August 7, 2013 Wednesday
Day 31

This morning we went to the Sitka Historical Museum to view elements from Sitka's Tlingit, Russian and American Pioneer history. As the story goes, in 1741 the Russians "discovered" Alaska, even though the Tlingit and other natives had been here for centuries. Sitka, known then as New Archangel, is located on Baranof Island, and became the capital of Russian America in 1804. In 1867, once the Russians had exhausted the sea otter population for their fur trading business, and they needed money, they sold Alaska to the United States for 7.2 million dollars. Five years later, in 1872, gold was first discovered in Alaska, near Sitka. Ouch! Bet that was a hard pill for Russia to swallow. Anyway, signs of the Russian presence in Sitka remain today, including the Russian Orthodox Church-St. Michael's Cathedral, the Russian Bishop's House, Russian Cemetery, Russian Blockhouse.
We took in a little Russian Culture ourselves this afternoon by watching a performance of the New Archangel Dancers. This all-female volunteer group performs authentic traditional Russian Folk Dances at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The group started in 1969 when some of the local women wanted to preserve Sitka's Russian history with folk dances. Each dance they performed told a different story. It was joyful entertainment with exciting choreography and colorful costumes.
Afterwards we stood on the dock watching a cruise ship, ms Westerdam, (which was anchored in the harbor) ferry small groups of their guests over to Sitka. Several tour vendors had set up on the dock with various group tour signs and transportation for these guests, so there was a lot of activity to watch as tourists met up with their guides. The day was sunny and beautiful, it was noon and the church bells of St. Michael's were ringing out a lovely melody.
Yesterday, I had found out about a yoga class offered by Yoga Union, on the Sitka Fine Arts College campus. So today I took the class. It was in such a peaceful setting and it felt great to practice again. I have been missing my weekly classes.
I couldn't talk Michael into Yoga, so he hung out in the library, taking advantage of their wifi after he dropped me off. After class we stopped at the local Community Farm and purchased some wonderful garden fresh salad greens - kale, lettuce, chard, some carrots and snap peas. Then they threw in some nasturtiums for a beautiful salad. I even got to pick my own carrots while the woman who worked there (a recent Yale graduate who was interning here for the summer) picked our greens and peas. We drove over the bridge to Japonski Island, drove their two roads, then back across the bridge for a little drive around Baranof Island, stopping at Whale Park, then driving until the road ends.
We ended the day with a stop at
Baranof Island Brewery for beer, soup and a slice of pizza.

Wildlife Sightings
Bald Eagles
Ravens