Rainy Day in Juneau

View from helicopter




Special boots for walking on the glacier ... Note that I had an Extra Small ... so happy that I am extra small in anything I had to take the picture!








First of all ... you will all be happy to know that I found the spell check.. Therefore, hopefully this entry will be perfect!


So, last night, after yet another fabulous gourmet dinner, we went to the Improv Show. Sadly, it was the worst improv group we have EVER seen ... we left at what can only be described as a charitable period of time after the show started ... and we were not alone. Everyone in the elevator and corridor agreed that the group was not the least bit funny. However, as I pointed out, they had the last laugh as they were being paid to do their act and we were paying to see them!


Have I mentioned Remi? Remi is the maitre d' for the dining room. The first night, when we went down to dinner, he could not find us in the computer. Fortunately I had the card which said that we had an 8:30 reservation in open dining ... he and I had had a bit of a go around as I was concerned that if I had not had the card we would not have been seated. Anyway, after that he was very solicitous of us and each night has gotten friendlier. He now personally escorts me into the dining room on his arm ... (everyone looks to see if I am royalty ... I know, I am an Empress to those who know and maybe love me) ... Two nights ago he "hung out" at our table at the end of the night and we talked about dog ownership ... not surprisingly he has a german shepard "Maxi". It is truly amazing how dog ownership creates a common bond ... we must have spent 20 minutes talking about our dogs, his concern that Maxi is 8 years old, etc. Of course, Remi is very handsome ... so he is a bright spot in our/my evening!

Our favorite waitress is Sovka ... very sweet ... she had taken a two and a half year break from the cruise ship but now is back for this contract. 5 months on the ship then 2 months off. It is difficult to describe how hard these men and women work ... and there is a distinct pecking order in their ranking. There was a polite sparring over us when Zoltan served us one night ... Sovka won that battle ... even tho' Zoltan is the more polished of the two in terms of service and command of the English language she is very sweet and I guess I mother her ... I gave her a "scolding" because she only ate a cheeseburger all day yesterday ... of course, that is why she has a gorgeous figure as opposed to me who is stuffing down every morsel that is put in front of me! (Or as Marvin so kindly puts it ... I am hoovering.) Hard to resist this food ... it is equal to any gourmet dinner we have had anywhere. The other night I couldn't decide between grilled lobster and Chateaubriand so they made me a "Surf and Turf" and even prepared the meat as rare as I like it ... something some of the finest restaurants have been unable to do!

OK ... back to today,. We boarded the shuttle to the helicopter air field, saw the safety videos, got weighed in (we passed), put on our special boots, (see picture above), grbbed some rain gear, got onto the helicopter, put on our earphones, took off from the runway, flew over toward rhe glacier (see picture above), approached the glacier ... saw nothing as the glacier was socked in with fog. Returned to the air strip. Altho' we received a 100% credit, it was disappointing nevertheless. We then schlepped around in town ... nothing for me to buy altho' I just heard on the elevator that one woman bought a fabulous fur jacket for $4000. (And what happens if she gets home and there is a split in the skin? ) Anyway, we went into the "famous" Red Dog Saloon for a drink and shared a bowl of chowder ... fabulous chowder I might add. The crowd was one of those "sing along with the bawdy singer" groups ... not our thing ... so we left after our drinks and chowder. The rain had picked up and we thought that maybe we would catch a bus tip to Mendenhall Glacier ... but, of course, we had missed the last bus. While the taxi ride wasn't prohibitively expensive we were concerned that we would spend that money,, get there and be socked in with fog so we passed. Walked back to the boat in the rain, stopped for a bag of potato chips (don't ask ... I had a craving!) ... and got back to the boat thoroughly wet. Collapsed into the cocktail lounge ... not a bad place to collapse ... had Irish coffee and are back in our stateroom. I am of course FINISHING LAUNDRY!

Tonight after dinner the show is "Emerging Artists"; a trio of performers in their early 20's ... a tap dancer (stop laughing everyone), a jazz pianist and a singer. Can't be worse than the improv folk.

Until tomorrow ...