Wheatavore: Memorial Day -- May 25, 2015

Cruise ships and king salmon for the day, along with flags, and solemn memorials.

This gentleman announced that he had his fish, and was going home. Looks like it might make several meals.

This is the Holland America Statendam, due to head to Homer at about 11:00 p.m. on May 25, and then back to Seattle. From there, it will take on a new group of passengers (about 1,200 to 1,400?) and return to Anchorage, every two weeks for the rest of the summer.

Did you know that there is a website that lists the location of every cruise ship in the world, for every day? And that some cruise ships have web cams aboard that give you a view of what's going on where they are (this link is for the Pacific Princess, which spent the day at Whittier (and some of the passengers came to Anchorage) and now is bound for Yakutat)? Here is the cruise ship schedule for Anchorage for the rest of the season -- the Holland Statendam arrives every other Monday through September 14. The Southeast Alaska cities average four or five ships each and every day -- quite a different experience for the residents of those towns.

We thought that downtown was fairly quiet, but friends at Cabin Fever assured us that they had plenty of business.

The half-dozen food carts were flourishing.

They seem to all serve reindeer sausage, and other types of hot dogs, but the owner of Mon Cherie at the corner of 5th and G Street by the PAC is grilling some zucchini for me.

A gentleman on Fourth Avenue stops to admire motorcycles.

Segway group takes to the streets, at Third and E Streets.

The afternoon was warm and sunny, with a little breeze. Mt. Susitna, in the distance, has very little snow (the railroad building is in the foreground).

We started our walk down to Ship Creek today after leaving the car near Elderberry Park. The dandelions are out in all of their glory -- this is a stretch of sidewalk along N Street where they are taking over to the extent that they can manage it.

A family along N Street has been putting out coffee, tea, and cookies to welcome people daily for the past several summers. There's a table with shade, chairs, sugar and creamer -- it's a remarkable small gift to the community, and nobody has so far seemed to disrespect it in any way.

A Gambel's White-Crown Sparrow sings from a high branch along the Coastal Trail.

A man in a small boat, and a small child head up into Ship Creek, while the gulls occupy the mud flats.

People young and old, of every ethnicity in Anchorage, with fancy gear and the simplest possible equipment share Ship Creek when the salmon are running.