Wallhangers & Lawn Art

No cruise is complete without a thorough exploration of the local pubs, restaurants, and neighborhoods (usually in that order).  It’s not just beer, food, and exercise that I’m after when I’m poking about town.  I enjoy looking at the art and artifacts that the locals put on display.  What you find hanging from the walls and adorning the landscape says a lot about character(s) of a place.  The residents of Southeast did not disappoint!

Of course there were the many deer, moose, and bear mounts proudly on display with the occasional goat, sheep or caribou.  And there were a lot of fish memorializing conquests of yore.

I saw massive hauls of herring, giant salmon and huge ling cod.  One photo showcases the seldom-seen salmon cod(pieces). . . some guys just get too intimate with their fish.  One guy definitely doesn’t want anybody touching his fish.  Maybe he’s afraid it will turn to stone like the Halibut on his lawn.  Fish definitely infiltrate your consciousness in Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I even talked my way into the living room of a lifelong shrimper in Wrangell and noticed he had his best catch memorialized in formaldehyde.  Now that is  taxidermy you don’t see everyday.

 

In pursuit of all of those fish you need to beware of rocks.  Every fishing bar in every town does its best to remind the populace of lurking craven rocks by immortalizing the misadventures of their fleet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also a lot of things that go bang and snap on the walls in Alaska.  Here are two of the more unusual weapons you might come across.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murals depicting animals and fish are big in Alaska too.  The walls of the packing plants are adorned with artistic seafood.  Remote island cabins even have beautiful murals.

 

And then there is the lawn art.  I’ve seen a lot of rusty junk in my life but I’ll be darned if I can figure out what this is:

 

So enjoy your time in Alaska.  If you’re an Alaskan and you happen upon this, watch what you put on your walls.  You never know who is wandering about town. . .