Debarkation Day, July 8

There’s No Place Like Nome

Packing for leaving the ship can be complicated. They need your luggage the night before, but you have to sleep, and know what you need to wear the next day. No changes.

Our group was leaving Nome late for the flight to Seattle. We wanted to see Nome – no place like it – and we had a half a day. But what was the weather going to be like? Since we were landing in Seattle that night, where we have both friends and family, choosing the correct gear for the time we would be in Nome and the later flight was challenging.

A bit rougher as we go farther north in the Bering Sea

Nome is at the end of the Iditarod dogsled race in winter

All the locals were friendly on the streets. We received lots of smiles, hellos and welcomes as we wandered around. The 3500 humans and 2500 musk oxen seemed to want us there.

Don’t go near the musk ox. They are large and their horns very sharp.

Flowers, wild and otherwise, on the streets

One of the locals told us that the Fish and Game department had to kill a young grizzly that morning. It had been rummaging through the garbage at an apartment complex near the town’s museum, which many cruise passengers would visit. She didn’t know who would get the meat or fur.

In the parts of Alaska where we met people who lived there, the desire to use every part of everything they had was strong. In general, everyone ate the meats of the local animals. When asked about musk ox, one said that they taste like beef, but more tender.