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  • Day 16

    Skagway

    September 14, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    What a way to start the day - breakfast in a brothel. 😳
    The famous Red Onion Saloon in Skagway put on a basic breakfast, while we had breakfast the girls did some story telling of what life was like in the 1890’s. This was followed by a tour of the establishment.
    There’s original wallpaper from 1898. The story goes that every working girl chose the wallpaper for their room, so every time a new girl started another layer of paper was added. One sample of wallpaper was really thick.... turn over was high 😉

    What makes today fabulous is the sun is out and it’s gorgeous. 🌞🌞

    After breakfast we’re on a driving tour of the town - a whole 6 blocks. We stop at the Museum then the gold rush Cemetery. A brisk walk up to Reid Falls was worth it (mind you I wasn’t saying that on the way up the track 🥴). We then drive up to the lookout - wow, it’s magnificent.

    We drive past all the colour coded churches & bars. Most people were illiterate back in the day so buildings were colour coded to help guide residence & visitors.

    We then decide to stay in town so we can walk around in the gloriously sunshine & take some touristy photos. The buildings are maintained and look awesome and there’s a snow blowing train that is still capable of working. Lots of shops and you have to work out which ones aren’t owned by the cruise ships, we prefer to support the locals directly.

    We track down the Westmark Inn, this was called the Klondike Hotel - where dad stayed in ‘77. A complete refurbishment happened 4 years ago so apart from the facade everything has changed.

    There’s no chemist, no hospital & no doctor- basically the locals don’t get sick otherwise it’s a long and exorbitant costing trip to get help. Newspapers are flown in and arrive in the afternoon.

    We’ve visited all the cross itinerary places now. 💖

    Back on the boat for a late lunch and an arvo nap 😴
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