Webster’s Dictionary has five definitions for ideal. Let’s focus on the first one: “something in its absolute perfection.” Yep, that does it. That was our morning landing in Ideal Cove. The sky was an endless blue, not a cloud on the horizon. The forest gave us every imaginable shade of green. The rippling sounds of the nearby stream were soothing to the soul and splashes of color from the spring flowers made for a lovely contrast. It couldn’t have been a nicer morning in the forest of Southeast Alaska.
At midday we repositioned to Petersburg, a real working fishing town, not a tourist destination. These authentic folks are reachable only by sea or air, not by road. We scattered in every direction. Some took to the sky to get an eagle-eye view of nearby LeConte Glacier; some pedaled mountain bikes through the town; a few joined a photo walk called “Assignment Petersburg,” while others strolled up to the muskeg, a rare biome that accounts for only 10% of Southeast Alaska’s terrain. There we sighted the tiny but impressive carnivorous plant known as the sundew. Again relying on a dictionary, we found our “ideal” afternoon to be “idyllic.”
As we said goodbye to the Norwegian town of Petersburg, we gathered in the dining room for a very fun dinner. Although Alaska king crab has a reputation for being prized, many in Southeast Alaska will choose Dungeness crab every time. It’s messy, for sure, but also yummy and couldn’t have been any fresher, taken from the local saltwater earlier today. And one more time we’ll give a nod to Mr. Webster’s dictionary, our ideal dinner was the “epitome of perfection.”
