Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
Hoonah, AK
For memorial day weekend we took a "business trip" to Hoonah, AK. One of Allyson's previous hostesses has a friend who owns Icy Strait Lodge, and she thought it'd be fun to have some Pure Romance parties up there. She offered to pay for Allyson's flight, and offered free lodging. So for the price of my ticket, we had ourselves a mini-vacation.
Hoonah is a small seaside town on Chichagof Island SW of Juneau. Population 600 or so. The only way to get there is to take a 3hr ferry from Juneau, or a 20min ride on a puddle hopper. The main industries are logging, fishing, and tourism.
We arrived on Fri, and basically just rested (7am flight out of Seattle) before Allyson's PR party at 9pm. Friday night was graduation. We were told that there were 7 students in the graduating class. I told you this was a small town!
On Sat, we walked around town, which is a 1 mile stretch along the water. We ate at a cafe in "downtown", and later caught a bus to the Icy Strait Point cannery for their annual Hoonah Day. The cannery is the main attraction for the cruise boats. Unfortunately, we left early b/c Jack got tired and missed out on the traditional Tlingit cultural show. Allyson had another PR party that night.
On Sunday, we went fishing w/ Dave (friend of Ed, who owns the lodge). May is not the best time for fishing. The salmon run in the hoonah area is best during the summer. We trolled for a little bit, nothing. Then we went out and dropped a line for halibut. The line had about 30 hooks w/ squid for bait. It was long enough to rest on the sea floor and was marked on the top by a float. We'd leave the line there for 5-6 hours and come back later. We trolled all the way back to Hoonah, and again, nothing. Allyson, Jack, and I spent most of that time in the deck below. It was chilly and we took turns taking naps.
The "boys" went back out at about 7pm to pickup that line. Allyson choose to stay at the lodge w/ Jack. We hooked about 10 halibuts, two big ones and a few medium sized ones. We threw the smaller ones back into the water. On the way back, Dave filleted the fish while Stacey navigated the boat. The boat had an extra steering wheel in the rear, so for fun, Dave would turn the rear steering wheel full right or left. Stacey, who was totally focused on the front of the boat, never noticed. He was like "man, this wind is really strong!" A few minutes later, he figured it out and laughed it off. When we got back to the bay, Dave wanted to use the extra halibut carcass for crab bait. We pull up a pot, and found two dungeness crabs. Dave cleaned them and offered it to us for a late night snack!
Monday we had a 10:45 am flight out of hoonah to Juneau. Dave stopped by w/ about 30 lbs of halibut. Can't wait to try them! We were planning to walk around Juneau before our 7pm flight, but thought it'd be better to get back home early.
Summary...
Alaska is an interesting place. It's not for everyone, and I think that's fine. While Hoonah may lack the sophistication of large cities, it has its charms. What I saw was a place where everybody knew each other. Everyone waved as they drove by. Everyone helped each other. People cared a lot less about what they drove or what they wore. I hope Ed's lodge does well, b/c who knows... we may visit again.
Pictures below...
Hoonah is a small seaside town on Chichagof Island SW of Juneau. Population 600 or so. The only way to get there is to take a 3hr ferry from Juneau, or a 20min ride on a puddle hopper. The main industries are logging, fishing, and tourism.
We arrived on Fri, and basically just rested (7am flight out of Seattle) before Allyson's PR party at 9pm. Friday night was graduation. We were told that there were 7 students in the graduating class. I told you this was a small town!
On Sat, we walked around town, which is a 1 mile stretch along the water. We ate at a cafe in "downtown", and later caught a bus to the Icy Strait Point cannery for their annual Hoonah Day. The cannery is the main attraction for the cruise boats. Unfortunately, we left early b/c Jack got tired and missed out on the traditional Tlingit cultural show. Allyson had another PR party that night.
On Sunday, we went fishing w/ Dave (friend of Ed, who owns the lodge). May is not the best time for fishing. The salmon run in the hoonah area is best during the summer. We trolled for a little bit, nothing. Then we went out and dropped a line for halibut. The line had about 30 hooks w/ squid for bait. It was long enough to rest on the sea floor and was marked on the top by a float. We'd leave the line there for 5-6 hours and come back later. We trolled all the way back to Hoonah, and again, nothing. Allyson, Jack, and I spent most of that time in the deck below. It was chilly and we took turns taking naps.
The "boys" went back out at about 7pm to pickup that line. Allyson choose to stay at the lodge w/ Jack. We hooked about 10 halibuts, two big ones and a few medium sized ones. We threw the smaller ones back into the water. On the way back, Dave filleted the fish while Stacey navigated the boat. The boat had an extra steering wheel in the rear, so for fun, Dave would turn the rear steering wheel full right or left. Stacey, who was totally focused on the front of the boat, never noticed. He was like "man, this wind is really strong!" A few minutes later, he figured it out and laughed it off. When we got back to the bay, Dave wanted to use the extra halibut carcass for crab bait. We pull up a pot, and found two dungeness crabs. Dave cleaned them and offered it to us for a late night snack!
Monday we had a 10:45 am flight out of hoonah to Juneau. Dave stopped by w/ about 30 lbs of halibut. Can't wait to try them! We were planning to walk around Juneau before our 7pm flight, but thought it'd be better to get back home early.
Summary...
Alaska is an interesting place. It's not for everyone, and I think that's fine. While Hoonah may lack the sophistication of large cities, it has its charms. What I saw was a place where everybody knew each other. Everyone waved as they drove by. Everyone helped each other. People cared a lot less about what they drove or what they wore. I hope Ed's lodge does well, b/c who knows... we may visit again.
Pictures below...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)