Rains in Haines, Day 8

Our scheduled shore excursion wasn’t until 3 pm today, 

so we thought we’d take a walk into Haines 

and maybe have some lunch . . . do a little shopping . . .

It was cloudy and gray when we started out, but the clouds parted momentarily so we had an amazing view of the mountains above Haines. 

We made it up the 1/4 mile of dock and across the street to the first shop when the rain started in earnest. Since there’s no restaurant around here, we headed back to the ship . . . to get caught in the loooooong line of fellow passengers waiting while QE’s crew manually moved and reset the gangplank (ok, the gangway) to allow for changes in the tide. This was at noon, and was at least the third reset of the day.

By the time they got it fixed - they are not fast - the line of soaked, very annoyed passengers stretched almost the entire length of the dock. 

We debated canceling our shore excursion, but the sun was out and the clouds had receded, so we decided to chance it. 

The Tlingit cultural center was well worth the trip. 

We had two excellent Native guides just for our group of 17. No pictures were allowed inside, which was a shame. 

They have an amazing selection of Chilkat and RavensTail weaving, done mainly by one local multi-generational family.  

The river junction is also one of the few places in the world where all 5 species of salmon live and spawn.

One of the things I especially love about Alaska is that, although the growing season is short, there are flowers deliberately grown everywhere, including along the deckway to the cruise ships.

So beautiful.