Long Bay Treasures!!!

Early in the morning, after gathering up bags to collect treasures in, Patty and I headed off to Long Bay, between Skagway and Dyea.  It is a long narrow bay with a big mud flat at the end.  It happens to hold LOTS of treasures, including shells, sea glass and skulls.  I know ... I was shocked too!!  At first we thought it to be human, but with the arrival of a local Skagwaynian, we decided it was sea lion, half eaten and discarded.  At high tide, it ended up in our treasure pile.  Patty didn't want to get arrested for having something in her possession of questionable origin, so she tossed it in the grass.

She was also the first to spy a beautiful whole seashell ... and offered it to me since she had hundreds from their previous time here.  A few minutes later, I found one myself!!!  TREASURES!!!

We collected several pieces of driftwood, including one great piece we think came from the Bark Canada.  At one point, the Bark was a three masted schooner.  With the gold rush in full swing, it was cut down and turned into a barge and loaded with supplies, headed to Skagway.   After one wreck on the rocks, it was salvaged.  After the second, it was left to sink at the end of Long Bay ... where we were treasure hunting.  At low tide, part of it is visible.  I'll have to provide pictures later.  There were so many mosquitos that I was bitten to within an inch of my life!!  (Yes I have mosquito spray ... now it stays in my purse)  At long last, we left the infested beach for brighter pastures ... the Cemetery!!  

When the Gold Rush Cemetery pictured previously was full, they started another cemetery right down the road from our campsite.  You wouldn't know it was there unless someone told you.  There are no signs and not much evidence of the road entering the property.  

It's sad they are in such disrepair.  If I lived here, I think I would make it my job to fix up the plots, replace missing headstones and repaint those you can barely read.  Many were people who lived to their 80's, but many were also children.

Here lies Telfer Bruce Alexander ... born in 1921, died in 1921.  

This very different headstone, was welded with the name Ina Smith ... she was three years old.

Now that we were sufficiently depressed, we walked back to our rigs for a delicious salmon and baked potato dinner with side salad.  Extremely hot today ... in the 80's ... we cooled off just in time to head to Jewel Gardens Summer Solstice Celebration.  (The longest day of the summer ... which is about 23 hours around here!!!)  An amazingly huge garden with a White Pass train setup, music and BBQ ... we walked the entire grounds smelling these gorgeous lilacs ... in three colors!!  Lavender, dark purple and hard-to-find white.

They had flowers blooming everywhere ... and in their greenhouses were many kinds of vegetables which they sell to local restaurants.

This shop also sells blown glass.  We had stopped here momentarily previously, but I didn't know what I was looking at.  NOW I get it ... the most beautiful hand blown flowers and balls for the garden.  We're planning another trip before we leave.

Exhausted from a long day, we hit the hay ... dreaming of what's to come tomorrow!!!