May 26, 2017 -- Exploring Ketchikan


Exploring Ketchikan
When we woke this morning, we were docked in Ketchikan with crystal clear skies and a temperature of 49o.  The high today is forecast at 62o.  Before going to breakfast, I worked on the trip log and will be posting to the blog today after we return to the ship from sight-seeing in Ketchikan, which is about at the southernmost tip of Alaska.  It is the southernmost city in Alaska and is just a short distance into the inland passage.
We left the ship at 8:45 am, took a short walk to the tourist information center to pick up a map for a self-guided walking tour of Ketchikan.  
Touched Down in Alaska
 Ketchikan, which is nicknamed the “Salmon Capital of the World”, is a town of approximately 8,000 people.  The city has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles found in the city, at Saxman Totem Park, Totem Bight State Park, and the Totem Heritage Center.  
 Our walking tour took as to Creek Street, which is an elevated boardwalk running above and along Ketchikan Creek.  It is al infamous from the red-light district that operated along this street during the first half of the 20th century. 



Ketichikan Creek
 From Creek Street we walk along Park Street to the Totem Heritage Center, which displays preserved 19th century poles from abandoned Tlingit villages on Tongass Island and Village Island and from the Haida village of Old Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island.  These poles were carved by Native artists from western red cedar during the height of totem pole carving between the middle and end of the 19th century.  Many of the figures carved on the poles are "crests" -- animals, mythological beings, or natural features symbolizing a particular group's history and origins.  The Center also contained pictures from the 19th century depicting life in the native Tlingit villages. 





From the Center we walked back to the downtown area 

 and climbed a large wooden staircase that took us to an overlook and great views of the channel and our ship.  



We walked back to the ship for lunch and relaxed on the balcony before setting sail for Juneau at 2:00 pm.  Today we are able to be on the balcony while we sail, because we are in the inland passage with calm water and gorgeous views of the numerous islands on our port side of the ship. Some of the islands have snow-topped mountains.  All of this is very pretty.



In late afternoon, we went to the comedy show in the theater and then directly to dinner at the Bayou Restaurant.  We were fortunate to have a window seat.  Tonight was steak night for us:  oysters Bienville (Larry), Chicken Jambalaya (Bev), Green Salad (Larry), NY Strip Steak (Bev), and Porterhouse Steak (Larry).  After watching some news on TV, we turned in.  Tomorrow morning by 7 am we should be docked in Juneau.  Weather is supposed to be excellent, which should be perfect for our Mendenhall Glacier trip and whale watching excursion.

Comments

  1. Sean VanlandinghamMay 27, 2017 at 10:20 AM

    Another great day. Those totem poles are amazing! I wish l could be in ketchican with y'all. Keep us updated! - Olivia

    ReplyDelete
  2. TheChemistryOfBeerJune 1, 2017 at 6:12 PM

    Great pics. Ketchikan looks cool.

    ReplyDelete

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