Cruising really is a
doozy of a vacation. It is seriously taking me so long to get back in the swing of things. I have been sticking to old standbys since we got back ... wraps, tofu scrambles, etc ... I guess after 2 weeks of not needing to worry about food ... I am just
super lazy about it right now. Usually on vacations you still have to forage through the towns for food ... but on a cruise ... you just
sit there like a
ginormous,
beached whale and the food is splayed out before you 24/7. I guess I am wondering where my 65 options for breakfast, lunch & dinner are ... ??? I got use to being treated like a queen.
I have to be honest ... being vegan on a cruise is hard. There is not a
lack of food ... trust me, you'll
never lack for food on a cruise ... but there is a lack of
good food. Good,
healthy food. Everything is white ... white rice, white pasta, processed white sugar, etc, etc. Oh, and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of salt. Did I mention
lots of salt? Like, obscene amounts of sodium. With that being said ... the crew was so helpful and accommodating. They did everything they could to make sure I was fed and happy. I was given a special vegan menu every night at dinner to choose my meal for the next evening ... and in the mornings soy milk would literally appear out of nowhere during breakfast. I have no idea how they keep track of who-needs-what with over 1800 passengers but they are amazing at their jobs. I did happen to be the only vegan on board, but there were a few vegetarians.
Before we left on the cruise I made a list of vegan restaurants & stores in each port-of-call and we were able to visit a few of them. They were definitely the gastronomical highlights of the trip. We stopped at
Pan Africa Market near
Pike Place Market for lunch in Seattle. In Juneau I stocked up on snacks at
Rainbow Foods and in Victoria we had a delicious meal at
Green Cuisine. If any of you are planning a vacation I'd definitely recommend doing the same thing. Our next trip is to Italy in September and I have already been scoping out some vegan restaurants online.
Alaska was amazing. It was gorgeous. Awe inspiring.
Humbling. It really is The Last Frontier. We had some friends tell us before we left that they could not describe the beauty of Alaska ... and now I understand. There really are no words. You have to see it. It's just so ... BIG! One of our tour guides told us the population is only 300,000 in the
entire state! So you can imagine just how peaceful it is. My favorite spot we visited was Glacier Bay ... by far one of (if not the most) beautiful places I've ever seen. I will tell everyone I know to put that place on their Bucket Lists. It is so quiet when you stand on the shores ... and the air is so clean & crisp ... I wish I could've bottled it. I am going back there again someday, for sure.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip ...
Formal evening.
These were amazing ... Cilantro Zucchini Tofu Cakes at Pan Africa Market in Seattle.
Tofu Massala @
Pan Africa Market.
Canoe on Harriet Hunt Lake near Ketchikan.
Homemade Wildberry Jam served to us on the canoe excursion.
Standing on Mendenhall Glacier with my mom & AAH.
Kissing on a glacier.
My favorite place ... Glacier Bay.
Glacier Bay ... I want to build a house on this exact spot.
My mom on the shores of Glacier Bay.
Canoeing near Davidson Glacier.
An amazing sunset from the our ship.
Whale watching excursion in Icy Strait Point.
A gorgeous forest of trees in Icy Strait Point.
Cute little mushrooms.
Tug boat in Sitka.
I love owls ... this guy was at the Alaska Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Sitka.
Just the two of us ... Victoria, BC.
Green Cuisine in Victoria, BC ... it was delicious!
My plate at Green Cuisine ... cornbread w/ soy butter, quinoa salad, curried potato salad, spicy glass noodles, curried tempeh, samosa, & yams. 
AAH's plate @ Green Cuisine ... dolma, falafel, lentil patty, tofu, yams, brown rice, samosa, hummus & mango chutney.Alrighty ... give me a couple of days (to actually cook something) ... I'll be back soon.
