So...it was quite the night last night. Bill and I cooked dinner last night at our campground here in Dawson City...I had leftover Korean, Bill had leftover lamb chops.
Cousin Bill was "whipped" from the drive, but I was up for a little Dawson City "nightlife". I immediately headed for "The Pit". When you're in Dawson, The Pit is where it's at...decent beer prices and a lively mix of prospectors, trappers, tour guides, tourists and nice First Nations folks. I slide into a bar stool for my first $5.00 pint of Molson Canadian beer. Soon, I'm talking to a French-Canadian trapper...then I meet some cool First Nations gals who share their little stash of "arthritis medicine"...hey, dude, it's the Yukon.
Around 11:00PM and eight or so Molson's later, I wander back to the campground. It's still light out...and it will be that way all night.
So...this morning, after coffee, Bill and I walk into downtown Dawson for breakfast at the Midnight Sun Hotel...$8.00 for two eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast and coffee...up here, that's a "deal". After breakfast, we wander around downtown...checking out souvenirs...I get my diamond earring cleaned (sparkly"!!).
Later, we drive out of Dawson, back south on the Klondike Highway, then down a muddy road to "Claim #6". This is an old gold mining claim purchased by the city of Dawson and open for visitors to dig and pan. So...Bill and I dig out a bucket of dirt, put it through my "classifier" to filter out the big stuff, and pan the rest. We pan for a couple of hours, but no luck...but that's OK...we've had our "panning experience".
Now we head back to the campground where I enjoy a much-needed shower and change of clothes. I have my afternoon Manhattan along with a few handfuls of cocktail "snacks".
Soon thereafter, Bill and I are seated at the bar at "The Pits during "Happy Hour" for a few beers. We meet some cool First Nations dudes. They have just gotten some very excellent "arthritis medicine" from the local purveyor of "holistic medicines", Jimmy. So...we buy our new friends a few beers and they share their "medicine".
Now fully "medicated, we head over a few streets
for dinner at the local Greek Restaurant, "The Drunken Goat". It is a VERY good place...the food is great and the portions are huge. We get fried calamari, Greek salads and a huge portion of lamb souvlaki. I wash all of this down with several glasses of an excellent Malbec.At the restaurant, we meet "Jade"...like the stone. She's from Whitehorse and up to Dawson to drive the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle. We become instant friends...and she accompanies us to our next stop...The "Downtown Hotel"...where Cousin Bill will participate in a most disgusting "ritual".
Some years ago, the owner of the Downtown Hotel was out hunting with a group of buddies. They came upon an old cabin used by some nameless trapper. The trapper had suffered severe frostbite and, in order to save his life, he amputated his frostbitten big toe...and left it on the table in the cabin. The owner of the Downtown Hotel wrapped up the toe, brought it back to Dawson, and preserved it in a bottle of alcohol.
And, thus, was the ritual of the "Sourtoe Cocktail" born. You get a shot of Yukon Jack...they put the toe in it...you do the shot...and you must let the toe touch your lips...disgusting.
OK...I did it up here on my last trip...but I am NOT doing it again. Cousin Bill does his duty...while Jade and I cheer him on. Afterwards, we are joined by two of Jade's friends, Ian and Christine. Pitchers of beer appear, are consumed, are replaced with new pitchers. We drink beer...a lot of beer.
Around midnight, Cousin Bill suggests that we return to the campground...good idea. We bid our new friends farewell and head out. I have apparently acquired some inner ear infection over the last few hours...because my equilibrium is all out of whack. We make a wrong turn coming out of the bar...we get lost. Dawson is a tiny town with eight numbered avenues and eight simply-named streets (King, Queen, etc.)...but we still managed to lose our way.
Some friendly locals point us in the right direction...we make it back to camp. I'm in my camper and sound asleep within a few minutes.
Quite the day...and night.
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