Thursday, February 27, 2020

Alaska - Cruise Day 6 - Up Schitt's Creek without a Paddle!

After a wonderful tour seeing bears and birds, we were dropped off in the center of town amongst all the shops which is a leisurely walk back to the ship. With plenty of time left before we needed to be back on board, we wandered around enjoying a mix of browsing and seeing historical signs and statues. 


Ketchikan is known as Alaska's 1st City because it is the first city settlers came to at the bottom of the inside passage. Due to the city's location in the Tongass National Forest (a 17M-acre rainforest), the city sees a lot of heavy rains. They celebrate their weather by erecting this gigantic "liquid sunshine" gauge painted sign that is as tall as the highest rainfall amount ever recorded here. It was so tall I had to take a picture of it in two halves!



Our walk led us past several instances of local culture and city history: 

Soon we had arrived upon the official Creek Street area. Most of this region features wooden planks along the walkways as by definition it is built above the creek. Easy to maneuver even by wheelchair, scooter, or with strollers. 

One of the most photographed spots is to the top right in the below photo where you can pose with a giant ceramic mosaic salmon poised like he's about to swim upstream.


It's fish cam!


Tons of places to explore on your own minutes from the cruise pier if you feel like doing some legwork:


How close is Creek Street to the cruise pier? Objects in this photo are as close as they appear.


One of the most notable landmarks on Creek Street is Dolly's House. We had a nice chat with one of the "employees" standing outside trying to entice tourists to come inside.



In case you get a little hungry after all that walking:



After our duck tour debacle in Halifax, we always chuckle at the sight of similar tours in other ports.


Our final sea day is up next where we find out why there was a man walking around the ship on formal night wearing an outfit that matched the one on his dog!

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