The area called Icy Strait Point is a joint venture between the cruise ship lines and the village of Hoonah in order to bring jobs and opportunities to the city. It was built about ten years ago and whenever a cruise ship rolls in (about three times a week), the town springs to life. At other times, the people fish for salmon and crabs. There is no dairy accessible by car, so all milk and dairy has to be barged in. Same for most food and hardware items.
The stores in the harbor (obviously their prime purpose is to get you spend money while on shore) were selling local crafts, lots of jewelry, canned salmon etc. Shabsie found some KSA kosher salmon and salmon Jerky (like dried flavored salmon pieces) and we tried it out. The stores are managed by locals and we also met a young lady from Texas who flies in from Sitka, about 70 miles away to manage her store.
Visually, the area is beautiful. It is on a quiet bay of a large waterway in the Inner Passage. Today the weather started out as quite cool and very cloudy, but by about 11 am, it turned totally sunny and clear, with a warm temp of about 70 degrees F. , the first time they had sun in a few weeks. The water was totally calm.
We decided to do a hike into Hoonah and then in the afternoon do a two person kayak, together with Shabsie and Ruthie. The hike was great ....the weather was ideal.
The kayak tour of the bay was amazing. They first put this waterproof skirt on you as well as a lifejacket. Once seated the skirt forms a barrier on any water getting into the inside of the kayak. We then kayaked for 2 and a half hours....great exercise. Along the way our guides, Morgan, Cameron and James (both locally born and bred natives) would stop us in the middle of the bay and give us some insight into the life of the Tlingit natives living in the area.
Other people on the cruise took advantage of the day to go whale watching, bear watching, salmon fishing etc.
There was almost no accessible communication....only one place with wifi, just a few spots where we could pick up our cell phone signal....
On reboarding the ship, you put your bags thru the scanner like you would at an airport. Chavi and Yisrael had given us two pocket sets of knife/fork/spoon that are marked chalavi and besari which we carry for our lunches. Well the security guard told us to open our bags. The head security guy looked at them and said "those words are in Hebrew". So I responded in Hebrew that they are for our kashrut needs. He smiled and in Hebrew told us that because they were for kashrut he would approve them for us...Stav (israeli) is the head security guy on the ship.
At dinner tonight, again we were visited by the executive chef Jason (that makes it three nights in a row)....again the meal was excellent! We are eating so much salmon, we may overdose on Omega! Tonight, he prepared it with fresh herbs and garlic. He also prepared a kiwi sorbet (non dairy) so that Shabsie and Ruthie could have some as well.
It was the chef's birthday, so we all wished him well and took a picture with him. I think all the other people in this dining room are wondering what special connection we have with him....he is taking great satisfaction in figuring out new ways to prepare meals for us within the guidelines of Halacha.
Tomorrow, we arrive in alaska's capital city, Juneau. It is the only state capital in the USA that is not accessible by highway. The only way you can get here is by boat, plane and by birth canal! It is completely surrounded by mountains and water. It is quite small, only 30,000 people. There is a very small Reform Jewish community there.
It also is very close to the Mendenhall glacier. We intend to go see the glacier and then take a tramway to the top of Mount Roberts which overlooks the city.
We will fill in more tomorrow
Hope all is well....
Fran and David
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