An Alaska Port City Vignette – Skagway
Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2008
by Mike Miller
Mike Miller
If
you’re happily hysterical about things historical, Skagway, Alaska is a town
you’ve just gotta see. No fake frontier town, this. It’s the genuine article –
so genuine the city’s historical district is part of the U.S. National Park
Service Gold Rush National Historical Park. The park, in turn, is
comprised of three units: in Skagway, in Seattle and along the Chilkoot
Trail between nearby Dyea and Lake Bennett in the Canadian Yukon.
(The U.S. National Park Service and Parcs Canada jointly administer the
authentic goldrush trail).
For
good reason Skagway rates as one of Alaska’s most popular port cities among
cruisers sailing the Inside Passage. One of the most favored activities of a
Skagway visit is the round-trip, mountain-hugging excursion aboard the White
Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railway
from Skagway to White Pass summit and beyond.
In
the city of Skagway itself, historical fun and fascination abounds – from the Skagway
Museum which positively overflows with
goldrush mementoes to con-man and outlaw “Soapy" Smith’s Bar. Notable too: the Red Onion Saloon (with a former brothel upstairs). The bar (not the
brothel) is a working establishment much favored by locals year-round as well
as by summer visitors. The Days of ’98 Show (“with Soapy Smith") in the Eagles Hall is
something of an antiquity itself. It has delighted visitors for more than eight
decades! Hungry for Alaska-caught salmon? Take in the Liarsville Gold Rush Camp & Salmon Bake outside of town for good grub, gold panning
(“color" guaranteed), a delightful “mellerdrammer" and much more. If you’re
thirsty for locally brewed beers and ales visit the Skagway Brewing
Company and sip some Klondike Gold,
Prospector Pale, Chilkoot
Trail IPA, Boom Town Brown, or more than a dozen other locally-brewed choices.
More info about Skagway at: www.skagway.com.
Copyright © 2008 Mike
Miller All Rights Reserved
Alaskan travel
writer Mike Miller lives in Juneau where his current passion is publishing an
information-packed website about Alaska cruising and ferry travel: http://www.AlaskaCruisingReport.com. Miller has authored a number of books
(Fodors, Sierra Club Books, Globe Pequot,
and others), and contributes to The Milepost, TravelAge West (for travel
agents) and frequently writes for major newspapers and magazines.
I wouldn't recommend the Liarsville Salmon Bake in Skagway if it were free. The food sets out over a period of time and isn't fresh. It isn't all you can eat because the hosts put a piece of meat on your plate. The panning is mediocore at best, and the show isn't anything special. There are much better and more economical salmon bakes in Fairbanks and Denali. Save your time and money for some salmon bakes that are far superior.
