle in before breakfast.

When we arrived in Ketchikan, our first thought was that well, this looks a lot like Juneau, just a little smaller. Same look of the port, same bunch of businesses and houses right up against the mountain, but one house in particular caught my attention. This yellow number you see to the left looked like it was perched so much on the edge that if you leaned too much to that side of the house, the entire thing would come tumbling down the mountain. No thank you! Guess this is not the kind of home you'd raise your kids in.  :)

Once we arrived we set out on a very short excursion, we were only in Ketchikan for a few hours, to see a Lumberjack show. I have a lot of pictures of this, but for the sake of upload time I am only sharing one here on the blog. The show was really enjoyable and very funny, which wasn't something I expected. And when you live in an area that doesn't have this type of activity, you never think about the fact that, for these guys, being a lumberjack is not only a way of life, but they participate in these Timber Sports as well. There is a whole circuit, I guess.  The guy on the log roll you see here closest to us had recently been down in California fighting the wildfires. Yes, lumberjacks can help reduce the spread by harvesting trees. Such a needed thing that too many places don't understand. I remember that from all the times we have visited South Dakota. Too many trees increases the fire risk and makes it easier for fire to spread, so thinning them out is an important thing to help the ecosystem. Let them run wild and you stand likely to lose far more than you ever gain from keeping them there. Nature is a fickle thing, and it's kind of fascinating to think of all the work, all the research that goes into knowing how we keep things safe and looking beautiful without taking away all that beauty. Quite the responsibility we have!  :)

After the lumberjack show we did a little shopping, where I finally nabbed another t-shirt to add to my collection. I do this on every vacation, and I only grabbed two this entire week, which is shocking for me.  Luckily, Katy made up for it with jewelry purchases, so I don't feel like we did nothing while we were here.  :)  As in Juneau, the merchants were happy to see us, the first cruise there in 18 months. I will say that, as I write this, I saw another cruise ship heading back the way we came, so I suspect within a week Ketchikan will have another set of guests to entertain.

We boarded the ship a little earlier because we wanted to get back for dinner. All but Katy, Nell and I had plans to go to the sushi restaurant on board. The three of us wanted our traditional dining experience, but they had asked us to dress up last night. Here we are in our Sunday (OK, it was Saturday) best, me with two of my favorite people in the world. Aren't I lucky? Yes, yes I am. :)  The meal was great and, as usual, our service was impeccable. Our servers all week have been Viktoriia, who is from Odessa in the Ukraine, and Hannah, who is from Kenya. Such sweet spirits and we have had long conversations especially with Viktoriia, learning about her life a little bit and sharing ours as well. 

After dinner, and before we headed out to the evening's entertainment at 9:30 (every night is a late night on a cruise ship, I have learned), we went back to our room to change. Each night our deck steward leaves a new towel animal or character on the bed. Last night Zac arrived in the room first to find this little guy, propped up, holding the remote, and the TV was on. HILARIOUS!  He has done some pretty cute things this week, which just lend an additional bit of joy into each day. Not everything has gone smoothly on this cruise in terms of restrictions, etc., but I have to say, we have never, ever, ever had service this good in any hotel we have ever stayed in. Anton, our deck steward, puts every single housekeeper in every hotel anywhere to shame. He literally cleans in our room 3-4 times a day, emptying the trash and making sure things are ready for us. He raises the bunkbed when he first cleans and lowers it each night for Zac to sleep in.  And the service in the restaurant that we have received has set a very high bar as well. Great food, yes, but the service...it's nice that every night, and if they see us in the other restaurant, Viktoriia and Hannah greet us by name. They remember our orders and they look out for us.  These three people have been my favorite staff on the entire ship. Well, OK, there might be a fourth. A bartender, Oliver, works in the evening venue (the theater) and also is in a bar on the 4th deck each day. Oliver is from Spain, and we have developed a rapport. It's fun getting to know these people and they really do make the cruise better.

The Cruise - Day Five - Juneau

Ah, Juneau. What a nice change day five was for us. I have shared several things on FB already but this was my favorite stop so far, by far, because of the people.

