Alaskan Trip Report June 1-15th, 2013  This trip was a celebration of our 34th Anniversary and for the friends that traveled with us, it was their 30th Anniversary and a 60th birthday as well. We are all retired school teachers from Colorado so this was a chance to compare mountains. WOW. Alaskan mountains are so different, more rugged, more contrasting, and more abrupt. And of course being right next to the water was so different.

We flew Frontier Airlines to Bellingham, WA 4 days ahead of the start of our cruise and had a friend meet us there and drive us across the border. That was so easy. They showed us around Surrey, BC where they live and we had lunch on their beach. They also introduced us to Nanaimo Bars, they are rich with the flavors of vanilla, custard, chocolate and coconut. And to die for! Next we went into downtown Vancouver to our hotel, The Sutton House Place at 845 Burrard St. We had a mini suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room, table and mini kitchen. It was very convenient to everything we did in Vancouver.

We rode the Vancouver Hop on and off Trolley Tour on our first full day in Vancouver. We bought tickets online and got 2 days for the price of one. The first day we rode it out to Granville Island. That is a fun place to visit and walk through the Market. The next day we rode the trolley to the Aquarium in Stanley Park. It is a nice Aquarium with lots to see and do, unfortunately we were there was several bus loads of elementary children. Yikes! We still had a good time. That evening we ate at the restaurant at the Top of Vancouver, that rotates around while you are eating. What fabulous views. We were so lucky to have clear weather on our trip every day but one in Juneau. For our last day in Vancouver, we rode the free bus out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It is a beautiful rainforest area with one of the worlds longest (140m) and highest (70m) suspension bridges. The grounds also had totem poles and a network of smaller bridges strung between the trees, that was not as crowded and you could enjoy the peace and quiet. That evening we had tickets to the Craft Beer dinner at Incendio Restaurant. It was part of the Vancouver Craft Beer Festival that was happening the first week of June. They served 5 courses with 5 different craft beers and everything was delicious. Who knew mac and cheese go so well with a Spruce Ale. Finally, we got to board the Coral Princess for our cruise north to Alaska. We did the Northbound 10 Nights Denali Explorer Tour. Read more