Late Tuesday night, we arrived back from an inspiring and inspired seven-day cruise to Alaska on Holland America Line. We began with a day in Vancouver where we were wowed by the Vancouver Art Gallery’s current exhibition of Dutch masters (including “The Love Letter” by Vermeer) and some amazing modern photography exhibits.

Dinner at Coast Restaurant, part of the Glowbal Collection, was a fabulous experience. Recently relocated from Yaletown to downtown on Alberni Street, the new space pulses with action as the kitchen pumps out dishes and the youngish patrons and hot-pants-clad female servers in the bar add their own form of entertainment.

We had a ring-side seat overlooking the action at the raw-seafood bar, the wood-burning oven, and parts of the dining room. Our server was a real pro, who royally regaled us with seafood galore.

Here are a couple of photos from our cruise. . .the heat waves and high temperatures in Seattle and Portland proved lucky for us, as they brushed aside the clouds of a week earlier and allowed us wide-open vistas of calving glaciers and mountain peaks.

Braiden making the shopping rounds in our first port of call–Ketchikan.

Kayakers in front of Mendenhall Glacier, minutes from downtown Juneau.

Margerie Glacier, the “star” glacier in Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, in full calving mode. We were lucky to experience this several times during our two hours of viewing this glacier.

And a breath-taking view of the Johns Hopkins Glacier in all its grandeur.

Stunning mountain vistas in Glacier Bay.