Wednesday June 12th, 2024
This is our last day in Hoonah. We are planning on leaving tomorrow around 3:30 am for Glacier Bay. It will be about a 4 hour cruise and we are hoping that we will be able to get a one day transit pass to enter Glacier Bay one day ahead of our approved 5 day pass. This will allow us to get into Bartlett Cove, attend the required orientation, and then depart the following morning into Glacier Bay. Our sailing friends Karen and Kevin were able to do this today. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
We saw this sign posted at Icy Strait near the entrance to Cannery Cove, where the cruise ships dock. We didn’t see any bears but we spotted lots of tourists:)
In town a chalk station has been set up for visitors to record where they are from, at least for the day or until it rains.
If/when you visit Hoonah we highly recommend this food truck with a covered eating area. The tacos are very fresh (fish as well as fantastic brisket). You order inside the tent. It is extremely efficient and very fast. People rave about the restaurant down the way, the “Fisherman’s Daughter.” Yesterday we waited almost 45 minutes for overdone salmon bits and middle of the road fish tacos.
After lunch I decided to do a load of laundry. We have our mini washer but this will be the last chance for a real washer and dryer for quite some time. The facilities are in the Harbormaster office. I ended up chatting with a very nice couple from Canada who live near Buffalo NY. They are on a Celebrity Cruise that is currently in town. When I asked them why they were spending their afternoon at a laundromat rather than out on the town, their answer was shocking.
”Because it’s $75.00 a load on the ship. We have two loads so we decided to spend $150.00 a different way.” Wow, amen to that. Talk about extortion pricing. Cruisers beware. (Hmmm, maybe they should make up an equivalent “bear-like” sign for cruise ship folks who need to wash their clothes).
Hoping and praying that our “early rise” strategy tomorrow will be successful! If not, we will be hanging out in a less then perfect anchorage for the night!