Club St. Bernard

Trip Leader, Linda McMillion, says:  Trip Tales will be coming soon, following this wonderful trip with great friends!  Please check back for all the de-tails!

Club St. Bernard did not go on TSC’s trip to Whitefish Montana in 2006. So, I went with another club, which shall be nameless.  Back then Whitefish Ski Resort was called Big Mountain Ski Resort…for obvious reasons.  It was a great place to ski and have fun.  In about 2008 CSB ran a “club trip” to Big Mountain.  It was still a great place.  I was back there for the third time in 2016 and it wasn’t the same great place.  In fact if you had been on those previous trips you might not have recognized it, because now it is “GOOD, GOLLY, GREAT, FANTASTIC”.  They have changed the name from Big Mountain to Whitefish Ski Resort even though they have developed even more skiable terrain.  There are 3000 acres of glades, bowls, steeps and wide groomed trails.  There are greens, blues, and blacks for everyone.  However, some would ask “But what if I wanted to do something besides just ski my brains out?”  Well, in addition to the TSC welcome party, pub crawl, and awards banquet, there are optional opportunities for snowmobiling, dog sledding, snow shoeing, and cross country skiing.  The Apgar Visitor Center at Glacier National Park is a 45 minute drive for educational presentations on the park and its wild life.

But maybe if you aren’t feeling “outdoorsy” and you think you’ll miss the high culture of San Antonio, we might luck out for high culture in the mountains.  The 2019 cultural calendar is not yet published, but in February 2018 the Whitefish Theater Company staged a play at the community theater.  Another weekend in February 2018, the Glacier Symphony Orchestra performed Schubert’s 9^th Symphony in Whitefish.   How’s that for a snowy little mountain town?  Of course real Texas music culture is available at several music venues around town, including our own hotel, The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.  Did you know that there are three craft breweries and more than 13 places to eat in Whitefish, with  cuisines including sushi, burgers, bakery, and BBQ.  Fine dining is offered at The Grouse Mountain Lodge as well at our Lodge at Whitefish Lake. And several options in the Whitefish Mountain Ski Village and on the peak.  The Kandahar Café has nothing to do with that city in Afghanistan, but it is nationally recognized for its gourmet dining and wine experience.  How does après ski at the Hell Roaring Bar sound?

There is enough shopping in Whitefish to keep your credit card toasty warm.  Did you know that Montana is one of the few places on earth that produces natural sapphires?  You can get some in Whitefish.  Why travel to Myanmar or Sri Lanka?  And, yes, the freight train museum is still there.

Our club flew to Kalispell, MT on February 23, 2019 and returned on March 2, 2019.  We will stayed in the hotel at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake (lodgeatwhitefishlake.com).  It is on beautiful Whitefish Lake, with full amenities.  A free shuttle takes you on the short ride up to the mountain village or down to the great eating, drinking, and shopping.  Of course there will be special rates for TSC ski schoolers and lift tickets.  But wait there is more:  70 and over…SKIED FREE….zero, nada, zilch, zed.  So old timers (and we have a few) keep those knees in shape for a return adventure! 

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This land and sea venture for St. Bernard began with everyone arranging their own air so they could arrive early and spend some time in Vancouver, Canada.  Our ship, the Star Princess, left Vancouver on Saturday, September 9 at 4:30 p.m. and the view from the ship was breathtaking.  The Canadian coastline is so beautiful.

That afternoon and evening we spent finding our way around the ship.  The first full day at sea was rough with large waves and high winds.  There were times when we left our cabin that we walked from side to side as if we had been spending our day at the bar.

On the second day we docked in Ketchikan Alaska.  In spite of light rain, we made our way to the tourist attractions and shops. Joanna and her friend Dee, from Utah, took the “Duck Tour” of Ketchikan.  This is a yellow vehicle that travels on the road or in the water!

The third day was spent in Juneau, capitol of Alaska.  You can only access Juneau is by boat or plane.  It sits at the edge of a mountain range with steep streets and beautiful scenery. The shopping was great and Betty Ann found two beautiful rings. Joanna, Dee, Stephanie and Adrianne went on a whale-watching trip and visited the impressive Mendenhall Glacier. 

Our fourth day in Skagway was a hit for all.  Great shopping and exceptional excursions took us in several directions.  Stephanie and Adrienne took a train trip to the Yukon in Canada and ended their day at the wonderful Jewell Gardens Restaurant in Skagway.  Joanna and Dee Dee went to a show titled the “Days of 1898” and really enjoyed it, then did some shopping.  My sister, Donna, and I took separate excursions that day.  She went on a hiking and rafting trip that ended in an unexpected way.  They were climbing a mountain on the hike and her walking stick slipped causing her to fall forward on a sharp rock.  This called for a trip to the clinic in Skagway and five stitches on her right index finger.  It has healed nicely since then, but her finger had to remain in a splint for two weeks.  

Kip, Betty Ann and I took a trip to the Jewel Gardens and Glass Blowing Center in Skagway.  It was extremely interesting and we learned a lot about the history of Skagway and the technique for blowing glass.  Our guide was well versed on the plants in the garden and the demonstration by the glass blowing staff was very impressive.

The fifth and sixth day were spent in scenic cruising on Glacier Bay and College Fjord.  On the morning of the seventh day we woke up in Wittier, Alaska and boarded the train for Denali National Park at 7:30 a.m.  The Alaskan Railroad has one track running from Wittier to Denali so the trip took eight hours.  The rail car was very nice with upstairs seating that offered a wonderful view of all the Alaska sights.  There was a bar in each car and a dining room on the lower lever.  When the Conductor visited our car, he explained that we were averaging 38 miles per hour and since it was the last week for tourists, most of the trains were headed for Wittier or Anchorage.  In any event, we pulled over on a side track frequently, but got a GOOD look at the Alaska scenery.

The next two days were spent at the Denali Wilderness Lodge and the Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge.  Donna and Joanna took a nature walk while we were in Denali and the rest of the group acted like tourists.  The food in their restaurants was outstanding and the St. Bernard group ate like champions: (knowing we would pay when we got home).  Adrianne had the best recovery plan—she leaves for Croatia three weeks after our trip and will be doing a lot of hiking while she is there.

The next leg of our journey took us to Anchorage where we stayed in the Captain Hook Hotel which was exceptional.  When Kip got his luggage that had been sent ahead of us when we arrived in Alaska, he discovered that his largest bag had suffered a very difficult trip.  Three of the wheels were missing and it was totaled.  I learned he was reimbursed for the damage after he arrived home. 

We continued to see the sights and shop until day ten of our trip.  We had to check out of the hotel by noon and four of us had a flight at 11:55 p.m. that evening.  But we were resourceful and found interesting ventures in the city.  We took a trolley ride all over Anchorage that was very interesting and then went to the Federal Building and watched movies about Alaska.  Most of us knew little about the earthquake that hit Alaska in 1964.  (I was in college and an airhead).  The earthquake was a 9.3 on the Rector Scale and the worst one to every occur in the US.

This trip was really wonderful and all of our group enjoyed it a great deal!