Since it was a weekend and there was no government paperwork to do, I took up Sharon and Dave's offer to go and see the town of Whitter. This came about because Sharon sent me the link for a casting call for extras in a movie set to film in the town in April. I was interested in checking out what a casting call looked like, but I didn't want to actually stand around and attempt to be a movie extra. Sharon felt the same way so we decided to just go out to Whittier where the movie would film. So this is Whittier.
It's a neat little place to get through. It in not technically accessible by a 24/7 road. To get to Whittier, you can take the marine highway aka ferry, your own private boat, a passenger train, or you can do what we did...drive through the tunnel on the train tracks. Fear not, it is set up this way and for timed intervals on the half hour, vehicles can drive one way through the 2 mile long tunnel, and entry is controlled by gates and staff, so you won't meet a yahoo half way through coming the wrong way. Or a train. For future visitors, the toll at this gate is $12 per car.
Once on the other side it's a good idea to keep track of time, because you can only pass though the tunnel in a 15 min interval every 30 or 60 minutes, if you miss your interval you will have to wait it out. Dave said that years ago if you wanted to go to Whittier, the cars were loaded onto the train itself you rode through the tunnel in your car on the train. That would have been neat too!
On the day we went, it was very grey, drizzling rain, and kind of chilly. Perfect photograph weather! The docks were full, even in February, and there are a lot of local fishing boats ready for summer!
There were a couple of souvenir shops and restaurants, but most was closed up in the off season. The town used to be a military base, and the old abandoned barracks will be good for the movie, especially if it's a horror flick! It is a very small town -- 19 square miles and 177 people. Recall that little Bermuda was 21 square miles and more than 60,000 people. Alaska definitely has room to breathe!
On the way out of Whittier, I snapped a shot through the side window of a little Alaska train...I presume this is what I will be spending a weekend touring on in the not so distant future.
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