Rainy, windy, cool; these adjectives describe the weather in Haines today. Oh, and did I mention cloudy? Clouds hang low over the mountains obscuring the peaks. Welcome to Haines.
We had no set plans today. We took our time this morning and decided to walk into the newer part of town. Bundled in warm clothes and girded against the rain off we went.
Here us a shot as we walked down the pier.
Although we’ve been here before it was only for a salmon bake and that was more than 15 years ago. This is our first time actually visiting the town. And, our visit was a lot of fun.
The little town is about a 15 minute walk, along the harbor. As we walked along the harbor road we could see the mist covered mountains across the bay and the town to our left. Here are a couple of shots as we walked into town.
We decided to stroll through some of the stores and visit the local brewery. which opened at 12pm. The first store we stopped in was Caroline’s Closet on Main Street. While there we chatted for a moment with Steve, Caroline’s grandfather, who was helping her for the day.
Steve is an affable fellow and full of local knowledge. I heard him say that he was watching our ship come in and wondered, due to the heavy winds, whether it would be able to dock. Apparently, yesterday the ship scheduled to call in Haines was not so lucky.
Here are three shots of Main Street; one looking away from the harbor, one of the Hammer Museum and one of JoAnn bundled against the elements . . .
. . . and here are a few looking back, past the Sheldon Museum toward the harbor with the Noordam in the distance. The Sheldon Museum houses a collection of indigenous artifacts and gold memorabilia.
From Caroline’s we made our way to Ampersand, . . .
. . . another little boutique where we spoke with Amelia Nash, a local girl born and raised in Haines and the proud owner of this charming little shop. Here is a picture of Amelia.
Then, not by design but by coincidence, we stopped in the Haines Chamber of Commerce where we met Tracey Harmon, the Chamber’s executive director, outfitted in her foul weather gear as she arrived for work.
Tracey was outgoing and engaging. She showed us around the building and asked where we visiting from. When we told her New Jersey she proceeded to tell us she spent time in Camden, New Jersey, many years ago working in a local Catholic Church where she was engaged in outreach, helping with the Church’s ministry. She is a great representative for the town of Haines.
Here are a few more shots of the town,
taken as we made our way to the Haines Brewing Company on Main Street.
There we met Paul Wheeler, proprietor and brewmaster. Here he is talking beer with JoAnn.
I especially liked his Spruce Tipped Ale and his Black Fang Stout. A stop here is a must if you are a beer drinker.
While there we met Mary and Tom from Chicago.
They are traveling on the Noordam with their son, who was off rock climbing in Skagway, a quaint town across the bay. We had a pleasant conversation with them about traveling in general and cruising in particular. Friends for a moment.
We also stopped in Talia’s Treasures, a consignment shop, also on Main Street. Walking through there was a real trip. It was interesting to see what other people bought and then no longer wanted or needed. I took a photo of this lamp . . .
. . . and as I did I wondered what Charles and Diana would think about it. Who bought it originally and why didn’t they want it any longer? Will it find a home or wind up on a junk pile in the future?
Then it was on to our last stop in Haines, the Port Chilkoot Distillery, located in the historic area. But first I wanted to go to the local hardware store, Lutak Lumber and Supply, to look for a light for our cabin. Although we like the cabin we think it is a tad on the dim side. I really like a lot of light and decided to look for something to help the situation; anything to throw some light on the subject was needed. Its not the first time we bought a lamp for our dark cabin and probably won’t be the last.
At the distillery we indulged in a taste of gin, rye, bourbon and absinthe. All was good. Here are a few shots taken inside the distillery.
From there it was back to the ship to shed our wet clothes and relax in anticipation of our next stop, Juneau.