August 22nd, 2014
Andrew writes: Any day that we don’t have to set an alarm is a good day in my books. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we headed down to the Visitors Centre for a walking tour of Dawson. The tour we were taking part in is hosted by a Parks Canada employee, in period dress, and we toured the town and talked about the buildings and what life would have been like during the gold rush of 1897 through to the 1950s. Our host for the tour was Justin, and he did a great job! He was funny, informative, witty, and polite. Some of the buildings we visited included a paddle wheeler down on the Yukon River, the Yukon Order of Pioneers Hall, Lowe’s Mortuary, the British Bank of North America, the Red Feather Saloon, and the Post Office. The tour lasted 90-minutes and only cost about $6. It was definitely great value. The tour included anecdotes and history of the gold rush era, and how the buildings each had a part. After lunch, we spent some time inside during an afternoon thunderstorm, and did some more casual exploring of the town by bicycle.
For such a small place, population 1,500 the town itself is quite large, with heritage buildings taking up most of the “downtown” space, although the facade of every building definitely is very old fashioned. The locals were quite friendly, often offering a smile, or a hello wherever we went. This has often been the thee here in the North, and it is very refreshing, a big change from city life. As someone who likes to engage with everyone who says hello, it opens up plenty of opportunities of go get to know people, and to honour my curiosity value.
Natalia and her sister Yuliya arrived in of own on Friday night and tried to coax us out to the show at Diamond Tooth Gerties, or to try the Sourtoe Cocktail at the Sourdough Saloon. The Sourtoe is a regular shot glass with your choice of shot, traditionally Yukon Jack whiskey, and it includes a human toe. This started in 1973 with what is said to be the toe of a miner, which had been amputated in the 1920′s. To participate and earn the official certificate, the rule is ‘You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow—But the lips have gotta touch the toe.’ Over 60,000 people are signed in the books as having had this drink. Sadly, Amanda and I are not in the book. Amanda thought it was gross, and I thought it weird to go into a bar, order a single $10 drink, and leave (budget concerns). Oh, and we are both chicken.
We did agree to hook-up with the two sisters tomorrow and go for a drive.