Day 5 - Skagway
Skagway is a compact city in southeast Alaska, set along the popular cruise route the Inside Passage. It's home to gold-rush-era buildings, now preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad runs vintage locomotives past the famously steep Chilkoot trail and offers sweeping mountain views during its climb toward Canada.
Unfortunately, Diana was taken down by a sinus infection and spent the day sleeping. We had two excursions already booked, and so Adam ventured out on his own.
First was the Red Onion Saloon / brothel museum, which Adam must
stress was Diana's idea and he felt a bit awkward attending alone. 🫢
Second was a trolley tour of the town.
Tour group at the Red Onion Saloon
Red Onion tour guideShe stayed in character for most of the tour.
Red Onion's "horniest wall"The tour had a good collection of these innuendo jokes. Also one of the original red lights that where outside.
WallpapersThe framed bits are recovered wallpaper. One of the Red Onion's selling bits for the girls was that they could choose their room's wallpaper. This area was originally two rooms.
Madame's dress
Original room size and artifacts
Madame's room
Front of the Red OnionThe brothels in Skagway had to keep relocating, as the town kept building churches to force them to relocated due to an ordinance on distance from a church. When the Red Onion moved, they put it down backwards! Instead of trying to turn it around, they cut off the front and back facades and switched them.
Downtown SkagwayAll of downtown Skagway, in a panoramic. The foreground is the river, then a small airport runway, and the town past that. It's just a few blocks wide and several long sitting in a valley.
Train track snow plowSits in a small park now.
Princess and NorwegianThere were four ships in port, each bringing in more people than the town's population.
HelicoptersA string of five helicopters took off from the heliport on the other side of the ship.