Skagway - gateway to the Yukon - conjures up the names of Jack London and the notorious outlaw, "Soapy" Smith. It sprang to life in 1897 when gold panners began streaming into the Yukon territory for the Klondike Gold Rush. Prior to this, the Skagway Valley had been homesteaded by Ben Moore and his family. They were the only inhabitants of this area for 40 years until news of the gold rush reached Seattle and San Francisco. Within months the valley was flooded with men who took the Moore's 160 acres of land with no regard for laws or property rights. Within a year, Skagway was the busiest town in Alaska with stores, banks, restaurants, hotels, dance halls and saloons. To the gold panner, after months on a remote creek, Skagway was a hectic metropolis. But to the newcomer a few days out of San Francisco or Seattle, this was the threshold of wilderness, the end of the world. Today, Skagway's beauty is unchanged. It is a quiet, peaceful town surrounded by monuments and glaciers, and it is still the best approach to the Yukon. This town still has the essence of it's gold rush days. The sidewalks are wooden planks, the storefronts are right out of your standard western film, and the occasional horse drawn buggy runs up and down the streets amidst the gas guzzling cars, busses, and motorbikes. Of course the stores are your standard port stores like Diamonds International, Del Sol, or the various Alaskan T-shirt and trinket stores. The Red Onion still stands tall with live entertainment and the Can Can can still be seen on a daily basis. The golden Nugget, I've read, is one of Skagway's and Alaska's most haunted hotels here. It's said that in room 14 a woman died of pneumonia shortly after her husband left for gold mining. He was supposed to come back rich in gold, but either never returned or returned too late. No one knows. Only if you stay in that room you get a choking sensation sometime in the middle of the night since the woman choked to death from her ailment. I've been here ages ago and took the White Pass railway up into the Yukon. It follows the ancient gold mining route they used to take at the turn of the century. It's a lovely scenic ride. I heard there's some great hiking here that I've yet to partake in and some fabulous rock climbing. Daredevil am I.
In other news things are going good. A strange experience happened to me the other day. I ran into a producer I worked for 10 years ago in Ohio. He says he now funds Broadway shows and still has a theme park division. He was standing in the sandwich line in the Lido and I overheard him talking to Chris about the show. His back was turned and I recognized the voice (it's one you never forget). All of a sudden he turns around and the first words out of my mouth were "I recognize you." He asked if I've ever auditioned for him and I replied "Yes, AND I've worked you!" He then recognized me and it was the strangest experience ever. Of all places. On this ship in Alaska 10 years later. That makes 3 people I haven't talked to in ages who just appeared in my life this year. Where is my path taking me other than on this scenic ride through the Alaskan passages and later through the Caribbean? Life was sure very different 10 years ago. I wonder what it'll be like 10 years from now.
