Seattle, Washington - Friday, June 15, 2012

Holland American ship, the Amsterdam, docked at Terminal 91.  The Seattle Waterfront, along Alaskan Way from Yesler Way North to Bay Street and Myrtle Edwards Park, is one of the city's single most popular attractions.  Seattle is known as the Emerald City because of the abundant greenery to be found in every direction.  It is very much a water-oriented city, set between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, with Lake Union in the center.  Practically everywhere you look, the views are of sailboats, cargo ships, ferries, windsurfers, and anglers - and trees and parklands of course.

Alaskan Explorer via Hubbard Glacier

The native Aleuts named it Alyeska -- the "Great Land" -- and from the first moment here, you can see why it's a place of epic drama with soaring mountains, giant glaciers and dazzling wildlife.  Alaska is 2-1/2 times bigger than Texas and 1/5 the size of all the other 49 states combined.  It boasts 34,000 miles of coastline, Mt. McKinley the highest point on the North America continent, and more glacial ice than anywhere outside of the earth's polar regions.

More mountains than buildings, more wildlife than people and more glaciers than stoplights.

Alaska's intriguing history is closely intertwined with that of the people who settled here thousands of years ago.  Their diverse culture bears imprints of every group that has made Alaska its home, from the first Ice Age nomads to Russian fur traders to the gold miners who came to seek their fortunes.