These were in two glass cases on Deck 10 in the buffet area (when on the Alaskan Cruise last May). The artist who created them was Pavlos Dionyssopoulas from Greece. The date on the card in front of the case was 1999.
This is Patsy Ann. The collar that lies across her foot is symbolic. The one time I read of Patsy Anne being given a collar, she got rid of it as soon as she was out of sight. Even though someone had put a collar on in a few of her photos, I smiled at those photo ops knowing that they would soon disappear. And here she is, still watching the ships come in, as she did all those years ago.
(all my old photos I found online)
I was drawn to the statue immediately, as my father's mother had a Bull Terrier in the 1940s, and I have many old photos of my grandmother and my dad with Tony. Even though Tony was long gone before I came along, my dad told me stories of him. He became part of me through those stories and photos, and so Patsy Ann is now part of me too, in heart at least. I felt quite moved by her story.
Her statue wasn't erected until 50 years after her passing.
Patsy Ann was a purebred white Bull Terrier born in Portland, Oregon in 1929 and sent to Juneau - by ship - to be the companion of two little girls. Patsy Ann proved to be too challenging for this family, on top of the fact that she was deaf. Her owners gave her to another family and I was sad to read that this family abandoned her.
She began roaming the streets living on handouts and sleeping where she could, often with sailors. She became well known in Juneau, especially when dock workers noticed her special talent. Despite being deaf Patsy Ann had an uncanny ability to know not only when a ship was due, but on which dock it was going to berth. Townspeople would follow behind her when they saw her heading to the docks, where she would stroll and begin pacing. Sure enough a ship would come into view. She was never wrong and some people speculated that she sensed the vibrations of the ships' motors.
One of the stories that really amused me, was that one morning the townspeople were given information and stood at the dock a ship was expected. Patsy Ann strolled up, took one look at the crowd, and trotted off to another dock. It was at that dock the ship arrived. She became the most famous dog west of the Mississippi, and kindhearted travelers began to look forward to seeing her, throwing treats out of portholes for her to gobble up. She dined very well.
Patsy Ann was named the town's official greeter by the mayor. When Juneau passed a law requiring dogs to be registered and tagged, townspeople collected funds to buy her a tag and collar. Patsy Ann thumbed her nose at that, figuratively speaking, and got rid of it as soon as she was able to. Wisely Patsy Ann was given an official exemption to the new law. This sweet little dog was celebrated on t-shirts, post cards and in time there was a book about her life. Her photo also appeared on postcards, and she was soon more photographed than Rin Tin Tin.
She passed over the Rainbow Bridge in 1942 and was buried at sea. Half a century later, her life was celebrated with a statue sculpted by Anna Burke Harris, honoring her memory. I was directed to this short video about her on YouTube. If you can't see it you can click on this link.
Patsy Ann touched many lives and became a legend in Juneau. Even though she belonged to no one, the whole of Juneau seemed to look out for her. As well as greeting those ships she could be found in the lobby of one of the fine hotels, or the dark corner of a saloon, or hanging out at the Longshoreman's Hall, but she really preferred to be outside and was said to enjoy life on the docks.
She would probably be wagging her tail that so many people love her to this day.
Friday, May 18th, 2018 we left the ship today. Fitting that it rained. It was an odd feeling, like saying goodbye to an old friend. But first I need to finish what we did after our wonderful experience looking at the Hubbard Glacier. For the first part of my post it will be a continuation of the 17th, and then I will add on our activities for the 18th.
We were all directed to a special lunch of King Crab Legs and our whole group was there, family and friends. It was our first casual meal we had had since being on the ship.
Everyone lined up on the deck to get them, but the wind was blowing and it was a tad nippy to put it mildly, even for me. I was glad when we headed inside to the restaurant.
That afternoon we were also invited onto the bridge, one last chance to see how the ship is run. That was very interesting.
The last day just zoomed along. Earlier we had packed our suitcases and had them outside the cabin by 7.00 p.m. On the morning of the 18th, we have to be out of the cabin by 7.00 a.m. We meet the family at 8.00 a.m. in one of the quiet lounges, where we join several other people. A relatively short walk off the ship and to the bus, which will be the start of our land tour, the second part of our vacation.
But getting back to the 17th, we are ending our day by sipping on a banana martini with our niece and nephew. We are joined by the sister of our good friend (and now our good friend after this trip). But it was getting late and it was time to get a good night's sleep. Another big day tomorrow.
Friday, May 18th - Left the ship - End of Cruise
4.56 p.m. and we are at the Alyeska Hotel in Girdwood.
We were a little sad to say goodbye to our ship, the first cruise we had ever been on, and it had left a lasting impression. Eight days in all and it had been a phenomenal experience.
