We spent the first two and half days of the cruise pretty much at sea. It gave us a chance to get to know the ship and enjoy all the amazing Disney amenities. We also ran into a few familiar characters wandering the ship. Ty had fun in the kids' activities club, and it was even warm enough to enjoy a swim in the pool (the pools were heated of course).
Once we sailed up through Canada, our first real glimpse of the Alaskan wonders was at Tracy Arm near Juneau. We did not get off the ship, but rather the boat made its way through a fjord carved by the massive Sawyer Glacier which we pulled up to within a few hundred yards. We sat there for awhile and even saw a few chunks calve off which was incredible. In the last photo of this set, you can see it behind Ty.
It almost began with a terrible start. A year in the planning and constant discussions in the weeks leading up to our departure. But when traveling by air, anything can happen.
Dad was determined to get us to the ship, so when the crisis of no flights to Dallas hit us on departure day, we improvised. We drove to Dallas and caught a direct flight to Seattle, ensuring we would make it to the boat the next day.
And something memorable came of that airport ordeal in Austin as well. We spent over an hour in line next to a very cool young actor known throughout the world as the star of The Lord of The Rings. Here is a picture above of Elijah Wood and Ty, as well as a few other shots below from the morning in Seattle before we got on board our cruise ship.
The excitement and emotion was almost too much to contain as we finally arrived at the pier and saw The Disney Wonder, our home for the next seven days.
We headed across the waterfront to the amazingly designed Boston Children's Museum. There was lots of hands on stuff for Ty to do including climbing a four story high maze. The special exhibit featured characters from the show "Arthur". There was a green screen set up that allowed the kids to dance along with the characters in the show. The result below is priceless.
It was a hot afternoon and Ty wasn't so excited about touring the grounds of Harvard Yard even with Dad as a tour guide (Dad spent the summer of 85 there). However, cruising around Cambridge we came across the only Curious George store in the US and that seemed to lighten up his mood.
We took in an evening game at the famed Fenway Park while on our trip. The stadium was packed and the Sox actually hit a few homers that night in a win against the Marlins. Ty's favorite part was enjoying the delicacies of the ballpark including a Fenway frank and a big pretzel.
How random is this?
As noted, we were traveling in Boston and decide to stop for lunch at the famous Regina Pizza in the North End. Ty and I had just ordered and were siting at a booth near the back of the restaurant. In walks an entourage of well dressed men in suits wearing earpieces. They are followed in by none other than the Governor of the State of Texas, Rick Perry. Yes, our governor, in a pizza joint in Boston at the same time we're there.
I stood up and said hello as he approached our table and identified us as living back in his home turf. He sat down next to Ty and we all chatted for several minutes. Apparently he had just concluded some business meetings nearby and was playing tourist and having a famous pizza lunch just like us. He was extremely friendly and later posed with Ty for the photo posted here.
