Month: September 2023

It was in August of 1970 that Janeen and I were last in Victoria BC and visited the Butchart Gardens.  All those years ago, we were very different people – married a year, no kids, living in Riverside CA and driving a Jeep pulling a home- built camping trailer on vacation to Seattle with a side trip via ferry to Victoria.   At that time, I didn’t know what a GARDEN person Janeen would become or how critical it was to visit gardens when possible.  So, as this Alaska Adventure had an opportunity to get to Butchart Gardens it was a no brainer to sign up.

Unfortunately, our ship docked late in the day so the actual excursion didn’t even start until about 6:30 in the evening making the trip a night time adventure.  As part of the excursion, there was a tour of a Butterfly Gardens, which was the first stop.

Victoria Butterfly Gardens offers a unique opportunity to wander through a tropical environment to the beauty and wonder of various butterflies along with poison dart frogs, tortoises, iguanas, flamingos and several free flight birds.  When we entered the building, there were glass cases with a variety of smaller butterflies and insects so you can get a up close view while they scurried along.  

Going through the double doors into the tropical jungle brought us to the butterflies and other amazing things.  

We have been in several butterfly habitats and this would range in the mid-size range but being located in Victoria made it very special.

Butchart Gardens started its life as a limestone quarry.  Robert Pim Butchart (1856–1943) began manufacturing Portland cement in 1888 near his birthplace of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. He and his wife Jennie Butchart (1866–1950) came to the west coast of Canada because of rich limestone deposits necessary for cement production. In 1904, they established their home near his quarry on Tod Inlet at the base of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island.  It seems that for a number of years, Butchart had a virtual monopoly on the production of concert at a time when construction was moving quickly – and thus he had a few extra dollars lying around to allow his wife to be creative.

In 1907 Isaburo Kishida, a sixty-five-year-old garden designer from Yokohama, Japan, came to Victoria at the request of his son to build a tea garden for Esquimalt Gorge Park. This garden was wildly popular. Several prominent citizens, Jennie Butchart among them, commissioned Kishida to build Japanese gardens for their estates before Kishida returned to Japan in 1912.  Thus started the transformation of the quarry to a world class park with multiple gardens. 

In 1909, when the limestone quarry was exhausted, Jennie set about turning it into the Sunken Garden, which was completed in 1921. They named their home “Benvenuto” (“welcome” in Italian), and began to receive visitors to their gardens.  In 1926, they replaced their tennis courts with an Italian garden and in 1929 they replaced their kitchen vegetable garden with a large rose garden to the design of Butler Sturtevant of Seattle.

Janeen was delighted to find many Tom Carruth cultivated varieties (someone she knows from the Huntington Library in San Mario, CA and who is a world class rose breeder).  In 1939, the Butchart’s gave the Gardens to their grandson Ian Ross (1918–1997) on his 21st birthday. Ross was involved in the operation and promotion of the gardens until his death 58 years later.  Ownership of The Gardens remains within the Butchart family; the owner and managing director since 2001 is the Butcharts’ great-granddaughter Robin-Lee Clarke.

As we walked around, nightfall was complete and the wonderful views we were hoping for were not possible.

The Dragon Fountain

However, there was lots to see and plants flood lit along the way.  

In addition, there was a concert going on so we had a lovely musical soundtrack for most of our journey.  

Pictures I took of the Sunken Garden – note the moon in the middle picture

A quick visit to the huge gift shop and back to our coach we went.

This was the final stop on our Alaska Cruise.  Overall, our ports of call were more interesting than anything on board the ship.  The ship was HUGE with over 4,000 passengers, shops, shows and other entertainment opportunities – none of which we took advantage of during our time at sea.  Yes, we did have a couples massage and Janeen had a spa treatment or two but generally we aren’t big ship fans.  Furthermore, we didn’t see any glacier so I’m not certain there are any left in Alaska!  OK, I know they are but we didn’t get to take the Mendenhall Glacier – which was one of the main reasons for going to Alaska in the first place!  So, another adventure for sure to this part of the world is on the list. Our next adventure is a Fall Color tour in New England later this month. More Blogs to come!

After arriving in the Port of Skagway, we disembarked and climbed aboard a coach for a ride to the train station to take a ride on the White Pass Scenic Railway.

Built in 1898 as a way to expedite travel during the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad is a three-foot-wide narrow-gauge railroad that climbs from sea level to almost 3,000 feet in the first 20 miles. An engineering marvel, it features two tunnels and travels over sky-high trestles and bridges. Considered an impossible feat, the railway was completed in 26 months by blasting through the mountains with 450 tons of explosives. The 110-mile railroad was officially completed when a final golden spike was hammered into place on July 29, 1900, in Carcross, Yukon. The route continued operation until 1982, and in 1988 was partially revived as a heritage railway.  In 1988 it was purchased by Carnival Corporation & plc, the parent company of Princess Cruises, and has been delighting riders ever since!  

