We arrived in Skagway, Alaska.   That means we once again left the Canadian Yukon and went through US Customs to get to Skagway.   As we stopped at US Customs, our guide book said we should see a glacier in the mountains above the Customs building.   But there was so much snow on the mountain that our moms could not distinguish the glacier from the snow.   We were happy to arrive at the port city of Skagway.

Our first stop was the Westmark Hotel.

This mural for the Westmark caught our attention.   Skagway became famous during the gold rush in the late 1890’s.  The Skagway Westmark will be our home for the next few days.   Wandering around town, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center.

This is the former Arctic Brotherhood Hall.   The outside facade has more than 8,833 pieces of driftwood sticks arranged in a mosaic pattern.   Included are the Brotherhood’s AB letters and symbols, a gold pan with nuggets.   The entrance shows the year it was first used by the Arctic Brotherhood.

These buildings are really old.   That could be because Skagway is the oldest incorporated city in Alaska.   It was incorporated in 1900.   Skagway is a year-round port and one of two gateway cities to the Alaska Highway in Southeast Alaska.   The other is Haines, Alaska.   Inside the Visitor’s Center, we were greeted by friendly, informative people.   You can really see the driftwood sticks on the counter here.

We got helpful information here and loved this building.   Nearby we stopped at the Remedy Shoppe.

Alaska voted to legalize marijuana a couple years ago.   The remedy Shoppe was Alaska’s first legal marijuana store.  We did not purchase anything there.   We ducks and humans do not need or use marijuana.   Our home state of Colorado was one of the first states to legalize marijuana.   Isn’t this trolley great?

We love trolleys.   But wait.   What is this?

The Skagway Chamber of Commerce is selling tickets to the Duck Derby.   We have so many relatives here.

We have duck races at home, but we didn’t expect to see them so far north.   Hi to our distant cousins.   The City of Skagway has an interesting museum.

This museum is just a block from main street.   Very convenient.   Looking down main street, you may notice that these old historic buildings are all constructed from wood.

That could be a disaster if a fire started.

The city is doing its best to prevent fires.   Please put all cigarette and cigar ashes here.   Let’s all do our part to keep Skagway safe and historic.   You may notice some photos show sun and dry streets and other rain and wet streets.   We were only there a few days in May, but we experienced rainy mornings and sunny afternoons and evenings.   So if you are there, remember the weather can change.