Family Cruise to Alaska

Rise and shine! It is 4:30 a.m., and I’m wide awake thanks to my trusty alarm blaring on my phone. Today we leave for our Alaska family vacation. But despite the sound, my 9-month-old baby, Benson, is still peacefully sleeping away. It’s time to start the day with a bang and make sure we’re ready for our early morning flight out of Kansas City!

After a wild night of packing and overloading three massive suitcases and two smaller ones, we set up camp at my parents’ house for the night. But things took a turn for the worse when one of the heavy suitcases exploded open, scattering clothes and items everywhere. With a determined look on her face, my wife, Dawn, made a late-night run to the store and came back with a sparkly new pink suitcase that perfectly embodies her personality.

With the van packed to the brim, we hit the road for a cramped but exciting 40-minute drive to the airport. Although there’s construction at the KCI airport, we made it to our terminal smoothly, only to be hit with a flight delay due to a hydraulic pump malfunction. But my excitement for the trip ahead made the time fly by, and before we knew it, our plane took off and we began our Alaska family vacation. In no time, we had landed in Seattle and were off to explore the city.

Staying in the heart of downtown, we feasted on delicious pizza and ventured to the famous Pikes Place Market. However, the sights of open drug use and people sleeping on the sidewalk made us feel uneasy.

One person in particular cupped a glass pipe with a middle finger extended out. While stumbling into traffic, the glass pipe was brought up to the lips, and a lighter lit the substance at the end. A slow meander through traffic as drivers blared their vehicles’ horns with long, extended bursts. On the other side of the street was the prize, a trash can outside of the market, which this person reached into and proceeded to eat food from.

As we walked, we stumbled upon a disheveled figure using drugs in the middle of the street, but we pushed through and made the most of our time at the market. I even treated us to a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy on our upcoming Alaska family vacation cruise.

Except for the fresh seafood, the market reminded me a lot of the Kansas City River Market.

If you would like to read more about what prompted this experience, please read “The Story Behind the Cruise.”