Alaska Trip Diary 2016 Day 5: Ketchikan, Alaska
Day 1 (Saturday, May 28): Chicago O'Hell
Day 2 (Sunday, May 29): Vancouver, Better Late Than Never
Day 3 (Monday, May 30): Embarkation Day!
Day 4 (Tuesday, May 31): Sea Day
Wednesday, June 1, 2016: Ketchikan
Woke up just a few minutes before my alarm went off at 6 am and was out of bed like a shot. Went to Moderno for the "deluxe continental breakfast" and had a tasty Belgian waffle as we sailed into Ketchikan. I figured I was giving myself plenty of time for the 7:45 meetup at the trolley since we arrived at 7:00. The line, however, started in the atrium and wound around the elevators into the Four Seasons main dining room. Some passengers with 7:15 tour times were understandably worried, since we didn't start moving until after 7:30.
I bypassed the moose and orca mascot pictures and found my way to the trolley pickup area to join our driver Dylan, a Utah undergrad spending his summers in Alaska, for Ketchikan Highlights by Trolley.
Everyone was in good spirits, and Dylan was funny and engaging - and pun happy. He pointed out Creek Street, the famous former red light district, and Married Men's Trail, now a boardwalk but then a muddy, wooded path along the creek that married patrons of Creek Street would use...only to have the mud on their boots and pants give them away anyway. Heh!
The Tongass Narrows to the south.
The totems.
We had a 30-minute tour of Saxman Native Village, hearing details of the totem-carving traditions and some of the stories they tell. One of my favorite moments was when a noisy raven landed on top of a raven on one of the totems.
Rhododendrens (I think) were everywhere in Alaska.
Salmonberries, growing wild in a variety of colors. I was a bit taken aback when some passers-by simply plucked a handful off a bush and ate them. They were Ketchikan locals, and assured me everybody does it, but I wasn't that brave.
Our chariot for the morning.
Had time for souvenir shopping before returning to the trolley, and spied two bald eagles on dock polls in the water. Also watched the Oceania Regatta cruising into the port.
Dylan dropped most of us off at Creek Street, and I began my quest for souvenirs and gifts and photo ops.
(For Mum)
Over the creek were dozens of swallows with small, dark backs and short tails. I stood on the boardwalk for ages hoping one would land so I could get a close look or a picture, but no such luck.
I went into one of the canned salmon shops, Salmon Etc, for a free sample, not expecting anything more interesting than the canned salmon I can buy at the grocery store.
...Wrong. Heaven. Both smoked and fresh, king and sockeye were divine. Salmon, Etc. and the other shop I visited, the Salmon Market, were heavenly. They also ship all over the US, and I collected cards instead of risking trying to cart canned fish home in my luggage.
Then, as I was heading around the creek for a look at the salmon ladder (even though it's the wrong time of year for the actual salmon to be there), disaster! My camera lens went on the fritz and wouldn't extend or retract, meaning no more pictures. I wrestled with it to no avail, and even in this tourist town, no shops or repair places were known. So I was relegated to the iPhone and crossing my fingers that someone in the photo gallery on board the Sun would be able to help me with it. Otherwise, I'd be stuck with iPhone pictures for the rest of the trip unless I wanted to blow a couple hundred bucks on a replacement camera.
Three ships were docked today. I wore my feet out walking all the way past the Sun, Oceania Regatta, and Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, hitting every tourist shop I could see no matter how kitschy. It was fun. Around 1 pm, the skies opened up, and I found myself close to Annabell's Keg and Chowderhouse, which had been recommended during my online research. Perfect timing!
And oh, perfect (if very pricey) meal. Grilled wild salmon fillet, steamed rice and soy sauce, "cannery bread" and caramel pot de creme for dessert. Good thing I had done so much walking! My souvenir splurge for myself was a mammoth tooth ivory dogwood pendant and earrings. I bought postcards and mailed them home. Went a little crazy on other purchases, but oh well.
Once my feet and my credit card were well-worn, I headed back to the ship and was on board at 2:30, an hour before the posted all-aboard time. The photo gallery wasn't open until 4:30 after sail away, so my camera would have to wait.
One thing I didn't notice today (so far) was the oft-complained-of sewage smell in stairwells or hallways. I'd heard that it was worse on port days. My cabin smelled fresh and clean, but apart from the occasional brief whiff in hallways, the ship smelled good.
I had plenty of time to choose a good spot for sail-away, preferably covered against the rain. I joined the crowds in the Observation Lounge to await sail away, and we alll raised eyebrows when some passengers were paged after 3:30. Somebody was late! When the horn blew at 3:45, I assumed they were on board, but after the gangway was pulled up, we saw a guy sitting on the dock where it had been. Later they got into a cab and left. Hmm. Did somebody miss the boat?
