Our Night in Haines, AK

Well kids it doesn't get any cheaper than free.  Even if it is a bit bizarre.

So after much looking we finally drive up a steep vertical incline and make a 90 degree turn into the woods, and I know sometimes I exaggerate, but I am so not exaggerating on this one, and this is what we see...what looks like it used to be a really nice hotel but now it's a hotel with the whole front ripped off.  We don't like to judge on first impressions (Ok, I do and I was fully prepared to go rip roaring back around the 90 degree bend and find another disgusting motel to stay at but Charlie had made reservations so up into the office he goes...now, I use the term reservations loosely.

After he spends about 20 minutes inside and we see him disappear around the back and return to the office, those of us who are trapped in the car, know something cannot be good here.  He comes back and explains the "situation"... the guy, who's like 309 years old, lost all of the reservations made in February. Guess when we made our reservations?????  So he has this one room left and he has Charlie go "take a peek" and gives us the room for free...yep free!  Now it was a bit spider infested, the water was undrinkable, and the linens were circa 1980 style (think black background and paint splashes) but it was in fact, free.  Now in the defense of this unnamed establishment, it was clean...and a little creepy.  

After hiking up a side stairwell that was creaky and had no railings, this was the view out of the door.  It was magical and serene.  Very nice with a waterfall running right under the spider infested porch....but like all things it wasn't all that met the eye.  This was also our view...
I'm pretty sure none of this was up to code and we probably contracted something there and I definitely do not recall seeing this view on their website back in February when we made reservations...which if you remember were lost!  Kudos to the man who gave us a room anyway and although we tried to pay him he refused to take our money...which is probably good because we'll be using it for antibiotics soon!!!!  It was fun though...in a weird and creepy way!

On the big checklist of places to see again - Haines....a big NO!!