Blake and Deb Far Away

Thirty years ago I took a cruise through the inside passage to Alaska with my mother and sister. It was time to return, and time for Deborah to see the only one of the fifty states she had yet to visit. I had considered making the trip via the Alaska Marine Highway System but the ferries are surprisingly expensive and the scheduling can be problematic (do we really want to arrive at a ferry terminal five miles from town at 2am?). The best cruise experience in this area is undoubtedly the small cruise boats that get you up close and personal with glaciers and whales and seals. But those are much more expensive than the typical behemoth type vessel that we eventually chose, especially when you book at the last minute for a reduced price as we did. So we ended up on the Holland America Westerdam and were very happy with our choice. Our cruise started in Vancouver and wound its way through the islands and channels that dot the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southeast Alaska, e...

We spent a very nice day exploring Vancouver’s vibrant downtown with its many interesting buildings, plus Gastown, Vancouver’s oldest neighborhood, and Chinatown, which lies just east of downtown. The latter features the Dr. Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. We had a stroll around the elegant garden and a tasty dim sum meal at a nearby restaurant.  Inside the public library Another in a list of jobs I would not want (along with coal miner and proctologist) Painted mural Canada Place, home of a convention center, hotel, world trade center, and our cruise terminal. Entrance to the Marine Building, with all its glorious art deco nautical-themed detail. Inside the Marine Building. The light sconces are ship bows (photo by Deborah) The Victorian architecture of Gastown Gastown was named after its founder, saloonkeeper John "Gassy Jack...

The excellent Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia was worth the long bus ride from our West Vancouver digs. Its focus is on traditional Northwest Coast First Nations art, although a diverse collection of world art and culture is also presented. In keeping with our international theme for the day we also visited the peaceful Nitobe Memorial Garden, a traditional Japanese garden that is also on the UBC campus. Carved bentwood box, probably used for memorial purposes. Amazingly, the cedar wood is steamed and bent – not cut – at the corners, such that the sides are all made from one piece of wood. Sections of a totem. They had to cut it into pieces to fit it in the museum. The Great Hall, designed by Arthur Erickson, echoes the post and beam architecture of the First Nations People. The Raven and the First Men sculpture by famed Haida artist Bill Reid. It sits on a repurposed gun battery from WWII that was on the site. ...