I hung out with fellow passengers watching eagles and waterfalls through binoculars whenever the clouds lifted enough. One fellow passenger with some fancy high-tech camera-binocs insisted that a bird of prey we saw was a seahawk. After much research, I determined he was mistaken; there are no seahawks in Alaska. It was most likely a juvenile bald eagle.
Once we got up to speed, it was too cold to stay outside, so I headed down to the photo gallery to see if they could help un-fritz my camera. Alas, though they were knowledgeable and three different employees tried to un-bork it, it remained borked. So I was left with either an iPhone or a big unexpected dent in my budget by purchasing one of the digital cameras for sale on board.
After some deliberation and examination of the models available, I decided to go all in, and splurged on a wifi-enabled Fujifilm with no extending lens and a package that included a 16 gig memory card, case, and chargeable battery. I had to put off setting it up to get to Cagney's in time for my 5:30 pm dinner.
On my way, I discovered the casino was open, and - for once - didn't reek of cigarette smoke. So I decided to try it out. Committed $20 to the slot machines and lost it in about 30 minutes. I don't get what all the fuss is about over gambling. (Granted, it took an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to use the damn things. I might have taken the "complimentary gaming lessons" that the ship offered if it weren't for the smoke in the place.
Cagney's was good, but didn't wow. The steak was perfect, but the shrimp cocktail was...a shrimp cocktail. The baked potato soup was rather bland, and the mac 'n cheese side was generic. The "decadent chocolate brownie" was rather dry, though I ate all the chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce that came with it.
Then I headed back to my cabin to figure out the workings of my pricey new toy and charge it up for tomorrow. It claims to be water resistant and shock proof up to 5.8 feet. I did knock my old Canon around a few times, so maybe this one would hold up.
Tonight, the best scenery was on my side of the ship - yay! I put my binoculars to use along Scrubby Island and Bushy Island (no joke, according to the navigation channel, that was their names, although I haven't found them again on a map.) I saw a shitload of bald eagles as we moved into the Sumner Strait.
I do wish we'd had at least one stop in clear weather so I could see the mountaintops, but it just didn't seem to be on this trip. Oh well. I just hummed the "Mist-Cover'd Mountains of Home" a lot.
Day 2 (Sunday, May 29): Vancouver, Better Late Than Never
Day 3 (Monday, May 30): Embarkation Day!
Day 4 (Tuesday, May 31): Sea Day
Wednesday, June 1, 2016: Ketchikan
Woke up just a few minutes before my alarm went off at 6 am and was out of bed like a shot. Went to Moderno for the "deluxe continental breakfast" and had a tasty Belgian waffle as we sailed into Ketchikan. I figured I was giving myself plenty of time for the 7:45 meetup at the trolley since we arrived at 7:00. The line, however, started in the atrium and wound around the elevators into the Four Seasons main dining room. Some passengers with 7:15 tour times were understandably worried, since we didn't start moving until after 7:30.
I bypassed the moose and orca mascot pictures and found my way to the trolley pickup area to join our driver Dylan, a Utah undergrad spending his summers in Alaska, for Ketchikan Highlights by Trolley.
Everyone was in good spirits, and Dylan was funny and engaging - and pun happy. He pointed out Creek Street, the famous former red light district, and Married Men's Trail, now a boardwalk but then a muddy, wooded path along the creek that married patrons of Creek Street would use...only to have the mud on their boots and pants give them away anyway. Heh!
The Tongass Narrows to the south.
The totems.
We had a 30-minute tour of Saxman Native Village, hearing details of the totem-carving traditions and some of the stories they tell. One of my favorite moments was when a noisy raven landed on top of a raven on one of the totems.
Rhododendrens (I think) were everywhere in Alaska.
Salmonberries, growing wild in a variety of colors. I was a bit taken aback when some passers-by simply plucked a handful off a bush and ate them. They were Ketchikan locals, and assured me everybody does it, but I wasn't that brave.
Our chariot for the morning.
Had time for souvenir shopping before returning to the trolley, and spied two bald eagles on dock polls in the water. Also watched the Oceania Regatta cruising into the port.
Dylan dropped most of us off at Creek Street, and I began my quest for souvenirs and gifts and photo ops.
(For Mum)
Over the creek were dozens of swallows with small, dark backs and short tails. I stood on the boardwalk for ages hoping one would land so I could get a close look or a picture, but no such luck.
