Ketchikan

We jump-started the day in Ketchikan with a little cab ride / local tour guide. 

Just off the ship we caught a cab and asked the driver to show us a few things before dropping us off at Creek Street (the main tourist trap area).  He drove us to a couple of different sections of a stream full of salmon.  It was tickling to walk up and see hundreds of salmon swimming upstream in 12” of water, waiting to catch their breakfast.

The driver told us of bears (what everyone really wants to see and hear about) coming down to the stream to fish for their breakfast. And he just happened to have pictures to share. A man making a living. He was entertaining and helpful. We were thankful.

A couple of stops with the cabbie, and then it was time for our main morning activity – SHOPPING. 

The town exists on cruise ships bringing travelers in to shop.  I will say that it is a cute little town and easy to walk as long as you can avoid tripping over the jewelry stores.  How many jewelry stores can there be? 

My Lovely and I didn’t find much of anything we couldn’t live without, but it was fun grazing through the shops anyway.  Then it snuck up on us.  The last shop. 

My Lovely found a bear, hand carved out of petrified walrus ivory.  It was detailed, different, and sized right.  A cute little thing.  I guess we found something that needed a home.  And a home he has.   Meet Ketchikan.

 
Our second activity of the day was the Lumberjack show.  Ok, it was a little cheesy, but it was entertaining.  The show pits 2 teams of lumberjacks against each other in lumberjack competitions.  The teams were the Spring Hill Camp (the American Team) against the Dawson Creek team (the Canadians).  The emcee divided the crowd to root for the teams (cheers and jeers).  we became Canadians for the next 90 minutes. This truly added to the fun.

The teams “competed" in real events with real equipment and real wood which was interesting to watch  -- even with an upscale ‘Studio Rastlin’ level of competition.

As a bonus to attending the Lumberjack show, everyone gets a $100 gift card to a Jewelry shop called Diamonds International. Fortunately, we still did not trip over any jewelry stores.

As we cruised out of Ketchikan headed for Juneau, the scenery was breathtaking...a theme that will repeat!Read more