They were able to check our luggage through all the way to the cruise ship, meaning we handed our bags to someone at the train station, and they would be in our rooms on the ship eventually.
After a light breakfast at the train station cafe, we boarded the Alaska Railroad headed for Whittier.
The first bit of the ride was along the coastal trail, where we walked last night.
There was also a residential area with an airstrip in the middle, so that people could just park their planes in their backyards.
The last car of the train was an "adventure" car, featuring an upper level with viewing windows all around.
I spent a lot of the ride on the platforms between cars, taking pictures. There were a dozen other people doing the same thing.
The train meandered along Turnagain Arm, making a few stops on the way to Whittier.
Along the way, a guide pointed out wildlife and points of interest.
We de-trained in Whitter just after noon, and went out in search of lunch. Most of the other passengers headed directly for the cruise terminal check-in, but the ship wasn't scheduled to leave port until 8 PM.
Upon surveying the harbor area, and its handful of cuisine options, we chose the China Sea restaurant's lunch buffet.
After lunch, we explored the waterfront, away from the cruise terminal.
This eventually required using the pedestrian tunnel to go under the rail yard, to get to "downtown".
Most of the residents apparently live in this multi-colored tower building, which also contains the school and a grocery store, allegedly.
There's also a large abandoned building that used to be military barracks, or something like that. I couldn't convince anyone that we should investigate more closely; they were concerned about "trespassing", "mold", and "asbestos".
Having reached the end of town just before 2:30, we strolled back towards downtown, crossed back under the rail yard, and headed for the ship.
Despite Whittier having a reputation (backed up by data) of being extremely rainy and cloudy all the time, it turned out to be a beautiful day. (The Alaksa Rail employees were shocked to see that it wasn't raining, when we came out of the tunnel.)
We had time to go up to the top deck and look around, before heading down for an early dinner.
There was a small whale in the harbor, not far from the ship. It surfaced a few times, briefly, but I didn't get any pictures.
After dinner, there was a mandatory safety briefing at our muster point (a theater). Following the how-to-use-a-life-jacket lesson, we returned to the top deck for a drink, and watched the scenery as the ship disembarked from Whittier.
We'll be on the boat all day tomorrow, heading east along the coast.
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