Thinking Cool Thoughts Of Alaska

(AP)

Is there, by any chance, anyone reading this who is NOT going to Alaska this year? Judging by the number and size of the ships that I see lining up at the piers of Seattle every weekend, it seems like everyone is heading north. Alaska and the Inside Passage have become the, excuse the expression, hottest summer cruise destinations (heat being something that should just never be associated with Alaska).

I've done the journey three times on three different ships, and I have to admit that Alaska delivers some remarkable experiences if you can get away from the hordes shopping for t-shirts and souvenirs in Ketchikan and Sitka. One year, my wife and I arranged a private tour in a floatplane that picked us up from the ship in Skagway and took off on a fantastic inland flight that we'll never forget. We saw bears ambling through the forest, glaciers calving huge blocks of ice, and we landed on a pristine lake, taxied to the shore, and had a picnic in the wilderness.

On another trip, I booked a kayak excursion on Haines Lake, a glorious, glacial-blue gumdrop of water surrounded by tall, snow-capped mountains, and when we reached a remote part of the shore, we saw bright-red salmon spawning. And then, as if on cue from Central Casting, a black bear emerged from the woods and sniffed around water's edge for a salmon dinner as we sat twenty yards offshore in our boats, slack-jawed like idiots and wondering how fast bears can swim.

Finding your own special something is key to enjoying a cruise. One guy I met on a ship brought along his bicycle, and at every port he would pedal off in search of the town dump. Why the town dump? Because there were always bound to be bears sniffing around. I'm not sure I'd want to spend my vacation visiting dumps (imagine the pictures you'd bring home), but the bear sightings were pretty neat. On another cruise with my family, my teenaged son Mike and I went looking for a community center in Ketchikan, where we played basketball with local kids for two hours. That isn't on the beaten tourist path, but it was a great way for us to experience some local culture and connect Mike's interests to our trip.

So the question for today is, What are your favorite things to do on an Alaska cruise? And to all of our readers who are heading north this summer, happy travels, and I hope you can paddle faster than a bear can swim.

[travelguru1-2009]

That's funny, most people dream of getting out of the gulag, not getting into them. We'll have to talk to the cruise ships about adding a gulag component to their itineraries (with cruel cruise directors, frozen food and lots of hard labor on the sports deck).

[homebody7]

Alaska sounds really neat but I'm wondering if you know anything about travel to Siberia. I've always dreamed of going there and visiting a gulag.

[travelguru1-2009]

Just don't try to bring one of your aunt's Fluffernutter sandwiches back home with you. I believe they're prohibited in airports in 40-some states.

[cdgullo]

I was going to comment on the "Preparing For Flying" post, but comments were disabled. I'm currently preparing to fly in August for a trip to Los Angeles with my friends. We're visiting my aunt, who coincidentally is Jim Gullo's sister. Hi Uncle Jim!

I'm still not quite sure what things I can bring. It seems the airports have allowed some leniency in toiletries, but not much. Flying has become such a hassle that the only thing I'm looking forward to for the duration of the flight is my newly purchased iPod and my friend's company.