AT SEA OFF SOUTHWEST CANADA

THE TLINGIT PEOPLE

It is not possible to talk about Alaska without a discussion of the Tlingits.  It is speculated that human occupation of southeast Alaska occurred 11,000 years ago by the indigenous Tlingit people.  It is not clear exactly where they came from however.  The name Tlingit essentially means human beings.  It was originally used to distinguish a human being from an animal since Tlingits believed there was little difference between the two.  Over time the word became their name.  The Tlingit people are grouped into units (like tribes) called “knan”. 

Europeans (Russians) arrived in Tlingit country for the first time in 1741 but contact with the Tlingits was limited until well into the 1800’s.  Seems they did not like the Russians coming so fought to keep them out.  Eventually diseases imported by Europeans and Americans looking for gold, killed many Tlingits.  They fought American development of canneries, mines, and logging but it was futile due to America’s military strength.  In 1906, the Native Allotment Act, gave 160 acres to each adult “native” as long as the ground contained no mineral deposits.  Plus they could sell or lease this property without the approval of the US Secretary of Interior.  Basically, they got screwed just as are American native Indians were.  They were called Indians too and during the 1930’s, 40’s & 50’s, it was not uncommon to see signs on business doors in Alaska saying, “No Indians Allowed”.  Today, although the Thlingit people are much more accepted, their fight for survival continues.  There are an estimated 20,000 Tlingits today in Alaska.  They are a big part of Alaska’s history which has never been taught in our schools, as far as I know.

Totem poles in Alaska were originally from the Haidas & Tlingits.  The poles were never objects of worship even though the early European explorers thought they were.  Totem poles symbolize characters and events of a myth or relate the experiences of ancestors or living people.  Pole carvings may include animals, birds, fish, plants, insects, humans, or supernatural beings such as the Thunderbird.  The poles are typically carved from highly rot-resistant trunks of giant cedar or western red cedar trees.  They usually last 60 to 80 years.   Photos of the poles will follow when we arrive in Alaska.

LAST NIGHT AND TODAY

          We did dine up in Sette Mari yesterday evening.  I had the cioppino and Rebecca had the chicken marsala.  From there we went to the production show, "Broadway Tonight".  Once again this Jean Ann Ryan cast of singers and dancers was fantastic.  We arrived in the showroom early so we could get our usual front row seats.  They were suppose do this show on Saturday night but it was too rough for them to dance.  They are suppose to perform another show tonight but that may change as we are cruising today in the "outside passage", meaning open ocean.  Ship is moving about again but not nearly as bad as first 36 hours of this cruise.  We have been in rain showers all morning on and off.  Temperature outside is 50F.  We are experiencing long swells up to 8 feet today.

          We both had blackened chicken Caesar salads in the main dining room for lunch.  The internet has been down all morning but our butler came to the dining room to inform me that it was now back up.  Now I can finish this post.  At 3:00 pm we have an appointment with the cruise consultant to complete our booking of a Barcelona to Singapore 43 night cruise for November 2016.  At 6:00 pm there is a cocktail party for Seven Seas Society members.  We declined an invitation to dine with Lorraine, the cruise director, this evening.  She was going to host a table for 7 and I told her we do not like large groups when dining.  This is what happens when you get old.  We will be dining in Compass Rose dining room this evening.  One of our favorites is on the menu:  miso glazed sea bass.
If the production show, "Dawning of Aquarius", has not been canceled due to motion of the ocean, we will again be sitting on the front row.  It is scheduled for 9:30 pm.
          Tonight we turn our clocks back one hour so as to be on Alaska time.  We will be arriving in Sitka, Alaska, at noon tomorrow.  Below are some photos I took last night at the show.

                             Jade, headline entertainer who does Whitney Houston music

  

ASTORIA, OREGON

This town with a population of around 9500 lies on the west coast of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River.  The river flows southeast and passes through Portland nearly 100 miles away.  As a point of reference, Seattle is 180 miles to the northeast.

The city was named after the investor, John Jacob Aston, when he built Fort Astor in 1811 for his American Fur Company, however the Oregon Legislative Assembly first incorporated the town back in 1876.  The Lewis & Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805 & 1806 at Fort Clatsop just south of Astoria.  Fort Astoria was the first permanent settlement built on the Pacific coast and was extremely important in the exploration of the northwestern US.  As the Oregon Territory grew it became more colonized by Americans, Astoria became an important port city with its Colombia River access to the inland.

