We
park in the hold of the ferry. It is a
finely orchestrated dance of cars, RVs, dump trucks, all kinds of vehicles in a
confined area. Set the parking break,
turn off the propane and walk up to the top deck. The ferry backs out and we get an
uninterrupted view of Skagway and the valley, the cruise ships and see all the
way to the end of the fjord to the tidal flats of Dyea. Our short trip, just an hour, down the Canal
to Haines is pretty with many waterfalls and steep sided mountains. The only large animal wildlife we see is a
male Mountain Goat grazing literally on a nearly 90 degree mountain side down
to the water. Amazing. By now the clouds
are sending a light drizzle and it is gray.
Doesn’t interrupt the beauty. Once
we turn to Haines we can see the town but pass it for the ferry terminal about
a mile and a half away. The crowd is a
mix of retired sightseers and beer fest crowd.
People are informal and friendly.
We meet a young couple, she from near Whitehorse, he from Haines
Junction on their way to Juneau for a wedding.
It’s one thing to see the locations of towns on a map, another to
realize that in this vast area it is a well-connected community including both
sides of the border. We drive into
Haines. This small town is nicely
situated on the water and Ft. Seward is there on high ground. Our campground is located on the edge of main
downtown and we are surrounded by snow peaked mountains on all sides. This is one of the neatest, well cared for
campgrounds we have been in, the Hitch em Up RV camp. The showers are incredible and close by. There is a laundry room and a gift shop. Pat can’t believe their prices. It’s mostly tourist stuff but some very
different things. Shopping will be done
here. Changing our clothes into Alaska
chic we walk the half mile to the specialty beer dinner. The sky is gray but the rain has stopped, it
fairly warm with no wind. We are at the
Southeast Alaska Fairgrounds. Rustic but
nice. The movie set for the ‘White Fang’
movie serves as a main street with shops and the Haines brewery. We are in an exhibition building for the 21st
Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brew Festival.
The interior is nicely decorated and has a giant glitter salmon quilt on
the wall. We are greeted with our first
beer Alaskan Freeride IPA, big brewers out of Juneau. Followed by HooDoo Kolsch from HooDoo
Brewing. Freeride is excellent if you
like hops, the Kolsch is German authentic recipe, not our fave. The dinner progresses with beer pairings. The menu is geared toward organic and
sustainable products. We finally get to
eat fiddlehead ferns and a Japanese asparagus pancake, Okonomiyaki. Loved the ferns, tastes like asparagus. This course was paired with Epic Ales “Springy
Beer”, used a moss in it? Not our
fave. Soup course was a Miso with local
prawns, pared with Barnof Island Brewing, Halibut Point Hefeweizen, out of
Sitka. Good for a Hef but not our
fave. Also served Denali Brewing’s Big
Red’s Black Beer, out of Talkeetna, this beer was okay, tasted some honey in it. We have been to Denali Brew on previous
trip. Fish course was very strange. Local whole, tiny smelts, called Hooligan,
stuffed with mashed potatoes and wrapped in ramps and a wasabi sauce. First time eating this fish and ramps (wild
garlic). Difficult to eat a cute little
fish that is staring at you. Not bad, it
was okay. This course was paired with
Yukon Brewing’s Boreal Forest Herbal Cream Ale, out of Whitehorse Canada. It was okay not a fave. Also served Alaskan Brewing’s Sentinel Rye
Pale Ale, out of Juneau. We like most of
their beers from past experience. This
was very good. A guest speaker, James
Roberts, Dr. Fermento, is the beer blogger /writer for one of the Alaskan
newspapers. He gave a little review of
how far brewing had come over the past 20 years in Alaska. The Entrée Course was beef tender with
rhubarb steak sauce and parsnip puree. A
good combination but the meat was just okay, loved the sauces. Paired with Haines Brewing (only one in
Haines) IPA, which we really liked. And
served with Sierra Nevada Porter. Don’t
know how SN got in this mix but this beer is dark and chocolate and coffee and
totally dangerous. Very good but only
drink a reduced amount. Dessert was a
Spruce Tip Rice Pudding and was a total flop.
It was paired with Haines Black Fang.
Off the charts delicious dessert beer, deep black and totally
dangerous. Good thing we are walking
back to our camp. It’s still light out
so there is hope we will make it. The
gourmet menu had rave reviews in past years.
We don’t think it was up to snuff this time around.
The evening was emceed by some crazy
woman out of Juneau. The talk was risqué
and bawdy, but fun. The furthest
traveling diners were a group of men from Sweden. They were required to sing us a song. They told us they don’t mess around with
signing when beer is available, but they gave us a Swedish song anyway. We all clap but we have no clue what they
just sang. We met two totally separate
people from Cleveland area. One said you’ll
never know this tiny town, Columbia Station.
I said my friend in Anchorage is from there and I’ve been there a couple
times. Another woman is from Brunswick
but born in Lakewood where Seth lives.
It was a lively evening of Canadian jokes; there were several Canadians
in the crowd. It was another clue how
close these border communities are. At
our table we sat with a local Haines couple.
Couldn’t have been a better meeting.
They were full of ideas and suggestions about where to eat and what to
see. Ike was a local state trooper and
Faith worked for Fish and Game; we heard a lot of stories and learned more
about the local lifestyle. Deciding where
and how to get medical, dental services and where to shop usually in Juneau or
Whitehorse. One is by boat, one by
car. How they order through Costco in
Juneau and have goods barged to them. Their
son currently works at the local cannery and we learned how to shop right
there. They lived in Nome and
Anchorage. We lived in Anchorage at the
same time and had a good conversation about how things have changed. We exchange emails. Haines gets a few small cruise ships
through. It does not rival Skagway or
Juneau (3 towns on the Lynn Canal) in any way.
It is interesting to hear about the economy and how people create jobs
and change jobs as needed. Working for
the government is prized. The native population
is around 35%, Tlingit. There is a
native village not far from here.
Tomorrow is the official beer tasting
event at the fairgrounds. It will be
held on the main street surrounded by the White Fang movie set so hope there is
good weather.
Made it back to the camp without meeting
up with a bear or moose. We can check
this experience off the bucket list. Time
for sleep. Night!
Miles
traveled by RV 6 Miles
Total
RV Mileage 3549
Miles
traveled Ferry 14, saved us 300 driving miles
Total
miles traveled 4479
Total
RV travel time 30 minutes
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