It’s a beautiful morning at sea – if you like really cold temps and wind! But it is sunny and the seas are calm. Did our normal morning routine of gym then shower to get ready for the port call. When we returned to the room, we had a missed call on the cell phone from Marti. We both worried about what that meant, and unfortunately, when we reached her our fears were realized. Ed’s dad passed away overnight. It seemed peaceful, and quick, most likely a heart attack, and everyone seems to be taking it in stride. Eddie led a full and happy life, lived comfortably and was loved by his kids and grandkids. In the end, that’s what life is all about.
We aren’t going back for the funeral, which was a tough decision. But we didn’t see much alternative. While we truly miss being with our family at a time like this, it wasn’t all that feasible for us to make it back to Pittsburgh in time for the funeral. We will grieve in our ways and make our own ceremonies to mark the occasion.
Obviously, our day is a lot sadder than it began. We still continued on with our plans of seeing the Island of Kodiak, but with heavy hearts. So, on to Kodiak.
We arrived a little earlier than our 10:00 stated docking time. The Patter (the Princess newsletter) told us that regular passengers not on tour wouldn’t be allowed off the ship until around 11 after the tours had all left. Uh huh, yeah, right! Also, Princess was offering a $6 shuttle RT into town. You had to pay for the shuttle tickets in advance the day before. Being the intrepid travelers that we are, we shunned the shuttle tickets and the 11:00 debarkation.
As we stood on our balcony waiting to see the gangway be lowered, we were wondering where Kodiak would get buses for a 2600 passenger ship? Didn’t seem realistic that they would have a fleet of passenger buses on an island of 3500 that only has 100 miles of paved road. As we stood, staring out over the mountains and the cannery row where quite a few of Kodiak’s fishing fleet were moored, we got our answer: School buses! Aha! That made sense.
It was nigh on 10:30 when we decided to head off the ship. Just waltzed our way down to the gangway and headed out. No one was going to stop up. Not a problem. The Visitor’s Center had representatives on the ship and at the end of the gangway handing out information. Great map and sheet of specials for cruise passengers. She told us where the rental car agency was, “tucked into the Cove 9or something) gift shop in the “mall”. Well, good thing she told us! We would have never found it! Oh, and the “mall” – a strip shopping center with gift shops, a restaurant, sports bar and liquor store. It’s Kodiak!
We headed down Shelikof street, the little road that ran next to the canneries. It was brisk out, but not terribly cold. Walked past the canneries, looking for the Kodiak Brewery for our stop later in the day. Saw a banner on a cinder block building – but it was all closed up and didn’t look like a brewery, so we kept on. Turned out to be a 20 minute walk into town at best. Really, a shuttle? And town, well, it’s the marina, the mall and a couple of other little stores and a bank and a restaurant way down cannery row and Marine Way under the bridge that spans the channel.
As we walked, a truck stopped next to us and asked us where we were from. The husband and wife, and obviously momma, inside were duly impressed that we were from Richmond and on “that ship”. He told us we looked like the rich and famous!!! So many folks on the island were just so amazed with the ship and everyone coming off it. They get 14 ships per year, and we were the last novelty they’ll have until spring. What do they do all winter?
Got to the gift shop, picked up the car (a rent-a-heap, and oh boy was it!). Little 2 door Suzuki that was serviceable, but, reliable? We weren’t all so certain. So, after our stop at the Servistar hardware for clothespins, and the Walmart for tide to go pens, make up and water, we headed out to the wilderness. We had run into the same family who stopped us on the road at the hardware store. He’s lived here 50 years and was telling us to go to the south of the island to see the NASA launch complex. We were heading that way and thanked him for the advice. Of course the clerk at the hardware store scared the you know what out of us telling us not to go that far south, don’t go on unpaved roads, people get stuck out there and lost all the time and you don’t want to get stuck, etc.
So, the dilemma; do we go all the way south or do we stick closer to town? We compromised and decided to drive south, but only as far as we had cell phone service. Pretty good compromise. The scenery was beautiful and as it turns out cell phone service stays around for about 30 miles – which is pretty close to where the pavement ends. We saw spectacular bays and inlets with the mountains rising above them, fishing creeks and streams galore, and the huge coast guard base here in Kodiak. Way huge! Hangars upon hangers of copters and landing pads, we don’t know the exact size, but we are guessing it’s one of the largest CG bases anywhere.
Didn’t take long before we were heading back into town. Filled up the car with 1.5 gallons of gas – at $5.15/gallon – not too bad on an island in Alaska. Turned in the car and found a great local sports bar to watch a little football. The local element was there in its glory – mostly men – all smoking, all glued to the tube. It was fun – and not overly pricey. I stayed on my phone most of the time emailing everyone I could telling them I wouldn’t have internet or cell phone from here on out. This is ugly!
Wandered back toward the ship after a while, looking for the brewery – that someone had said was in a NAPA store. It’s Alaska……On the way, found a cute little gift shop with Kodiak deadliest catch crab pots out front. Stopped for photos and a look inside. Next, found the NAPA building – and true to our information, the Kodiak brewery was inside. Off to the left, a little room with a wooden counter and taps on the wall behind it. The owner, Ben, was great. He was extremely knowledgeable and personable. Another passenger from the ship came in and he offered us all a tasting and tour for $5. (Hey, that’s the bargain! The ship’s tour doing the same thing plus a little tour of cannery row was $84! Ha!) The other passenger took the tasting and tour, Ed chose to just sample a couple beers and then buy one pint. But we got to stand there and listen to Ben’s dissertation on the different beers, the flavors, the hops, etc. It was very enlightening – and fun.
Also got to talk to him a little about the Privatization of the fishing industry going on in Alaska. He had a poster against the Privatization and we ended up in a discussion about socialism and what the measure is doing to the industry and the local people. From watching Deadliest Catch, we had known this was going on, but didn’t know how widespread. Obviously it’s happening all across the fishing industry, not just for crab fishermen.
After finishing our beer, and buying a t-shirt (can’t not have a Kodiak brewery t-shirt!!!), we headed back to the ship. Took some more pictures in front of the Crab pots, then boarded the ship for lunch, phone, phone mail and final touching base before we sail with no Internet. Not very happy campers about that – but we’ll make do…we’ll have to…not much choice in the matter.
Did the afternoon thing – gym, shower, dinner. Went back to Savoy for our same table – was told that we couldn’t make reservations for 7:30 for 2 – we’re thinking you can’t make reservations for 2 at the busy times, because there is always a wait. We requested Alfie and Charles – who are adorable – and come with the tables we want! The Maitre’d didn’t seem all that happy with us because he had a wiaitng list, but said since we requested Alfie, he’d let us sit there – and then just waved his hand to the tables. We thanked him – and grabbed the window seat! Perfect!
Dinner was good as usual, but even better because we got to watch whales all night long. There were tons out there, breaching and diving, and spouting. It was a beautiful sight. Very nice way to sepnd the down time between courses….or in the middle of our meal!
After dinner we went to see Tom Drake, a comedian we’ve sailed with numerous times before. Found Murray and Ro in the showroom, caught up with them for a while, then watched the very funny show. Tom Drake just has a way of taking everyday behavior and cultures and nailing them. His explanation of the different nationalities on board was hysterical – and dead on. We laughed and laughed.
Then to bed and ready for our first full day at sea!
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