It has been fully restored with comfortable passenger coaches featuring large picture windows and are pulled by diesel locomotives. 

As we travelled along, there was narration provided highlighting the scenic views and historical significance of the train.  

While there were beautiful views, the overcast skies kept the sun from shining limiting the grandeur of the vistas we could see.  However, there was beauty all around with waterfalls, mountains and lakes but alas, no roaming herds of animals to see.  

The train starts Skagway and makes its return trip after a stop in Fraser British Columbia.   After having our passports checked, by Canadian officials, we started back to Skagway.  

The train does a loop so we weren’t seeing the same vistas on the return trip.  Naturally, when we reached Skagway, US Customs officials made sure we all had the proper passport to return.

A quick ride in our couch, brought us to Dredge Town where we panned for gold!  Dredge Town is the site of a gold rush era operation that was in operation until the late 1950’s.  

Our guides, dressed in character, showed us how the dredge operated and how individuals panned for gold (and still do) along the stream beds of the region.

After being taught by the “crusty old prospector”, we gathered our pan and began to swish and swirl in our own pool of water!  

After doing all the gyrations, we ended up with about 8 or 9 gold flecks in the bottom of the pan.  

After taking our treasure to the assayer, we learned we had $39 worth of gold!  

After learning the value of our treasure, we ventured over to the dining hall for a smoked BBQ lunch including ribs, chicken and various side dishes.   

Our day complete, and $39 richer, we went back to town and rejoined the ship.

Alaska Adventure – Juneau

Prior to arriving in Juneau, our ship went up the Endicott Arm towards the Dawes Glacier.  Endicott Arm is a 30-mile fjord that snakes through the Tracy Arm-Fords Wilderness Area. At the head is the majestic Dawes Glacier.  

Taking out ship up the fjord was not easy – although the depth along the valley walls is quite steep and thus very deep.  

It was hoped that as we got closer to the Dawes Glacier we would be able to see it – but weather conditions did not work in our favor – while we got about a mile away from the face of the glacier, it was completely hidden behind the low hanging clouds!  

There were various drifting blocks of ice along the way but nothing so big to be a concern.  So, the Captain turned the ship around and headed towards Juneau

Juneau is the capital city of the state of Alaska.  Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle.  The Greater Juneau Borough municipality is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.  Downtown Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2020 census, the City had a population of 32,255, making it the third-most populous city in Alaska after Anchorage and Fairbanks.  Juneau experiences a daily influx of roughly 6,000 people from visiting cruise ships between the months of May and September.

 
The city is named after a gold prospector from Quebec, Joe Juneau, though the place was once called Rockwelland then Harrisburg (after Juneau’s co-prospector, Richard Harris). Juneau is unique among the 49 U.S. capitals on mainland North America in that there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of the state or North America.

The absence of a road network is due to the extremely rugged terrain surrounding the city. This in turn makes Juneau a de facto island city in terms of transportation, since all goods coming in and out must go by plane or boat, in spite of the city’s location on the Alaskan mainland. Downtown Juneau sits at sea level, with tides averaging 16 feet (5 m), below steep mountains about 3,500 to 4,000 feet (1,100 to 1,200m) high. Atop these mountains is the Juneau Icefield, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow; two of these, the Mendenhall Glacier and the Lemon Creek Glacier, are visible from the local road system. The Mendenhall glacier has been gradually retreating; its front face is declining in width and height.

We had not signed on for any excursions for our port of call in Juneau – which was very disappointing as we didn’t get to the Mendenhall Glacier (so NO proof there any glaciers in Alaska as far as I’m concerned). Once we escaped the ship, we walked around the city a bit and window shopped.  There are clearly several interesting spots along the way.  Red Dog Saloon has been provided food, drink and entertainment since Juneau’s mining era and continues today serving the hungry locals and tourists. 

 Further along the road we found Tracy’s King Crab Shack serving king crab legs by the ton!  They serve four different kinds of crab – Red, King, Snow and Dungeness along with battered shrimp and a variety of sides.  

We ventured in and I order the ‘small’ order of Red King Crab while Janeen ordered the Crab Bisque.  

We looked at the possibility of taking the Mount Roberts Tram to the top of the mountain but the line seemed to be at least an hour long so we did a pass. 

 Clearly there is a lot to do in Juneau but our visit was a bit disappointing as the two major highlights – Mendenhall Glacier and the Tram up the mountain would have been enjoyable – so another visit to this place needs to be on the agenda.