The last port of call for us was Seward, and our first stop was the Alaska Sealife Center, in the same town. We were given an hour-and-a-half to look around. A fun place and we fell in love with Pilot the Sea Lion.
I also loved the puffins
We met a very nice couple when we sat down for a spell. They were off the Norwegian ship. A pleasant conversation talking about their trip, and then it was time to get back on the bus.
The bus dropped us off in the same town for lunch and after an hour we were on our way to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a wildlife sanctuary.
We saw bear, elk, wolves, deer, musk ox and bison. The animals would be rehabilitated back to the wild wherever possible. From there it was a short ride to our hotel, and first thing my niece and I did was find coffee on a lower floor when exploring the hotel.
We had a couple of hours rest and then rode the gondola to the top of a mountain overlooking the hotel. Our group of eight had dinner in a lovely restaurant with the most breathtaking views.
You can see the hotel at the bottom of the second shot.
When our dinner was almost over, we were told that it was too windy for the gondola to get back down, so we waited for half an hour before we were then told it was okay. Several diners by that time, filled the gondola to make the journey down. It was a very, very, very slow ride, again packed in like sardines, but we eventually made it to the bottom, and I think we were all very happy to get back down. Gregg asked what would happen if we weren't able to use the gondola, and he was told that there was a caterpillar-tread-type of transport that they could send for. It had a capacity to take 10 people safely down the mountain.
We chatted in the foyer around a lovely fire. Our tour organizer had told us earlier to put our bags outside by nine in the morning, but we don't have to be out of the hotel until much later.
One of the many nice things we have learned about our land tour (and this is the first one of these we have been on also), is that although we are in a different hotel every night, our bags are ready and waiting in our room at the end of the day. The following morning we leave them outside our room, and they are picked up a couple of hours before we board the bus.
We are also very happy that almost a year ago we had arranged to come back to this hotel with our niece and nephew. We were keeping our options open, but when we saw the hotel we knew we had made the right choice. We will have said goodbye to the tour group by that time, and while the rest of our family fly home, we will be heading back here for a while.
But in the meantime we are off to Anchorage tomorrow.
(I will be revisiting these places in other posts eventually.)
When I can remember to do it, I add this paragraph at the beginning of my vacation posts. It is for those who don't know that we have been back home since the end of May. I am now sharing my daily journals and photographs of our time in Alaska. If you have missed any of them and would like to take a look, you can go to the bottom of this one and click on "Alaska Trip-May 2018".
Thursday, May 17th, 2018
A Day on the Ship and the Hubbard Glacier
(A photo of Gregg on the helicopter pad. Those green tartan blankets at the bottom of the photo were supplied by the crew as it was very chilly.)
The ship will not be calling into any ports today, and it will be taking us to see the Hubbard Glacier. After that we will be heading to Seward where tomorrow we end our cruise and start our land tour.
We received a reminder that we had an appointment on the helicopter pad. It was actually an appointment with a glacier.
Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in North America, and this particular stretch of 76 miles of glacier water begins at Mount Logan in Canada's Yukon, and makes its way through Alaska to the Russell Fjord Wilderness.
The glacier was named after Gardiner Hubbard, who was a Massachusetts lawyer and educator, regent of the Smithsonian Institution and founder and first president of the National Geographic Society.
While we were there we saw big chunks of ice fall into the water. These are called 'white thunder' by the Tlingit.
Hubbard Glacier is found in Disenchantment Bay at the end of Yakutat Bay. It is one of over 110,000 glaciers in Alaska.
Disenchantment Bay was named by the Spanish explorer Alejandro Malaspina in 1791, who was disenchanted that he had not found the Northwest Passage.
(The close-ups of the glacier were taken by Gregg.)
As the ship enters Yakutat Bay, Hubbard Glacier can be seen from over 30 miles away. It is 76 miles long, 6.5 miles wide and 1200 feet deep. Its face is over 400 feet high, which is as high as a 30-40 story building.
The Malaspina Glacier is also found in Yakutat Bay. Malaspina is a piedmont glacier, does not reach into the bay and is difficult to see from a ship, even though it is about the size of Switzerland!
It was impressive to see the ship turn around, ever so slowly in a tight circle, to give everyone on board a great view from port to starboard.
And that was our time looking at the Hubbard Glacier. It is truly hard to put into words when you set eyes on it for the first time. You are not quite sure what you are looking at, you know it is out there, and then the lightbulb goes off. It leaves you speechless the closer you get.
And then we were heading out of the bay. Not so disenchanting after all was it Alejandro? Well, maybe in 1791 when he couldn't find the Northwest Passage. I bet if he came back today he would be renaming it Enchanting Bay.
