Sawyer Glacier

Check out the color of the water!  It's because of glacial minerals.

Mickey Head on prow of the ship, pointing to the glacier.

Thursday, August 11, 2011--Tracy Arm Fjord

We got up around 7:30 and had room service for breakfast.  We had hung the tag out the night before and we got coffee, muffins and fruit to enjoy while watching the scenery. 
After that, we strolled down to the shops.  Dave usually gets me a present during our vacations and he wanted to get me the DCL Chamilia charm for my bracelet.  Well, they had the charm, but they could not use a credit card because we were at sea, so we just charged it to the room and Dave said he would get me something else when we went to one of our ports of call.  (Which he did, in Skagway).

After that, we watched the scenery from our verandah for a while and then headed up to  Beach Blanket Buffet for lunch.  Finding seating was very difficult, but we managed to find a place eventually.  We got the food from the buffet and then I went back in line to grab some food from the BBQ on deck.  The only thing ready was the salmon (which was what we wanted) so I loaded up the plate and went back to where Dave was seated.  (It’s usually easier for me to get stuff).  We had a great lunch, and then, because we were really hungry and the food was good, we went back through the line and got some more.  Dave particularly enjoyed the venison sausage!

The day was a bit foggy and drizzly, but we did not mind that.  It was also cold, but we had prepared for that was well, wearing layers of clothing to keep us warm.  Even though we had a verandah, I wanted to get to the top of the ship for full on views of the glacier, so we braved the elements with many other hardy souls and I snapped pictures almost constantly.  The water was a beautiful green color and we were told that it was from the minerals in the glacier.  There were also harbor seals swimming around and hauled out and the pack ice near the glacier. (They were too fast for me to get a picture of, unfortunately).

We watched the glacier (we even got to see it calving!) and the spectacular scenery until we we too cold, so we relinquished our spot on the rail and went back to our stateroom to warm up and view the scenery from our stateroom.  I had gotten windburned out on deck, so I stopped in the shop to purchase some aloe with lidocaine and that immediately made me feel better. 

We decided to skip our dining seating that night and just go up to the Beach Blanket Buffet a little later.  For one thing, Dave was not that hungry after the double lunch he had eaten and secondly, we just did not feel “presentable” enough.  We went up to deck 9 and the Beach Blanket Buffet again and both had turkey dinners.  Then back to the room for more scenery as we sailed out of Tracy Arm and headed north toward Skagway.