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Jewell Gardens Tour And Glassblowing Demonstration
Jewell Gardens is located just outside the northeastern edge of Skagway; make your own way there to begin your selected 1.5-hour experience, chosen from the two options below.
Option 1: Gardens & Glass Demonstration
Whether you’re a gardener, art lover or just have an appreciation for pretty things, you’ll be enchanted by Jewell Gardens’ combination of natural and manmade beauty.
When you arrive, your tour begins in the garden, the first certified-organic show garden in the US. Walk through the dazzling garden, admiring the growing vegetables and blooming flowers. Depending on the season, see blooms like tulips, lilacs and giant delphiniums.
Next, check out the garden railway, where a model of the White Pass & Yukon Route winds through a miniature version of Skagway 100 years ago before traveling around mountains, through forests and tunnels, and past a waterfall, a tent city and a gold mine.
Continuing on to the glass portion of your tour, head to the Garden City Glassworks Theater. The glass artists will explain the process of glassblowing and then demonstrate. Watch in wonder as they delicately create shapely, colorful pieces of art from molten glass, and learn about the inspiration behind this tour — famous Northwest glass artist Dale Chihuly.
Take a guided tour of the glass gallery to see more pieces of hand-blown glass, and then end your tour with free time to wander more of the gardens and shop for souvenirs in the gift shop. Beer and wine will be available for purchase at your own expense.
Option 2: Lights-Out Glassblowing Experience
Upon arrival at Jewell Gardens, meet your tour guide, who will give you a brief introduction to the gardens. While you admire the flowers and other vegetation, enjoy beer, wine and appetizers, if you wish (own expense).
Then enter the Glassworks Theater to watch the creation of hand-blown glass. The talented glass artists will explain their craft and demonstrate how hot, molten glass becomes, almost magically, a piece of artwork.
Next, the really cool part begins when the lights are turned out and the artists blow glass in the dark, with the molten glass brightly illuminated. Afterward, head to the glass gallery to see more locally blown glass, and visit the gift shop if you’d like to look for souvenirs.
