Alaska Summer Solstice Cruise - Anchorage Day 2

Cruise Day 19

Thursday, June 27, 2024

For our second day in Anchorage we had a ship’s tour scheduled.  We had to meet at 8:15 on the pier so we got up at seven to give ourselves plenty of time.  It was another beautiful day in Anchorage with some clouds, but temperatures were mild, and it looked like another good day.

Our photo tour today will take us from Anchorage (the red marker at the top left) to nearly the end of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet (red marker at the bottom right).

Our tour is called “The Cook Inlet Photo Experience” which is a small group photo-oriented tour.  After breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, we got off the ship and met our group at the end of the pier.  There were 20 of us and we divided into two groups and were on our way.

Another beautiful day as we made our way from the ship to vans for our tour.

Our first stop was a seaplane airport where we watched several seaplanes landing and taking off.  From there we drove up the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet and stopped at several scenic viewpoints.  Both of the van drivers / guides were photographers, so they were giving out helpful advice along the way.  Our guide was using the same camera I use so we compared notes and had an interesting discussion on cameras.

 

We had taken this route on the train back in 2014, so it looked familiar to us, but this time we were seeing it from a van instead of a train.  We continued up to almost the end of the Turnagain Arm towards Whittier where we stopped at another scenic spot, this time on a river.  We spent some time there and they broke out some snacks and water for a break.

Val is taking a picture of a lady we had met on the tour.  She had taken several pictures of us and gave us her cabin number so we could get them, but unfortunately, we forgot to call her when we got back to the ship and then forgot our her room number later when we remembered the pictures.

After that we headed back towards Anchorage and made one more stop when we spotted some Dall sheep up in the rocks.  From there it was back into Anchorage and the ship.

Although we saw some beautiful scenery, this tour was a disappointment as far as a photo tour goes.  First off, we spent most of the day in the van and then the spots they chose to stop, although scenic, were really not that special.  Typically, on a photo tour, the guides who are locals, have some unique and out of the way spots they take us to where we can get some photos that are more interesting than turnouts along the highway.  Oh well, that said, we did have a good time and our two guides were very nice and knew their photography, but their choice of locations was pretty mundane.

We got back to the ship a little after one and immediately went to lunch as we were both hungry.  After lunch, we both rested and relaxed for a while.  I’m not sure why, but both of us felt tired and didn’t have much ambition.  I did download our pictures and although nothing spectacular stood out, we did get some good shots of the Dall sheep.

We sail away from Anchorage and on to our next port of Homer.

It was dinner as usual and after missing the casino last night we returned tonight with little luck.  We seem to be in the gambling doldrums again, after my big night, I have had very little luck.

We didn’t stay out too long as we have to get up early again tomorrow as we will be in Homer.