26 Glacier Cruise

For me, the highlight of our "family excursions" in Alaska was a day-trip glacier cruise on The Klondike, a charter run by Phillip's 26 Glaciers. The catamaran left out of Whittier at 1:00 p.m. and we returned back to the port just in time to catch the 6:00 p.m. tunnel back to civilization (aka Anchorage). Several days in advance, we pretty much randomly chose the day we were going to take the cruise and it turned out to be the most beautiful day of the summer so far. We were really lucky!

Whittier is considered "The gateway to Prince William Sound", as you could guess, our journey took us out into Prince William Sound. Of course, the glaciers are always magnificent to look at, but it was such a pleasure just to be out on the water this day. The water in the sound is considered "protected", and as such, the ocean there can be quite calm. On this particular day, the water was like glass at times.

I didn't count to make sure we actually saw 26 glaciers, but I don't doubt that we did. We definitely stopped at plenty and had ample time for photo opps. One of the glaciers even calved right in front of us. It was really something! We were also fortunate enough to be able to see quite a bit of sealife. There were plenty of otters out frolicking in the sun, sea lions, a couple of baby seals, and several bald eagles were seen lounging on the icebergs.

Eric works with a gentleman who is an Alaskan Native and seems to know just about everyone in Alaska. As luck would have it, Melvin actually knows someone who knows one of the ship's captains. Melvin made a few phone calls and was able to get us an invite to join the captain in the wheelhouse. How nice was that!!!!!! It was an extra nice treat for the boys to be able to sit in the captain's chair, see how the ship actually operates, and to share the captain's vantage point.

In August Eric's parents are joining Eric, the boys and I on a seven day cruise of The Inside Passage of Alaska. This day-trip really hyped me up for our impending cruise. The glaciers we've had an opportunity to see thus far have been amazing to me. Now I can't wait to see the really big ones in the middle of nowhere that drop huge chunks of ice off in the middle of the ocean without notice.

THANKS, MIMI!!!!!!