I went into one of the canned salmon shops, Salmon Etc, for a free sample, not expecting anything more interesting than the canned salmon I can buy at the grocery store.
...Wrong. Heaven. Both smoked and fresh, king and sockeye were divine. Salmon, Etc. and the other shop I visited, the Salmon Market, were heavenly. They also ship all over the US, and I collected cards instead of risking trying to cart canned fish home in my luggage.
Then, as I was heading around the creek for a look at the salmon ladder (even though it's the wrong time of year for the actual salmon to be there), disaster! My camera lens went on the fritz and wouldn't extend or retract, meaning no more pictures. I wrestled with it to no avail, and even in this tourist town, no shops or repair places were known. So I was relegated to the iPhone and crossing my fingers that someone in the photo gallery on board the Sun would be able to help me with it. Otherwise, I'd be stuck with iPhone pictures for the rest of the trip unless I wanted to blow a couple hundred bucks on a replacement camera.
Three ships were docked today. I wore my feet out walking all the way past the Sun, Oceania Regatta, and Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, hitting every tourist shop I could see no matter how kitschy. It was fun. Around 1 pm, the skies opened up, and I found myself close to Annabell's Keg and Chowderhouse, which had been recommended during my online research. Perfect timing!
And oh, perfect (if very pricey) meal. Grilled wild salmon fillet, steamed rice and soy sauce, "cannery bread" and caramel pot de creme for dessert. Good thing I had done so much walking! My souvenir splurge for myself was a mammoth tooth ivory dogwood pendant and earrings. I bought postcards and mailed them home. Went a little crazy on other purchases, but oh well.
Once my feet and my credit card were well-worn, I headed back to the ship and was on board at 2:30, an hour before the posted all-aboard time. The photo gallery wasn't open until 4:30 after sail away, so my camera would have to wait.
One thing I didn't notice today (so far) was the oft-complained-of sewage smell in stairwells or hallways. I'd heard that it was worse on port days. My cabin smelled fresh and clean, but apart from the occasional brief whiff in hallways, the ship smelled good.
I had plenty of time to choose a good spot for sail-away, preferably covered against the rain. I joined the crowds in the Observation Lounge to await sail away, and we alll raised eyebrows when some passengers were paged after 3:30. Somebody was late! When the horn blew at 3:45, I assumed they were on board, but after the gangway was pulled up, we saw a guy sitting on the dock where it had been. Later they got into a cab and left. Hmm. Did somebody miss the boat?
I hung out with fellow passengers watching eagles and waterfalls through binoculars whenever the clouds lifted enough. One fellow passenger with some fancy high-tech camera-binocs insisted that a bird of prey we saw was a seahawk. After much research, I determined he was mistaken; there are no seahawks in Alaska. It was most likely a juvenile bald eagle.
Once we got up to speed, it was too cold to stay outside, so I headed down to the photo gallery to see if they could help un-fritz my camera. Alas, though they were knowledgeable and three different employees tried to un-bork it, it remained borked. So I was left with either an iPhone or a big unexpected dent in my budget by purchasing one of the digital cameras for sale on board.
After some deliberation and examination of the models available, I decided to go all in, and splurged on a wifi-enabled Fujifilm with no extending lens and a package that included a 16 gig memory card, case, and chargeable battery. I had to put off setting it up to get to Cagney's in time for my 5:30 pm dinner.
On my way, I discovered the casino was open, and - for once - didn't reek of cigarette smoke. So I decided to try it out. Committed $20 to the slot machines and lost it in about 30 minutes. I don't get what all the fuss is about over gambling. (Granted, it took an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to use the damn things. I might have taken the "complimentary gaming lessons" that the ship offered if it weren't for the smoke in the place.
Cagney's was good, but didn't wow. The steak was perfect, but the shrimp cocktail was...a shrimp cocktail. The baked potato soup was rather bland, and the mac 'n cheese side was generic. The "decadent chocolate brownie" was rather dry, though I ate all the chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce that came with it.
Then I headed back to my cabin to figure out the workings of my pricey new toy and charge it up for tomorrow. It claims to be water resistant and shock proof up to 5.8 feet. I did knock my old Canon around a few times, so maybe this one would hold up.
Tonight, the best scenery was on my side of the ship - yay! I put my binoculars to use along Scrubby Island and Bushy Island (no joke, according to the navigation channel, that was their names, although I haven't found them again on a map.) I saw a shitload of bald eagles as we moved into the Sumner Strait.
I do wish we'd had at least one stop in clear weather so I could see the mountaintops, but it just didn't seem to be on this trip. Oh well. I just hummed the "Mist-Cover'd Mountains of Home" a lot.