We arrived to a sort of Juneau red carpet, it seemed. Since our Sled Dogs excursion didn't start until a little before 9, and the ship had docked around 7, we were in no rush to get off the ship before breakfast. Once we completed that, we headed out. Arriving on the pier we were immediately greeted by someone with, as he called it, the Assembly. That's what his nametag said as well. I guess it's a kind of welcoming committee, and it was so friendly, and he was so happy to see us...what a great start to the day!

And there was more! We had people handing out stickers and welcoming us, thanking us for coming. THANKING US. That was one of the neatest parts, along with the TV crew taking video of us, up close, as we were being greeted. Yes, we have stopped in a few ports prior and done some neat things, but nowhere were they as excited to see us as in Juneau. I realize tourism plays a big role in this little city and helps drive the local economy, but the joy in seeing us was very genuine. It made us feel like we were very welcomed, not a nuisance, not just these tourists that drop in on their lives.

 Where else can you get a greeting from a salmon???

As I said before, our initial plans were to see the Sled Dogs and THAT was a lot of fun! I'd love to attach some really fun video here to show what it's like to be pulled by these extremely excited dogs, but no way could I get it to upload here on the ship, given the size. I will be sure to post that for everyone either in FB or on my YouTube page upon our return next week. Here are some pics to share, though, starting with a view of SOME of the dogs in the camp.

The dogs are divided into three sections, from different packs/kennels. Red, blue and, if I'm remembering, green. If I'm not mistaken, you put together dogs that know each other to pull the sleds. Getting pulled was awesome because the excitement of the dogs alone really gets you enthusiastic about it. Now, they would be really noisy neighbors, :), but so playful and fun.  These "carts", if you will, are how they train the dogs and are used in the warmer weather.

These are Alaskan Huskies, and they are specifically bred for running. Some more long distance and some shorter distance (there are different lengths of racing in the Dog Sledding world). Siberian Huskies are not used. They just aren't made for it, and I know I'm missing details here, but I do recall size of the dogs matters. These particular ones are usually about 50 pounds. They can go faster than Siberian Huskies and they burn fewer calories given their smaller size. They also don't get tired as quickly. Also, fun fact, their preferred temperature to run is...-20 degrees. Yes, they are happiest when it is FREAKING cold. We asked one of the mushers what racing temps are like in December and he said he did one a few years ago where it was -38 on day one and later dipped to -60, I believe. They wear a LOT of layers!

Upon our return to camp, and after a short tour through some of the history, we had a chance to pet and hold a number of the puppies born recently. These come in different colorations and were so cute. On her FB page, Katy posted the pic of one born just five days earlier, and that little pup didn't have even its eyes open yet. Here is Zac getting to hold one of the six-week-old puppies. This was a real highlight for most everyone on the excursion. It's funny. Getting pulled by dogs is not something you get to do every day, but holding the puppies was what generated some of the most excitement.  

After our return to Juneau, we stopped in to have some lunch at the Red Dog Saloon. In my quest to eat something local, I had a salmon burger (just a salmon filet with BBQ sauce; surprisingly good!) and a bowl of the Yakobi Chowder, which they described as an 'Alaskan style chowder loaded with clams and smoked wild Alaskan Salmon'. It was good!

As we were leaving the restaurant, Gary and Nell (Katy's parents) came in. We had already heard from Nell that they had stopped at a jewelry store (one of many) and bought a few new rings. Apparently, and this is no shocker, Nell had made very quick friends with the jeweler, who was eager to provide them a great discount. Not only did Nell have a picture of him on her phone, but we popped into the same store a bit later and found out he had one of her as well! This is par for the course for us, but it's always funny to see who she has made friends with. When we walked in and told him who we were, he showed us the pic on his phone and then asked if we wanted to see the rings he had finished re-sizing for her...and then let Katy try them on.  I thought this was hilarious, but also really cool. Very nice guy. Also...very good at his job, because we walked out of there a lot lighter in the wallet than we had planned (heck, we hadn't planned it at all), but I'm happy because Katy found a beautiful Tanzanite and Diamond ring, which she then wore out to dinner and the comedy show later last night.

I'll get to the show in just a second, but one of the things Zac had been hoping we could find on this trip was a new knife. He found one at about the fourth store we looked at, one where we felt it matched the quality he wanted and wasn't ridiculously expensive. Oh, it wasn't cheap, to be sure. It is a dagger made with Damascus steel and the handle is carved out of Caribou antler, but it sure is cool! Now, I know what you're wondering...can they bring a knife onto the ship? Well, you can, but they take it and you go pick it up when you disembark. We had no interest in that, so we had the store ship it via USPS, for less than $8. What a bargain! Zac is thrilled at this.

