Sunday, March 13, 2011

Life in Skagway...part one

First things first. When you are in Alaska or the Yukon (most people that come to Skagway end up traveling to the Yukon Territory since it is our neighbor) it is very important to have some type of camera with you at all times. Amazing landscape photo opportunities occur at such an overwhelming rate that it can be frustrating at times when you are without a camera. It is common to come across scenes such as these:





Which way is up and which way is down?


Yakutania Point. A great place to watch for seals and whales.



Flying from Juneau to Skagway.


Road trip to Anchorage




Skagway isn't what you would call a fishing village. We cater mostly to the cruise ship companies. However, some of the families here do fish for a living and when you live here and you are in the loop of when the next fishing boat will make a special stop in Skagway...it's quite the event:



The boat finally arrives.


We've all been waiting patiently...it was too gorgeous of a day to be impatient!


Getting ready to start selling!


The big one!


Our fish! 31 lb beauty!



We paid this guy on the dock 50 cents per lb to fillet our fish for us. Not a bad deal since we didn't know how!


The best cut! Halibut cheeks are usually eaten right away. The rest is vacuum packed and put in the freezer.


Local fishing licenses are cheap and many people, especially in the winter, will buy crab pots and shrimp pots and tether them to the dock railing. There's nothing better than fresh sea food! Here is my friend Brooke pulling out her shrimp pot:


Dumping shrimp into the bucket.


"I am NOT a shrimp! I am a KING PRAWN!" Ha ha!


It's easiest to pop their heads off right away.

Justin's favorite is to make shrimp etouffee. He fell in love with Cajun cooking while living in Texas for two years. Have I mentioned that he is a great cook?? Well, he is!



Skagway brings out the outdoor enthusiast. I got into the habit of taking a walk every morning before work. This is what I often saw walking across the Skagway river bridge in early spring:



While enjoying the outdoors you always have to be on the look out for these:

Don't try to pet them. They're not nice.

If you do try to pet them and they suddenly see you as food or baby bear assassin, don't run! Use this:

No, this doesn't work like mosquito repellent. It works like pepper spray...because that's what it is. This particular model has the ability to hit a target 30 ft away!



Lunch break on a slow ship day. If you were to look at this street mid week it would be literally flooded with people.

That's all for now! There's more to come!






3 comments:

katiejane said...

wow.
wow.
i need to come there.

Just the 2 of Us! said...

Gret, you live in such a beautiful place. My husband frequents Alaska often to fish. I will have to go with him one of these years and stop by for a visit!

L.J. said...

amazing! i want to come visit! :)