Travel Photo Thursday: Beer and Boats

With the exception of a few months residing in Texas and Indiana, I’ve spent my entire life living near, and sailing on, large bodies of salt water.

When on the road, I always look for boats afloat. Here are three I photographed while traveling.

Freezing on a Summer’s Day

Bundled up against the cold, I stood on the deck of a tour boat as Margerie Glacier calved building-sized chunks of its icy flow into the dark waters of Southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park.

Surely there must be a less frigid way to experience this natural phenomenon, I thought to myself. Sure enough, there is. Just book an outside cabin on a big cruise ship, sit around in a short-sleeved shirt drinking beer, and watch the ice floe show through a wide sliding glass door that leads to your “lanai.”

Basking in the Winter Sun

As those photos shot in June testify, summer in Alaska can feel like winter in most parts of the U.S.

On the other hand, February weather in Northern California can be almost summer-like, with plenty of sunshine, and daytime temperatures ranging from the high 60’s to low 80’s, Fahrenheit.

On one such day six years ago, I took a leisurely naturalist-led boat cruise through “The Delta”—a maze of rivers and sloughs meandering around about 60 man-made “islands” east of San Francisco.

On our way back to port, we passed this becalmed boat, sails slatting back and forth in an almost non-existent zephyr. Although it wasn’t a great day for sailing, it was a perfect one for lazily messing about on a boat, enjoying a beer or two as the sun dipped toward the Western horizon.

Drink the Beer, on the Water

“Drink beer, not the water!” That’s the advice oft given to tourists visiting countries where drinking tap water can lead to unpleasant gastrointestinal consequences.

While filling up a glass from the sink in your hotel bathroom may be safe enough in Amsterdam, why not imbibe some of the copiously produced, locally-brewed beer instead? And, as this photo shows, you can not only drink beer from a keg in that city, you can float about in one, too.

(Click on an image to enlarge to full-size. Visit Budget Travelers Sandbox for more of this week’s Travel Photo Thursday shots.)

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