Last item of the night after dinner was a comedy show with Phil Tag. Phil was a writer on SNL and has performed on The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, Showtime...he's well-seasoned and VERY funny. Half of his show was complete improv, and I laughed so hard through almost all of it. If you have seen him, great! If you haven't, and you don't mind a little bit of language (he was surprisingly not that bad), go see him if you get the chance if he comes near you. Well worth the time.  OK, that's it for Juneau. Ketchikan is next up on the list. We were slated to take a salmon fishing excursion, but our last whale watching tour was on a smaller boat than we had been on before and Zac was nauseous the first 30 minutes. The salmon excursion would be even smaller, so we canceled that last night and are seeing a Lumberjack show instead and doing some poking around the town before we get back on the boat. More to come!

The Cruise - Day Four - Icy Strait Point

Yesterday morning we entered the Endicott Arm (is it only me who hears Endicott and Alaska and thinks frigid?) to ice floes in the water and absolutely beautiful scenery.

I stood out on our balcony for a good hour after awaking, just in awe of the beauty before me and thankful of God's creation. His hand sure did some amazing things. Now, as you might suspect, if there is ice in the water, that water is cold and most likely the air is cold as well. 

These first two pics are sort of evidence of that. We were pretty well bundled up most of the day...well, except for Zac. He doesn't seem to feel the cold the same way Katy and I do.  Sleeves up, almost breaking a sweat...while Katy has her hands tucked away, which I completely supported.  Isn't she cute?  :)

So the port stop for a few hours last night was Icy Strait Point which, as it turns out, is the town/village?, of Hoonah. A local told us that with their temperate winters, they jokingly call themselves Hoonah-lulu.  :)  Now, I can't upload video real well with this connection, but I was able to upload a short video to FB of Orcas we caught in very rough waters. So cool to see!  So head on over there to see that, and eventually, more videos and pics will follow upon our return home.

While out on the excursion, in a smaller boat than the one in Sitka, we saw not only Orcas but again, an abundance of Humpback whales. Did I get a video of a little one jumping?  Nope! Did one jump...right behind us...very close...when everyone on the boat was literally turned the opposite direction?  Yes, yes it did.  Dang it! So, no cool video of that, but I did capture some more pics and videos that I will cherish from the trip. 

This is Hoonah, at Icy Strait Point. This is their view...every day.

We returned to the ship just in time to grab a quick bite to eat and hit the 9:30 entertainment of the evening, which was a Neil Diamond tribute show.  Our cruise director, John Blair, performed and explained that, growing up, this was the music his parents played. Well, specifically, his mom. It is where he developed a love for Neil's songwriting and music. He sang a number of songs I hadn't heard, but gave us several we all knew. I did not know Neil Diamond wrote "I'm A Believer", which was performed by The Monkees.  He sang that one as well. The theater here on the ship is really well appointed. I wanted to show a pic to try to capture that just a little bit. Great sound and really enjoyable shows so far.

Tomorrow's update will be Juneau! I have shared several pics from our day in Juneau already on FB, but more will be coming here, of course, as I am committed to the writing process! :)

The Cruise - Day Three - Sitka

Our explorers begin the exciting portion of day three in the Port of Sitka, as shown here to the right by the, well, very clear sign that we are in Sitka. This is outside what should be a gift shop...and looked like a gift shop...fully stocked...but not open. That's too bad, but never fear. We did find options.

After some confusion we learned we were to take a bus into Sitka (about 10 minutes or so) where we could hang out for a while before grabbing a bus back to the port for boarding our planned excursion.

I didn't check to see how big Sitka is, but it's not large. Cute little downtown area, though, with a number of good shopping options, whether it be for souvenirs or, in the case of our first stop, Russian Christmas items (that was cool and yes, we did buy some), or a good outdoor store where Katy could finally buy a hat to wear on these boats. Of course, she didn't wear it on the excursion we took, but she could have!

