Haines, Alaska

I would give Haines quadruple smiley faces! It is unspoiled by kitschy gift stores. Go to the brewery!

Visited: May 15, 2016

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How can people say there is nothing to do?!! Hiking, bald eagle foundation, historic WW2 fort Seward, etc. Look outside the tourist traps people. You can buy tee shirts anywhere. Expand your mind!!

This was my favorite port. This quaint town is exactly how I imagine most of Alaska. We took the Chilkat River Adventure and saw moose and eagles. They suit you up in gear to keep you warm and as dry as possible. it was raining but we expected that and had a wonderful time.

This town was absolutely adorable. Exactly how I pictured Alaska to be. We took an excursion through princess that allowed us to go to an animal refuge 45 minutes outside of port. Overall great experience even though princess completely oversold the "intimate" tour. It had rained a lot that morning so we actually drove along side a mud slide, the driver was blown away by it. Lots of eagles along the drive. On the way back, the sun was shining so we got to see the mountain peaks and all the glaciers tucked in the mountains. The guide said it was extremely rare for that part of the rainforest. Ended the day watching a beautiful sunset.

Haines was beautiful. What I liked most was how small it was. The views were gorgeous and I appreciated the lack of commercialism. No strings of jewelry stores with souvenir after souvenir shop in this quaint place. It was like looking a bit back in time. We booked a small bus tour through the Grand Princess. The guide shared some interesting stories as we drove a short circuit through Fort Seward and then we stopped at a scenic area for about 15 minutes to take pictures. After that we visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation. They had 3 presentations, one about their 2 resident bald eagles, another that featured their owl in flight and the last about the Alaskan ecosystem that took place in one of the most amazing animal display rooms I have ever seen in a museum. The care they took at the facility was evident and I thought the staff was very informative. Haines may have been a small port but I really enjoyed our time there. In a way it felt unspoiled and how I like to think of Alaska.