The Tracy Arm

Our second day in Alaska was our biggest day of all.  It's going to fill two posts.  We were especially excited about this one because we would wake up to gorgeous views of the Tracy Arm on our way to our destination…a close-up view of a glacier.  Again, thanks to Jeff's research, we knew that this was not a day to sleep in, and that we should arrange in advance to order room service.  Then we could enjoy the view from our room without interrupting it to go get breakfast.

And, the Tracy Arm Fjord did not disappoint!  We were in awe of waterfall after waterfall.  We were really surprised that Alaska reminded us of a cross between Yosemite and Hawaii.  The rocks and mountains were jagged and dramatic like Yosemite, but the waterfalls, moisture, and abundant rain reminded us of Hawaii.  It's something you have to see to truly appreciate, but here are a few pictures anyway.

Here's Jeff with his breakfast:  Eggs Benedict with crab cakes.  One benefit of the cruise that we enjoyed was that meals were included - whether at the buffet, the fancy dining room, or room service.  We mostly chose ordering from a menu at the fancy dining room, but the buffet was convenient a couple of times, and we enjoyed a couple of room service breakfasts, too.

This view shows where we were on the ship, taking photos from our balcony.

We aren't big souvenir buyers, but we did ask the kids what they wanted us to bring back.  Jonathan wanted a picture of a bald eagle, so we made sure to bring back as many of those as we could.

The water really was this color.  I always associate this color of sea water with a tropical climate, but the weather got colder and colder here, the closer we got to the glacier.

Yes, the waterfalls were everywhere.

And then there was the glacier.  Absolutely breathtaking.  When we studied glaciers in school, they didn't seem very exciting, but a real one in person took my breath away.

If your computer is big enough to zoom in on these photos, you'll see little black dots at the foot of the glacier.  The black things are seals on the ice.

We just couldn't get enough of it, but eventually it was time to turn around and go back out of Tracy Arm.  This is one of the big reasons we came to Alaska, and it was such a treat to get to see it.   Gorgeous.  And cold!

We went up to the top deck to get a picture...

and then we went down to the solarium to enjoy the view as we sailed away.  The solarium was an indoor pool area with lots and lots of lounge chairs.  We spent lots and lots of time there reading, sipping fancy drinks, and generally being lazy.  We definitely relaxed on this vacation.

It really looked like this!  We loved the Tracy Arm.  And, this was only the beginning of our day.  We were on our way to Juneau for the rest of it.