Just like that. A half a century of life on this earth. We made it a two week celebration!

We headed to Seattle a couple of days before our Alaska cruise. Every seat was filled on the plane and there weren't two seats together. But we were still pretty close-just a row apart.

And of course I had some knitting to keep me company.

We're always looking at the most economical way to get around. So we purchased an $8 day pass for public transportation. Waiting at the airport to head to the city center we had a great view of Mt. Rainier right from the train platform.

Our room at Kasa Oxford Apartments wasn't going to become available until late so we stored our luggage at a store near to our hotel. We found out this luggage storage service via this website.

Yes, it was tough for me to leave this purple store without buying a ton of stuff here. So much lovely purple!

But we had a very long list of food that we hoped to get to over the next 2 days so we headed off to our first food stop.

First up was a cupcake shop...a vegan chocolate cake and a gluten free cake for the Mr.

I was excited about our next stop. A 100% plant based mexican taqueria, El Borracho. Unfortunately the food was cold and pretty bland and the employees were rude.

That was ok because there was another spot Mr. was pretty excited to check out, a gluten free brewery. And it was happy hour.

Husband was so very happy to be able to drink beer and eat fish and chips. All gluten free!

We didn't mind the long bus ride back to the city center to rest for a bit.

Our last food place this day was a pizza restaurant with four different menus! Tradional, gluten free, vegan, and gluten free/vegan!

I know, I should have ordered a pizza and I didn't like my vegan meal here but husband ordered a gf pizza and said it was delicious.

Our room was right near Pike Place Market and it was nice to stroll though at night without all the crowds.

I didn't stick any gum to the wall this time. But I took husband over to look at this alley.

The next day.....was my birthday DAY! Thanks Mom for this shirt telling everyone just how old I am now. Hahaha!

Started the day like I do every day, with coffee.

And more coffee.

Then walked through the market that was just beginning to open.

And stopped at a local yarn dyer's booth in the market.

And stopped at a local yarn shop just up from the market.

Next we headed down to the waterfront for a two hour harbor and lock cruise.

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.

At the end of the harbor/lock cruise we hopped back on the public bus. Time to get some food!

Taking the bus is a great way to see a city.

Went right past the Amazon Spheres.

And the Fremont Bridge Troll.

We ordered food at this great tamale place with lots of veggie options and everything was gluten free for husband.

A short walk to a really cute park with a lake and we had a nice picnic with the locals.

Then it was time for some drinks. At the Starbucks Roastery.

I ordered the espresso martini flight. Starbucks Reserve®

Espresso Martini fused with global

liqueurs: Orange Cacao, Molé Spice and Cherry Limone. It was delicious.

The we moved on to search out a 100% plant based and gluten free ice cream establishment. I know, right?

It was awesome!

My omnivore husband was so happy to have a waffle cone too. A first since his celiac diagnosis.

And look at this line! So nice to see other people loving plant based food.

Our time in Seattle was short and I wish we lived closer.

The next morning we headed to Pier 91 to hop aboard the Carnival Spirit.

Carnival company is also celebrating their 50 years.

Signs hanging from the huge atrium as viewed from the elevators.

They even had a special beer brewed for their birthday celebration that of course I had to try.

We found our cabin for the next 8 days and enjoyed our final view of the Seattle skyline as we began our sail northward.

We started our sailing with a relaxing sea day.

And spent most of the day knitting out on our balcony.

The next day we were not scheduled to arrive at port until noon. So we headed to the outside promenade deck to look for some place to sit.

Not a chair on this entire deck! Good thing we packed our own this trip.

We found them convenient to use at our next port too. This day was Icy Straight Point.

We walked all the way to the town of Hoonah and back but didn't find anything open. It sure was beautiful just sitting shore side.

The walking path was pretty too.

There was a free gondola that was fun to ride back and forth.

The next day was Juneau.

Weather was grey and cloudy so heading up on the Mt Robert's Tram plan was scratched. We headed out to find a trail in town to hike.

The gold creek flume trail was a short, boardwalk trail.

The old mine flume that was neat to see.

On vacation, time doesn't matter so we hit up a brewery at 11:30am!

And at Noon we walked over to the distillery.

I find rainbows everywhere. Even in Juneau, Alaska!

We decided to make our way out to the Mendenhall glacier.

Took the trail down to see the Nugget Falls up close and personal.

And I decided to briefly "wade" in glacier melt.

The park was beautiful despite the gloomy weather.

We decided to walk the one and a half miles to the bus stop to head back to town. At least it was an easy paved trail with nice views.

Bus was only $2 a person and it took about 45 minutes to get back to the city center. We got to see a lot of different neighborhoods and scenery along the ride. It was a nice way to tour outskirts of Juneau.

Back in town we stopped at the distillery again for another gin and tonic. I wish we would have made room to bring back a bottle of their gin. Then I stopped in to another brewery, Barnaby Brewery. This was Simcoe. Their resident rescue cat!

Heading back to the ship I noticed a cute bar along the waterfront with table fire pits.

So we decided to stop for one more drink before getting back aboard.

The next day we were in Skagway. See the area right outside our balcony.

Yep. That is a recent land slide area that damaged the dock we were about ready to exit out onto! We made it safely off the dock and headed into town.

We rented e-bikes for four hours and headed out to the ghost town of Dyea.

There was so much beauty on this 25 mile ride. And not much vehicle traffic as most of the road was not paved.

This spot used to be a town with 150 businesses in 1897.

Such beautiful mountains everywhere we looked.

Before returning our bikes we stopped by the Gold rush cemetery and Lower Reid Falls.

We spent a couple of hours walking around town. We had a gin and tonic at the distillery. Had a beer at the brewery. But my favorite local beer was on tap at the Red Onion Saloon.

Later that night it was a bit rough on the sea. Winds were wicked.

The next day we were cruising Tracy Arm Fjord to the Swayer Glacier. It started out very foggy.

But it the fog lifted a bit as the day went on.

Our ship was one the few ships this year to be able to make it all the way to the glacier. The view of the glacier was absolutely stunning.

It stayed foggy all day. But we sat out on our balcony the entire day and enjoyed watching all the waterfalls and scenery of the fjord.

Next day it was off to a new town.

First stop....coffee. Husband enjoyed a gluten free cookie sandwich too.

And a short walk through the trees.

Stopped to see if any salmon were using the ladder to make their way upstream.

It was an early stop and Creek Street was still quiet. We watched a few harbor seals looking for salmon.

We stumbled upon a neat health food cafe with lots of gluten free and vegan options, Just Dandy Apothecary & Cafe.Husband ordered a tiramisu that he said was delicious.

Their bathroom sign made me chuckle.

It was 10am so sure let's check out the local distillery. They had a drink here called ginger beez kneez that was delicious. I would like to make up a recipe of this spicy honey mix.