All of this brings us to the morning we visited Tracy Arm Fjord. I had read in the guidebooks that you needed to be up early to see this and when I got out to the helipad at 6am there were already lots of folks. It was odd to see so many people on the helipad so early in the day, especially since I normally had it all to myself.  The scenery continued to be breathtaking as we moved towards the Dawes Glacier. It was also really cold. The wind blows across the ice and since we were in a valley, it blew straight on us. Still, it was worth it. One of the crew remarked that there was more ice in the water than they had seen on the previous 7 trips. It made sense then to have hot chocolate on the deck. What I didn’t quite understand, at 6 in the morning, was serving clam chowder. Here I thought Wheaties were the breakfast of champions, I had to come to Alaska to learn that it was in fact clam chowder. The captain turned the ship several times to ensure that everyone had ample opportunity to see everything.  Had he not been turning so slowly, it could have been a bit nauseating.  Eventually, the captain pointed us away from the glacier and we started back down the fjord to head on down the coast. The afternoon passed lazily by with a combination of naps, reading, and enjoying a drink or two. Our favorite place to do all three of these, in a climate controlled setting, was the bar on deck 14. On Caribbean cruises, I probably would have been poolside. In the chilly air of Alaska, Deck 14 was the place to be. Around 4, we noticed that we seemed to be stopping in the middle of the water. Apparently, there was a medical emergency that necessitated a helicopter evacuation. We waited for the helicopter to arrive from Sitka and there were lots of folks hanging on the deck to watch. In all of my trips, this was a first. It was pretty cool to see first-hand.  The helicopter cut quite the image as it barreled towards us, it hovered, a rescue swimmer was dropped, and the person was lifted up in a basket.  Then, they were gone.  Day gave way to evening and another dinner. The food was fine and after dinner we hung about until bed time.

The next day found us at sea. I was the first one up-at 9:45. When I went upstairs to the buffet for a bowl of Cheerios the place was essentially empty. Apparently, the trip was starting to catch up to lots of folks. Back to deck 14 for more reading and scenery-watching we went, and before too long, it was time for lunch. I had ordered the fish enchiladas the night before and when they came to the table, the fish was wrapped in zucchini. I thought this was a neat way to do it, and it was probably the best special meal I had. After lunch, we read some more and then met the kids in the arcade for a family air hockey tournament. Since I had lost to Ethel the day before, I wanted a rematch. This time, I took no prisoners. After demolishing all comers, it was back to 14 to keep reading. Just like that, the afternoon passed and it was dinner time. After dinner, we went to the Star Lounge to play Beatles/Queen trivia. The Beatles were no problem, I may need to add some Queen to my playlist. After a few last walks around, bed.  Today was truly a lazy day at sea.