Being a Shameless Tourist

It's Aponi's fault, really. As an actual Alaskan, she can't really visit touristy places without losing self-respect. Now that we were there, though, she could go to all of the places she had secretly wanted to visit without losing face.

The best shop of them all was a place called Wild Berry Products. Even the outside was amazing. It had a little train station and cottage off to the side...

...and a gold panning apparatus (at least that's what I think it was).

It also had my mother on the porch and my niece, Aponi, fleeing my camera lens by running behind that pillar with the 5225 on it.

She could run, but she couldn't hide.

Inside was a customer-stalking polar bear...

...as well as the world's largest known chocolate fountain.

The actors in the original Willy Wonka had each signed a photograph of all of the cast members. There was also a movie-original Wonka bar and golden ticket.

Look! A tourist!

[That polar bear was relentless.]

There's nothing quite like polished rocks. In fact, I'm saying barely anything about them right now, because the whole post after this is devoted to the subject.

Aponi helped me fill my satchel.

Caught her. That's her camera face.

She couldn't hold it for long, though.

What was staggering about this particular store, above and beyond its polar bear, its chocolate fountain, and its rock mine, was its fine chocolates so carefully crafted right there in the store.

This is just the key for the berry jelly chocolates. There were also truffles and creams and nougats and fudge and chocolate-covered-everything-else.

Aponi was thunderstruck (I'll admit, I was, too...). 

Mom, on the other hand, was hard-pressed to avoid being somebody else's version of fine food.