Day 3, Wednesday, May 31, 2023
My adoptive mother was born 110 years ago today. She passed peacefully in early May, 2016.
This was Juneau day. We were scheduled to be at the dock from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The morning started out rainy, but was forecast to clear up around 10:00 a.m. or so. Jas and I were both looking forward to our Juneau excursion. It was “Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari.” Okay, that gives you the bare minimum of information. But the good part was that it was billed as a “small group experience.” The boat only carried fourteen guests. A super pilot named Mike who had tons of experience with finding the whales was accompanied by our guide, Adam, who was a trained photographer and gave us lots of tips and tricks, whether we were just shooting with our phones, or had splurged on serious camera equipment. The company that owned the boats and planned the excursions was Gastineau Guiding Company, and I highly recommend going on an excursion with them if you ever have the opportunity. Check out the Gastineau “Guest Photo Gallery” to see some great whale and wildlife photos captured from the boat.
The boat was enclosed and had large windows that could be propped open for clear shooting anytime we saw a whale. We (speaking for myself and Jas, but—I’m pretty sure—also for every cruiser on the boat) had lots of fun learning from both Adam and Mike about the whales and the local wildlife. Did you know whales can be identified by their tails? See the photo, below, of the photo log that all the boat captains carry to identify the whales in their bay. After about an hour-and-a-half on the water, we docked and hopped aboard the bus to head to Mendenhall Glacier. Now we were at the other end of the Tongass National Forest from where we had been a day earlier. Here we walked the paths around to a deck with a wonderful view of the glacier. View a short video on Gastineau’s website showing some of the beautiful sites we saw.
I loved looking across and seeing Mendenhall Glacier. Mendenhall is the glacier that seems to be photographed the most—or that I’ve seen the most. It has that beautiful glacier blue that shows so vividly in photographs.
We were dropped back at the port. Before going aboard again, we went into the visitor’s center to see what restaurant suggestions they might have for dinner. They told us several our guide had told us on the van, but added one of which we were unaware. There was a restaurant named Twisted Fish, just on the south end of the dock, that had been closed for three years because of the pandemic, and had just reopened two-and-a-half weeks earlier. The lady at the visitor’s center told us that all the locals who had known Twisted Fish in it’s pre-pandemic life were very excited to see it open again and were encouraging visitors to patronize the restaurant and help it achieve it’s former greatness. Well, we could jump right onto that bandwagon.
<Superfluous Anecdote On>
I bought a windproof raincoat at Orvis about a week before leaving home for this cruise. I loved the color, the fit, the fabric—everything about it. But when we got back from our hike, and I tried to take the coat off, the separating zipper was stuck at the bottom. I could not get the bottom of the zipper to open. You know Orvis. This was not an inexpensive coat. To say I felt annoyed is being kind. When we went back out for dinner, I had to step into the coat. When we arrived at the restaurant and were shown to our table, I had to let it drop to the floor and step out if. And remember that my knees had been painful every day so far, and especially this rainy day. I was afraid that my right knee would not bend enough for me to step out and I would make a spectacle of myself tripping on the broken zipper and falling face-first onto the floor. Annoyance, big time! But I got out safely and without falling. Now on to our dinner.
<Superfluous Anecdote Off>
What a fabulous dinner we had. Jas ordered Cedar Plank Salmon, with bourbon-molasses sauce on the side, served with asparagus. I ordered Baked Salmon in Puff Pastry, which was king salmon with crab meat, bay shrimp and seasoned cream cheese, baked in a light puff pastry, served with beurre rouge sauce. Oh, my gosh. And when I saw the Bread Knots, I had to order some of those. I thought Jas and I would quickly polish off two each. But two of the order of four knots went uneaten. They were big, but delicious! The manager dropped by our table and we chatted, She was from south Florida and had attended University of Central Florida, where I had also attended a few quarters. After our chat, she told our server to bring us a slice of Turtle Pie.
When I was, maybe, junior high or high school age, growing up in Maitland, Florida, one of the Orlando suburbs, there was a restaurant in the neighboring suburb, Winter Park. The restaurant, named The Barbizon, was located on everyone’s favorite window shopping street, Park Avenue. On The Barbizon’s dessert menu was a pie named “The Girdle Buster.” The ingredients in this pie were—as I can remember—a chocolate cookie crumb crust, coffee ice cream; caramel topping, and fudge topping. There may or may not have been whipped cream. I’ve never liked whipped cream, so I might have blocked it from my mind when I think of this dessert. When Gooding’s opened in Maitland, I believe they carried The Girdle Buster in their frozen food section. Publix may also have sold it. All I know is my mother bought one and sussed out the recipe and would occasionally make the dessert for special dinners at our dining table. As I’m writing this, I’ve googled “barbizon girdle buster recipe.” There are some girdle buster recipes out there, but none is exactly Barbizon’s version, as I remember it. I’ve even searched the Orlando Sentinel newspaper in newspapers.com, where I found three references to the pie, but no sharing of the recipe. If I were making it, I would take oreos and scrape out the creme filling and use them, mixed with melted butter, for the crust. (Oooh, you can buy large Oreos without the cream filling for homemade ice cream sandwiches. Hmm. That’s a better solution. I think I need some of those!!) I think I would drizzle both caramel topping and fudge topping over the top in a lacy overlapping pattern. Or a heavier caramel topping with a drizzle of fudge topping over it. But I’m no cook. If you are, knock yourself out trying to duplicate this heavenly dessert. But be sure to invite me over for a taste test when you’re done.
The point of this walk down Winter Park memory lane is that taste is exactly what I tasted with my first forkful of Twisted Fish’s Turtle Pie. While you’re in Juneau, be sure to stop by Twisted Fish, even if for nothing more than the Turtle Pie. You can thank me later.
The Noordam sailed away from Juneau at 10:00 p.m., and Jas and I were already in dreamland.
Note: Thanks to my elder son, T.J., for correcting my error. The restaurant is Twisted Fish. It is neither Twisted Sister (the band) nor Twisted Sisters (the knitting pattern designers and authors).
Alaska 2023, Day 3