For over a hundred years Astoria’s economy thrived on fishing, fish processing, and lumber but those started declining in the mid 1900’s.  All canneries were closed by 1980.  Even its trading center as a port of entry has moved to Portland and Seattle.  Today tourism, art, and light manufacturing are Astoria’s economic drivers.  Facilities at the port were built to handle cruise ships in 1982.  Interestingly enough, in order to avoid Mexican ports during the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak, the cruise lines rerouted many ships here to Astoria as a port of call.  Another bit of trivia:  Actor Clark Gable began his career here at the Astoria Theater in 1922.  

                                         Dinner last night with Goran & Rose Mary

                                                       Rebecca's lobster

  Headline entertainer in showroom last night was Jade Milian singing Whitney Houston music.

                                            Our position this morning--Astoria

                                       I have to mail my Mother's Day card here today.

 Hemlock and fir trees waiting to loaded on ships.  They export to China.  Two ships every month.

                                             Bridge over to Washington state

                                                                   Our ship

 My tour was "Panoramic Astoria".  Rae was guide and Charlie the bus driver.  Yes, they used school buses for our tours here.

             Sea lions--They were noisy and smelly.  Locals want to ship them back to CA.

 Stopped for photos at Astoria Column that was built in 1926 on a hill over looking Astoria.  You could climb the 164 steps to top but not me.

 Deck chairs back out today after 36 hours of wind and rough seas.  Nice sunny day and 62 degrees.

                                                                 Pool grill

        Rebecca decided not to go on tour this morning.  She stayed on ship and went to the fitness center to do her workout on treadmill.  She did not miss much by not going on tour.  We had lunch up in La Veranda (buffet) and I ordered a hamburger from pool grill.  The burgers are VERY good.

        Not sure what we will do this afternoon.  I am going to fitness center to do my workout for sure. It has been too rough at sea to do it.  Captain said it was going to be very rough again when we leave this port at 3:00 pm and get back out in ocean.  YUK!  At 6:00 pm is Regent's "block party".  You take wine glasses out into the hall where the stewardesses will pour wine and you meet your neighbors.  Only Regent ships do this and it is fun.

        This evening we will dine up in Sette Mari.  At night La Veranda turns into an Italian restaurant called Sette Mari.  Tonight's show will be the first production show featuring the Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers.  We will definitely be going.

        Tomorrow will be another day at sea as we head north to Sitka, Alaska.  We will arrive there on Tuesday at noon.  So for the next 45 hours we will probably be bounding around again.  Not looking to that.

ROCK'N & ROLL'N AT SEA

Our position at noon today.

There is definitely "motion in the ocean" ever since we left San Francisco yesterday evening.  We have not experienced seas this rough in a long time.  They secured our balcony furniture and the pool chairs.  Today we have 40 knot winds and 18 foot swells which is causing the bumpy ride.

Last night before retiring Rebecca put our room service for breakfast request out on our door.  Our butler brought it at 8 am but we decided to go down to the dining room instead.  The Compass Rose dining room is down on deck 5 and the ride down there is MUCH better than up on deck 10 where our suite is.  On days like today it dramatically illustrates that, if you are subject to sea sickness, get a cabin on lower deck and mid ship!  I am now in the library on deck 6 as it is much more comfortable here than up in our suite.  I doubt if our ride will improve today so glad we will be docking tomorrow in Astoria, Oregon.

At 10 am we went to the theater to listen to Terry Breen's lecture on Alaska.  I swear she is a walking encyclopedia on both Alaska and South America.  We met and became friends with her on our 2012 Circle South America cruise.  Her lectures adds so much to our cruise experience.

This is Terry after her lecture.

They are showing a movie in the theater this afternoon which I may go to.  Better than bumping around in our suite.  Tonight is the Captain's Welcome Aboard party and dinner.  We will be dining with Goran, the F&B Director, and Rose-Mary, the head of housekeeping, this evening in Compass Rose.  We ran into the Cruise Director, Lorraine, this morning and she also wants to dine with us something during the cruise.  We know her from previous cruises also.

Our stewardess, Rose Marie, is on left and her supervisor.

From left is Alin, Prime 7 Manager, Dino, the Executive Chef, and Goran, F&B Director.

                                               Suresh, our butler, with my Manhattan.

At 5:00 pm our butler delivered some "poppers" (jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese then deep fried) and a Manhattan for me.  Bottle of chardonnay for Rebecca.  Ship is moving around so much that I figured I could stand up better if I had alcohol.  Getting dressed now for dinner is not easy with suite bouncing around.