15Sept2009 - Day 40

So yesterday was where my notes stopped for the blog; the next few from our vacation may not be as detailed as the first were. Today was Sitka, which totally made me think of a sleepy fishing village in Alaska. Wooden structures, old west, old timey, small marina, old boats. We had to anchor and tender in because the water near the docks was too shallow. This meant that Susan's father was unable to come ashore, as he would've had to walk and he isn't able to walk very far anymore. As we boarded the tender, it was nearing Taylor's nap time. She fell asleep in my arms on the boat on the way to shore, which was remarkable considering the noise and chill and all the people around us. She slept for most of our time ashore, comfortably in her stroller. I was on a mission to find Alaskan Brewing Company's Oatmeal Stout, as our guide on the zipline tour said it was great. We only get the Alaskan Amber in Seattle. We walked all over, and I must say that Alaskans are not nice people. They aren't friendly, they don't smile, and those with businesses (like a particularly unfriendly and complaining coffee shop woman) seem even annoyed with all the people and business that the cruise ships bring to them. The only friendly people we ever encountered were transplants. The drugstore guy who seemed a nature buff, and gave us directions to an off-the-beaten-path bar to check out the scenery inside, the bartender from miami that served dad and i (and the oatmeal stout is every bit as good I was told), but those from Alaska were awful. In the islands, all of the people we came into contact with were friendly and hospitable. The Alaskans were quite the opposite. As if the beauty and splendor of their part of the country should belong only to those deserving of it. It was shocking, really, because we are all so friendly and making conversation was tough. The weather, we were told though, is eerily similar to Seattle weather. Only a ten degree difference or so, year round. In this part of Alaska, it doesn't get bitterly cold. Just hovering in the twenties, I imagine. That would be a ten degree difference from what we experience. Not bad, but I imagine that moving there would be tough considering all the overwhelming welcome you'd be sure to receive. lol. NOT! They'd probably run you out. Maybe the isolation is what people there crave. Perhaps they do like it better when it's not cruise season.