This building to my left is Saint Michael's Cathedral, established in 1837. We didn't go inside, as we were pressed for time in our shopping efforts, but I kind of wish we had because I didn't read the sign on the front (not shown here) until we returned later. It said visitors could view the hand-carved altar and "priceless Russian icons". I do know Sitka's heritage is Russian. If I remember correctly, Russia sold this area to the U.S. in 1867, and obviously this church had been around 30 years by that point.

We did have a chance to go into a couple of souvenir shops and find a few items to take home. Zac desperately wanted one of the knives in one of the stores and we found out they would happily mail it to us via USPS. Wouldn't even be that expensive.  We didn't do it, because we still have Juneau and Ketchikan stops to make, but also because what he liked and what we liked had very different price points.  :)

Before getting back on the shuttle for our excursion, we needed to grab a bite to eat. With options limited and time even more limited, we noticed a hot dog stand setting up on the corner.

What we didn't expect was that the hot dogs would be made from Reindeer. OK, then I am IN!  This is the first food we have had a chance to try that I would consider a bit unique to Alaska...or at least more unique to Alaska than Nebraska, so, you know...

Zac and I had polish sausages and Katy had a hot dog. I liked it VERY MUCH. It was a foot long, which I did not expect, but which is apparent by how much it hangs over the ends of what is a very good sized bun.  This and a Diet Coke and I was good to go! 

We headed to the shuttle pick-up spot, began eating, then finished our makeshift lunch on the bus as we made our way back to port.

Now, on another boat! The pic to the left is one of about three of the 700 or so I took that was actually worth it.  OK, I'm kidding, but I did take quite a few of sea otters that were too far away to be worth seeing. I did catch video of a whale doing cool stuff coming out of the water partially. I WISH I had caught video of the calf that jumped clear out of the water, twice, but I was too busy ooooohing and aaaaahing when that happened to get a video. Perhaps on our next excursion.

Technically this excursion was to see the sea otters and maybe some whales and see other wildlife. We did end up seeing a white sea lion sunning itself on a rock outcropping, and we did see quite a few sea otters, but what we saw mostly, and this was unexpected by the crew, were humpback whales. Lots of humpback whales. There was a point where they were on both sides of the boat and one where Katy was able to get a pic of a mom and her child (tails side by side, even). Just a lot of action and a lot of impressive photos and videos were taken by many, to be sure. By the way...in open water off the coast of southeastern Alaska...in July? Yeah, not warm. Technically it was mid-50s, but with the wind...nope! Bundled up, drinking hot chocolate on the boat, getting out of the wind until we slowed for viewings. That was the plan!

So we move on to Day Four tomorrow (today as I am writing this) with hopefully more whale watching adventures as well as some cool pics of ice. Just a note, when I return home I plan to upload any videos I have taken to my YouTube channel and will upload an entire album to FB for pics I have taken. Speeds on the ship are just not good enough to do any more than I have been sharing so far.  :)

The Cruise - Day Two - A Day On the Sea...and Music!

This view you see here is pretty much all we saw for much of yesterday as we worked our way northwest to southeastern Alaska. 

Katy and I didn't really make any daytime plans. We wanted to relax and enjoy the trip, though you have to be pretty bundled up lest you freeze. It's either that or find little areas away from the wind or, if you really hate yourself, hang out indoors in a mask-required zone.  No thank you.

So we wandered about this big ol' boat and relaxed, as I noted, as we were both pretty exhausted. My guess is that after a very long day on Monday, with a very late night, we just needed a little time to recuperate. I've got more pics of being on the ship, but perhaps I'll share those on FB. For now, let's talk food just a little bit.  We have decided the easiest option for breakfast and lunch is the restaurant that serves a wide variety of food in buffet style. Of course, just like many restaurants of that sort right now, they have to serve you, but considering there are like 27 employees to each person sailing on this trip, it's not difficult to get what you want. 

In the evenings, all 10 of us dine together in the main dining room, always at the same two tables, always with the same two staff. I was a little surprised last night when we were called by name and that they had remembered we liked lemon with our water. Last night for dinner I had the butter-lemon baked cod. This picture is just horrible at showing how thick and huge this piece of cod was. I'd guess 2 to 2 1/2" in height. Opened the meal with a bowl of pumpkin soup (meh, I've MADE way better) but finished with an apple blossom. Essentially, a small apple tart/mini-pie/thing that was YUMMY, and it came with a small amount of a sweet, buttery whipped cream and a very small, very cute scoop of ice cream.

At 8:15 last night we had plans to do a "Name That Tune: 80s Trivia"...or something like that, so us, along with Chad and Mickie (and Jamie joined us) sat at a table in one of the bars and named off all 25 tunes provided. Out of everyone at the event, only two tables, one other one and ours, got all 25 right. Pssst...we KNEW we would.  So they had to break the tie to see who won the big prize (which turned out to be Royal Caribbean ballcaps).  I sent Mickie up there, since she and I were driving this thing and I knew she'd do well.  They started the song and in a few notes the guy on the left shouted out "Billy Idol/Rebel Yell".  Mickie was just about to speak when he did, so it was going to be close no matter what. Kudos to her for being willing to go up front so all I had to do was take this picture.  :)  Our consolation prize were cruise ship pens and highlighters, so there is that.  :)

We then headed to a 9:30 concert with a singer who does a show entirely of songs by Adele. Great voice, good performer. We really, really enjoyed it.  Here is a link to what she does:

https://www.anightwithadele.com/. So that was day two. Pretty busy and long, like every night. Wednesday will be about our trip to Sitka, our excursion to see Sea Otters and Whales, something about food, I'm sure, and likely about the comedian/juggler we are seeing Wednesday night. So catch us tomorrow!

 

The Cruise - Late First Day Post

 

Here I am the morning of day two, writing a little bit about day one of our cruise. And, a bit troubling, I started this on my phone rather than the laptop, making it a real challenge to get the pics aligned as I prefer. So this post, just three pics. The first is as we were leaving Seattle. Katy and I went up to the 12th deck as we left so we could see some views of the city and water and experience our departure. It was beautiful and warm at the time, and certainly unique for someone who has never been on a cruise before. 

As we headed out, for quite some time we were between Washington to our south and Canada to our north. The second picture is not Canada. This is the Olympia Mountains, if I have that right, and I just wanted to capture the snow-capped peak. 

The third pic captures Mount Rainier off in the distance as we left port. You can see it in the far right of this picture. 

So back to the ship. Once we boarded and found out vaccinations apparently mean nothing to the CDC, we set about exploring primarily outdoor areas, where we didn’t have to have a battle between science and politics. We have much left to see, but did get to a very fun comedy show last night, Greg Vacciarello, which was unexpected. 

Mickie and Chad joined us for that show, and I think we all had a really good time. Prior to the show, Katy and I stopped for a drink and had a chance to hear a very good musician playing guitar and singing a lot of varying musical styles. Great talent.

If this post seems very disjointed and different from my normal writing, that's because I'm a little disjointed as I get settled in here. I can't post this using my phone as moving images doesn't work in the mobile app, so we ended up paying for a third internet connection (don't ask how much THAT costs) for the week so I can do these and Katy can do more work with her health coaching as needed.  The cruise is off to an interesting start. We will try to focus on the positives, of which there are many, and focus mostly on events that allow us to enjoy it as it should be. We are very much looking forward to excursions over the next few days and getting to see Alaska. We are out to sea today and off in the distance I can see some remote Canadian islands to our east. I will post again either tonight (we are 3 hours behind CST at the moment, so most of my posts will likely show in the middle of the night) or first thing tomorrow morning.

Seattle - The Pre-Cruise, Day Two

 

Our second full day in Seattle began with the realization that, this morning, we could see Mount Rainier from the hotel lobby. Rainer hadn't been visible yesterday, at least not that I recall.  Nor had the Olympia Mountains to our northwest.  Mount Rainer is, to me, fascinating because it always seems so close, but it's a bit of a drive to get there. What a beautiful view to have so much of the time!

I took this picture while Katy and I waited for Zac so we could head off to breakfast. As we have found so far, finding breakfast involves a little bit of a trek and a lot of luck. So many of the places have lines out the door and very long waits, regardless of time of day or meal. One place I wanted Katy and Zac to try, Piroshky Piroshky, was essentially inaccessible without a very long wait. I don't do long lines, so we haven't even tried. Maybe some other time we will get here when it's not the summer, not tourist season. I was previously in Seattle during April, and I have to say that, as a visitor, that is a much better time to come. Things are pretty jam-packed in July. :)

We did eventually find breakfast this morning and continued on to Pike Place Market in our continued quest to find Katy a hat she can wear on the cruise. We were not successful, but we did find a bakery inside and decided to have a treat. This is the first donut I've had in a few months, and it was pretty good. The exciting part of eating our donut was listening to the guy about 30 feet to our left have entire conversations with himself. There was quite a bit of detail, but from what we could tell, he seemed to be discussing that he had the documentation to prove his innocence...about something. Hey, at least he wasn't yelling profanities for no apparent reason and at apparently no one in particular. That happened outside a Target a little before this near the Pike Place Market.  Ah, yes, downtown areas are fun...

