Return to Dawson City

From Chicken, we traveled the 'Top of the World Highway' to Dawson City, Yukon. It was another spectacular drive. The border crossing is at a particularly beautiful location, but, is only open for limited hours each day and for a very short season. Last year the crossing was closed in mid-September. We very much enjoyed Dawson City on our road trip last fall and I wrote about the town then. It was much busier now and full of visitors. We had the good fortune to arrive the day before the Commissioner's Tea, held at the historic Commissioner's Residence and so were able to attend the free luncheon event the next day.  What better way to spend a sunny, warm, June afternoon than to be outdoors seated at a garden party with white tablecloths and fine china, being served dainty tea sandwiches and cakes including traditional petit fours and of course, Canadian Nanaimo bars.

We were served the free lunch and endless cups of tea by costumed interpreters from Parks Canada and the local chapter of the IODE ( Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire). There were speeches and awards given by the current Yukon Commissioner. The Highland dancers, in town for the Dawson City Highland Games, performed a number of dances.

As part of the Highland Games celebration, bagpipes were playing throughout the town and many people were dressed in full Scottish regalia. We were sorry to have missed the Friday night bagpipe concert held at the Dome, high above the town, in the midnight sun.

After the formal ceremonies, we were treated to a free, guided tour of the Residence. During the restoration of the building, they were able to locate about 80% of the original furnishings that were there during the residency of Commissioner George Black (1912-1915) and his wife Martha Louise Black, OBE (second woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons).

During the lunch we sat at a table for four and were joined by two strangers, an Australian couple from Sydney, in town on a bus tour. After just a few minutes of conversation we found one of those weird coincidences that inexplicably seem to crop up between strangers. They will be on the same cruise ship we are going on in September, they will join in Honolulu and get off in Sydney while we are doing the whole thing from Vancouver to Auckland. We exchanged many travel stories and promised to look for them onboard!