Day 3, Wednesday, July 17 – Ketchikan
Our first port-of-call was Ketchikan. We couldn’t exit
the boat too early, so we had plenty of time to finish watching “Pink Panther”
and get some amazing breakfast before we set out for the day. Since we were in
port and had service, we were able to catch up on internet browsing a bit and call
and check in with the kids, which was fun. Eventually, we stepped off the ship
into a pretty good downpour of rain! Not to worry, as we both carried umbrellas
(--in my backpack, of course) and I was triple-prepared, with a cardigan over
my long-sleeved shirt, a down vest, a fleece jacket and an outer jacket. Brian
had a jacket too, which was all he ever claims to need. (And yes, Mom, he was
even actually wearing it!) But just to be extra sure, we headed quickly to a
souvenir shop where they were selling Alaskan, fleece-lined rain jackets and
woolen hats. I bought a nice, black “Alaska” hat right off, and decided to
forego the jacket as I was already feeling quite “puffy” with my many layers!
(Pictures of our outings have since confirmed that yes, indeed, I was looking
very “puffy” in Ketchikan. It was the jackets, I’m telling you! NOT the
enormous breakfast and hot chocolate with ice cream I had just before leaving
the ship!)
We wandered around some of the shops for a bit, and
went to the visitor’s center, too. All the while, the vendors from the
expedition kiosks were trying to get our attention and sign us up for some
sight-seeing tour. –A seaplane ride over the majestic Misty Fiords? For only
$250 per person, with lunch included?? –A streetcar tour of the city for only
$55 each? Brian quickly learned they were very eager to bargain; he talked the
seaplane guy down to $200 in a matter of minutes, and the trolley car tour was
going for $30 apiece. But we didn’t do either of those options. Instead, we had
a small-group guided tour in a minibus for a couple of hours. It was great! Our
tour guide was Sonia – a 20-something Alaskan native girl with three kids. She
was very personable and friendly, and took us to several spots of interest
around town, and then drove us several miles up the coastline to see some
scenery, wildlife, and a waterfall. We saw a bear, roaming near a creek where
some people were doing ziplines directly above! That was pretty neat. And we
also saw a giant, white slug in that same area, clinging to a fence post on the
guardrail. Uggg! Our kids would have enjoyed that, I bet!
We also saw a tree where several bald eagles were
perched, each on a different branch, some in nests at the top. That was
exciting! We also sampled local jams and preserves at a little makeshift café
area. I learned that salmonberry jam does NOT have actual salmon in it. The
woman may or may not have rolled her eyes slightly at my question, but I’m sure
it wasn’t the first time someone wondered!
The salmon ladder was interesting, although there were
no salmon actually jumping up the ladder. But the creek was beautiful and clear
and fast-running, with a big falls under a bridge. We got to see how the ladder
runs along side the falls, and makes it easier for salmon to swim upstream,
like they’re supposed to.
A local fisherman started talking to me when we
visited the fish hatchery. He first talked about how humungous the salmon used
to be, and pointed out the five key types of salmon (chum, sockeye, king or
Chinook, silver, and pink). Then he started telling me how it’s odd that the
salmon are so late this year. He claimed that a biologist 20 years ago
predicted that the warming waters would make the salmon’s food source die out,
and that consequently the salmon could/would die out, too. This fisherman guy
was kind of a doomsday guy, and he’s thinking this might be the end of the
salmon trade as we know it. “They should be here by now,” he told me, in an
ominous voice. “But they’re not. They’re not running the salmon ladder! They’re
not in the creeks or up the river, or out to sea where they ought to be!
They’re just gone!!” Slightly disturbing. He even claimed that, come next
summer, we may see many a fisherman out of his livelihood, with many fishing
boats and rigs up for sale! Yikes! He kept talking and talking and our tour
guide kind of left us… Hmm… Sorry about the salmon, Mr. Fisherman guy, but we
don’t want to get left here with you at the hatchery with half a million baby
salmon. Gotta run catch up with our group!
We went to a totem pole park and our guide told us
some of the legends and stories about the various poles we saw. One interesting
totem pole factoid: the trees they use to carve them from rot from the inside
out. So, they’ve learned to hollow out the middle, and cut off part of the back
of the trees so the totem poles last longer. Who knew?
We ended our tour at famous Creek Street, where all
the houses and shops are brightly colored buildings, on a big boardwalk above
the water. The tides in Ketchikan vary by 20-25 feet daily, so all the
buildings are up high above the water. Even the main road near the harbor was
actually on a big boardwalk over the water. The Creek Street shops were fun to
wander through – lots of gemstones, jewelry, totem poles, and cold-weather
clothing options. Historically, that was actually the red light district of
Ketchikan, and the town seems to celebrate that part of their past with a
famous prostitution museum, which we skipped. Instead, we took a little tram
ride up to a hotel built into the hillside, and got a nice view of the city and
the sea. Then we wandered down near the harbor and ate lunch at a nice,
fast-paced restaurant where we ordered a fish and chips sampler plate – with
deep fried cod, halibut and salmon – all three were sooo delicious! And Brian
got big bowl of salmon chowder and cornbread.
Our last event in Ketchikan was the famous Lumberjack
show. Brian booked it for us a couple of days in advance, which was a good
thing, since it was packed! That was a fun show! The lumberjacks made a
competition between the Canadian team and the US team, and split the stadium in
half. We were on the Canadian side and cheered for them. They took turns racing
to do each sport in the competition --- chopping a stump in half while they
stood on top of it, using a chain saw to cut a certain number of log circles, climbing/shimmying
up a tree as fast as possible, then repelling back down, etc. Our favorite was
when they balanced on a rolling log in water, and tried to get the opposing
team’s lumberjack to fall in the water first. That was pretty amazing to watch!
The crowd was really loud, and we had fun cheering for our team.
We had to be back on our boat by 4pm, which gave us
time to come back and relax for a bit before dinner time. We looked at the
various menus from the different restaurants onboard, and decided we like the
atmosphere and food choices of the Tsar’s, so we went back there for dinner
again. I had bruschetta again and a beet/gorgonzola salad, followed by a
roasted chicken plate, with mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, and a scoop of
chocolate ice cream for dessert. Brian got a coconut curry chicken and rice
plate that looked really tasty! Then we rolled ourselves back to our room,
haha! We decided to try the show’s entertainment, since they were supposedly
playing/singing cover songs for groups like Journey, Boston, Sting, etc.
Sounded good, and the performers had beautiful voices. But their costumes were
pretty skanky again, and somewhat questionable choreography. Neither of us was
really enjoying it, so we left after three songs – Born to Be Wild, You Make Me
Feel Like a Woman, and one that I didn’t recognize, and didn’t like.
So, back to the room for an episode of Monk, and a
ridiculous episode of “Psych” which we probably should have turned off. We went
to sleep very tired that night!! But in the night, we had lots of bumping and
swaying for a few hours – more than we had at any other time on the whole
cruise! I had a hard time sleeping, but Brian was able to sleep right through
it!
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