After our donut adventure we headed back down to the pier and decided to visit the Seattle Aquarium. I have never been to a dedicated aquarium before, so I have no real point of reference. I have been to the aquarium inside the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, which is pretty great, and I think perhaps more impressive, but this was interesting. The best parts were seeing the orcas and sea lions and sea otters swimming around. I'd love to insert a video here, but I don't know that I can make that work inside the blog. Instead, you get a picture of a very cute sea otter, who was resting and then decided to wake up and start stretching, which was hilarious.

We then headed to lunch, where Zac decided the only thing he wanted, or needed at that

point was bread. So he ate bread while I ate salmon and Katy had a salad with chicken. The food was decent, though certainly not worth the price, as we have found most things to be so far here in the area. I don't know if they jack up the prices during tourist season or not, though it's definitely possible. It's a different world from Nebraska, to be sure.  :)  Having said that, it doesn't take away from the experience at all. We are really enjoying our time here.  After lunch we headed back to our room to rest for a bit, then Katy and I decided to take a walk north to the Olympic Sculpture Park. I'd share a picture from here, but to be honest, I just don't get sculpture at all. Paintings, I'm interested in, but sculptures, maybe not so much.  So instead, you get a view of the Space Needle from within the park that's not so bad. I didn't get up to check the plaque for the red sculpture you see here, but to me it looks like dolphins. Let's just go with dolphins. As for the Space Needle, we haven't visited it and won't on this trip, but maybe in the future. I think Seattle is a pretty cool place to visit, but maybe not in the summer when it's over-run with tourists. A little too busy for my liking.  :)

So let's move on to dinner. We had dinner at Anthony's Pier 66 (https://www.anthonys.com/restaurant/anthonys-pier-66/), which was REALLY, REALLY good. I had salmon at lunch. I had it again at supper, along with halibut, and a cornbread pudding. This fish was cooked PERFECTLY. You know when you walk in some restaurants just how good it will be, and Anthony's did not disappoint. The food was just right and, from what I saw around the table, everyone was quite pleased with what they had. Zac had Alaskan Crab Legs that were huge. He'd never had them before, but he had watched videos of how to eat them and really enjoyed the process. I was impressed at how easily he figured out how to get the meat and pleased with his willingness to be a little bit adventurous.  I probably should add here that several of the kids decided to have coffee with their dessert. Yes, coffee.  OK, we are in Seattle, right? But the fact they all like this already is either a little bit worrisome or fairly impressive. I guess I'll go with impressive. I mean heck, I've even had a latte of some sort each day we have been here so far, as I work to teach myself to like coffee more. I don't know why I do it, except I can tell you I am now wanting it nightly, and that has never happened before.

Tomorrow, we leave on our cruise. We will board the ship early afternoon for check-in and we are slated to leave about 5 p.m. I have learned that, by the next morning, we will be yet another hour earlier than we are now. I don't know what that time zone is called, but it's three hours earlier than eastern Nebraska, I know that.  :)  I leave you with a pic of the family at Anthony's tonight for dinner. It was a wonderful time, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank Katy's parents, Gary and Nell, for treating us all to this experience. So much fun!

Full Day #1 - Seattle - The Pre-Cruise

Our first full day in Seattle finds the Benedict family discovering just how far it is to well, most everything, from our hotel.  The hotel is wonderful, and the waterfront is wonderful. There are very cool sights, beautiful views...just nothing is right next door.

This is OK! It's OK, because we have been training for this. Yes! Zac and I have been on the treadmill, working on long-distance running. Katy has been doing step aerobics, getting into shape...OK, that's all a lie. Well, it's not a lie. We've been doing all those things, but we did NOT train for this. Not really sure how we could, but to be honest, it's not that bad!

