Tag Archives: photography

Cruising Alaska Off-Season — Strolling into Skagway


Fall foliage hits Skagway

Skagway, Alaska is a beautiful destination even in the off-season. Over the next two weeks I’ll be showing you the town over two visits. The first, aboard Voyage 1 aboard Ovation of the Seas, had us arriving here on Monday, 27 September 2021. Our next visit on Voyage 2 was eight days later, Tuesday, 5 October. That extra day was the result of a weather-related change our our itinerary, in which the captain substituted Ketchikan for Sitka.

Ovation of the Seas in Skagway, 27 September 2021

You’ll be able to spot easily which visit was which just by looking at the photographs over the next two weeks, as Voyage 1 gave us cloudy skies, and Voyage 2 brightened up considerably. Regardless of which voyage these photographs were taken, today’s article will concentrate on the sights along the short stroll from the cruise dock into town, beginning with this pose of Ursula with Ovation in the background:

Ursula enjoying the walk into Skagway, 5 October 2021

One of the really neat things you’ll see as you walk alongside the dock is the Ship Signature Wall, upon which are commemorations of past cruise ship visits. I absolutely love photographing this wall, and reading the entries brings back many memories of our past visits here.

Ship Signature Wall with interesting “skull” rock
Ship Signature Wall

And as we approach town, Welcome to Skagway:

Welcome to Skagway

Before you hit the main portion of Skagway, your stroll will take you past a marina and a boatyard. These are always fun to photograph:

Boatyard along Congress Way, Skagway

One of the attractions you’ll pass walking into town is the ever popular White Pass and Yukon Route Railway. Ursula and I have taken this trip before, and on this day the latter portion of the route was closed for maintenance. But if you get the chance, this trip is well worth the cost of admission. The tourist segment takes you to Carcross and back.

White Pass & Yukon Railway

Make sure you take time to look back in the direction of the ship. If it’s a sunny, off-season day you’ll get views such as this:

The mountains south of Skagway

You’ll know you’re getting close to town when you see the Alaska Shirt Company, which has a classic caboose sitting in front of it:

Almost to town

And here are the first buildings you’ll encounter has you hit Skagway proper:

2nd Street approaching Broadway, Skagway

Comments Off on Cruising Alaska Off-Season — Strolling into Skagway

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Fun Photo Friday — Off-Season Sitka Favorites


Crescent Bay, Sitka

Time for one last Fun Photo Friday look at lovely Sitka before we head off to our next destination aboard Ovation of the Seas during the off-season in Alaska. All the photos in this week’s series were taken on one visit during our back-to-back cruises, as Sitka was dropped for Voyage 2 because of weather concerns. Over the next two weeks I’ll be covering our two stops in Skagway, as there is much to see and a lot of shopping to do at that stop. Meanwhile:

Comments Off on Fun Photo Friday — Off-Season Sitka Favorites

Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Cruising Alaska Off-Season — Sitka; St. Michael’s Cathedral


Time to head over to probably the main attraction for this wonderfully photogenic and historically significant town. As you’ll recall from Monday’s article, Ovation of the Seas deposited us in Sitka on Monday, 28 September of this year. After departing the ship, we took a 12-minute shuttlebus ride into town, getting off in the parking lot of the Sitka Historical Society Museum along Crescent Bay. Less than five minutes’ walk from the drop-off point get you to the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel, also known more simply as St. Michael’s Church.

St. Michael’s Church

As you can see from the photos above, St. Michael’s sports classic Eastern/Russian Orthodox design elements, including the distinctive Russian Orthodox cross, the onion cupola atop the dome, and the spire above the bell tower. Let’s take a closer view of that bell tower:

St. Michael’s Bell Tower

The St. Michael’s you see depicted here is not the same structure that was completed in 1848, but it’s a very close recreation based upon detailed drawings made in 1961. Those drawings turned out to be a blessing, as the original structure burned down in a tragic fire in 1966. How close did they get? Below is how the church appeared in 1887:

While the exterior appears very original, once inside one would never suspect that they weren’t in the original structure:

St. Michael’s interior
St. Michael’s interior

Here are the elaborately decorated doors leading to the sanctuary:

Sanctuary doors, St. Michael’s
Sanctuary doors, St. Michael’s

And inside the sanctuary of an Orthodox church is where one finds the altar:

St. Michael’s altar

Look above the doors leading to the sanctuary for more design elements:

Above the entrance to the sanctuary, St. Michael’s

I’ll leave you today with three more St. Michael’s images:

Comments Off on Cruising Alaska Off-Season — Sitka; St. Michael’s Cathedral

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation