Seward is. deep water port in Resurrection Bay. The township nestles in a valley surrounded by mountains so enjoys the scenery of many of Alaskan sea ports. It has the added advantage having a rail line to Anchorage. This was important for transport goods and exporting fish in earlier times. A famous dog sled race (Iditarod Trail) starts here and commemorates the transport link into inland Alaska.
We are enjoying typical Southern Alaskan weather……rain. This meant we scurried into the Alaskan Sea Life Centre. 
This is brilliant! As you walk around ,you can see living aquariums. I am having fun identifying and finding the different animals.
Different environments are shown and you can touch sea urchins, anemones and starfish. The starfish are soft when you run your fingers along them. Anemones tickle and no , I won’t touch the sea urchins.
The Kelp and giant octopus were fascinating too.
There are large animals such as seals, sea lions and birds…..including everyone’s favourite, the puffin. No sea otters☹️ as the large animals are part of a study or rescued animals.
I imagine in Summer,Seward is a bustling tourist hub but rain and the end of the season …..it is quiet.
Look a spot of blue as we leave and a distant glacier. Kodiak tomorrow let’s hope that sunset means fine weather.
Valdez is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains in the Prince William Sound. As you can see….today was not showing Valdez at its best. When I asked at the Visitors Centre, this is normal weather or snow. Imagine winter….snow and dark You would have to be resilient.
Not easy!
Eventually they built a road up Thompson Pass ….around the glacier…..but travel was not easiest.
A horse drawn wagon..at least the furs will help. It did become a trade port , with some tourism.
They used to go out to the remote villages. They were greeted like family and offered artifacts , beautiful handicrafts and art. Maxine would bring supplies and pay for the objects.
Masks, scrimshaw, carvings, dolls , arrowheads or clothing , what would you choose ? 
They were beautiful. Better still, it gave a way local artists could be recognised for traditional skills and supplement their income.Now we would just get a tshirt, probably made in some other country and just printed with an Alaskan design.
The only good thing that came from this is the research facility in Seward. It rehabilitates injured marine life and provides a facility to educate and research Arctic marine life. So no museum tomorrow. I promise you will even get to touch animals.
Did you enjoy the history told through a mosquito……and dance. It was so clever.
They realised that the sea otters in the area were valuable.
There are some interesting sights around the town like a 1950’s soda fountain in the chemist shop.
There are lots of sea lions, otters ,bears ,moose ,bald eagles and whales ……so the rangers say. Spotted one orca swimming past and some sea otters. No photos ,they swim fast and sensibly see this big white thing looming down towards them and say, let’s disappear.
There are interesting talks during the day but if you are looking for a more lively entertainment, at night there is generally a show. We saw a ventriloquist.
Skagway is a deep water port that provides access to materials needed by the Yukon population . It is also to ship ore to other ports. It was built in the gold rich era and has maintained it historical appearance. There are wooden sidewalks in front of all the shops. Being Sunday, they are mostly closed. Sorry retail therapy on another day.
Not miners ? Can’t afford the steamship? Don’t panic!!!! There are jobs!
One was Soapy Smith who took money from people by playing on their emotions ( he set up a telegraph office for miners to message family but the messages never left the office. Replies, supposedly from family, always asked for money ,that went to Soapy) He did meet a violent end at the hand of a hero who it turns out was wanted for crimes elsewhere.
Buildings originally were built over water (like in Ketchikan) and then on gravel from the residue of gold mining. Some of the streets are stairs.
Once the fish spawn, they die which explains the interesting odour .
Some streets though run along or up the hill. On this stairway halfway up ,horizontally, is Bayview Street, while the vertical stairs are Barber Street. I wonder if the supermarket would deliver my groceries. 
All totems are made of red cedar. When they start to rot , they are taken down and put into a forest. Here they start to provide homes for moss and new trees.Tomorrow is Juneau. Look sky has some clear bits…..maybe less rain. Fingers crossed.
It your first day at sea. Today we travel through the passage that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. It is a busy waterway with vessels of all sizes using it. There used to be a huge rocky outcrop in the middle of it but after many shipwrecks,it was blown up. The biggest non nuclear explosion in history.
I have managed 6.4km.
test….yes……passport …yes. You can board….have a good trip.
We are sailing. Alaska here we come..again but a different part.