If you wear the right kind of shoes, staying on the waterfront in Seattle is a great way to burn some good calories, get some heavy incline work in and see a lot of neat stuff.  I was not wearing the right kind of shoes for all of that, though technically, the sandals I was wearing are supposed to be great for walking on trails, etc.  Anyway, I digress, aside from some slightly sore ankles, things are going great.  Our initial pic is from Pier 56, I think...next pic shows  where we were, right next to The Seattle Wheel. I wanted to capture a view of the three of us on the pier.  

Look how happy! Look at my three chins! I really need to learn how to take pictures from angles that are only flattering. Admittedly, when you are made for radio, it can be difficult, but I'm confident that with practice, I may figure it out.  These first two pics were taken after we walked, and walked, found the place we thought we'd have breakfast only to find out they weren't open until 8:30...and walked, and walked, and gave up and went back to the place and got some breakfast.  Breakfast was...well, it was a good concept. They lacked in seasoning.  Like, salt. Salt would have been a nice addition to the eggs, or the sausage...or some moisture to go on the rather large biscuit would have been good. Again, good concept, just the execution was a little lacking. Now, right next to this place was a craft chocolate shop. I tried some sipping chocolate. It was good. Super rich, but easy to handle, and I was glad it was only four ounces I was drinking.

After a lot of walking this morning, where Katy and I both hit our step goal before 11 a.m., we went back to the hotel to rest a bit and kind of regroup. I nabbed this pic in the very peaceful lobby of our hotel (lobby? not really sure what to call the area) because this tree art, if you will, is throughout that area. It's interesting. Looks like you can move it however you want. 

This was welcome downtime before connecting with a friend of mine from junior high and early high school.  We had a chance to do lunch five years ago when I was in Seattle for a conference, but this time I had a chance to meet his wife as well.  Nik and Meredith are very genuine, made-for-each other kind of people. You can just see the connection and this was my first time meeting Meredith, which was such a joy! I can see why they are so happy together. 

I am notoriously bad at getting pictures taken of me with other people, but I stole this pic of the two of them from Nik's FB page, which he posted a few weeks ago celebrating their 20th anniversary. 

We had originally thought of doing lunch together, but getting in at the hotel restaurant is apparently nearly impossible, so instead we did a mid-afternoon hike through Discovery Park to see some of the beautiful views and enjoy the ridiculously nice July weather Seattle is used to, which we rarely get in July.  Low 70s, nice breeze...what is THAT about?  

Anyway, I grabbed a pic of the view from a bluff overlooking the water, the islands, the Olympia Mountains in the distance...what a treasure it must be to have such scenic outlooks right in your own city, available at any time.

I thought about taking a picture of the ice cream cone we had a little later, stopping at a local shop in the Queen Anne neighborhood...but it was wanting to drip, and I REALLY wanted to lick it...a lot...so I didn't get one taken. The flavor I chose was 'Yeti'. I can't remember if the base was vanilla or buttermilk, but it had granola, caramel, chocolate chunks and, I'm thinking, something else. I asked for a scoop in a waffle cone. I was then asked if I wanted a topping on it.  Oh really?  OK, then, how about some hot fudge?  THAT was just right. Gosh that was good ice cream.  

Here is where I need to interject something for my dad in particular, who will find this interesting. On our way to the ice cream shop, we drove right by Seattle Pacific University. I've known about this place since my childhood, as it always had a strong connection the Free Methodist Church denomination, which dad pastored in for quite some time.  I was mentioning this to Nik and Meredith, who was confirming she was pretty sure that connection was still there, when we looked to the left and saw a Free Methodist church. I have to say...haven't seen one of those in quite some time. Driven past the one I grew up in down in Lincoln, but that was just kind of interesting.

OK, last bit for today, because we are resting/relaxing the rest of the day and enjoying the feel of nice, warm showers.  As they took us back to our hotel, I was sad to see the afternoon end, but elated at the time we had just had, and so thankful to both of them for taking time out of their Saturday to spend some time with us and showing off their city. The way back to the hotel led us through some beautiful neighborhoods with fascinating homes, on many very, very narrow, very steep, streets heading back down toward the water. Just a great end to a great afternoon, and a part of this trip I will cherish for some time.  See y'all tomorrow on Day 2!