Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today we were in Ketchikan. I was pleasantly surprised by Ketchikan. Honestly we thought after what we've already seen it was going to be somewhat of a letdown, but Ketchikan is a neat little town. Yea, it's somewhat touristy, but then again aren't they all. The weather started cloudy and then the sun did come out for awhile, which apparently is a rarity. Ketchikan is the rain capitol of Alaska. They get 162 inches of rain per year. They only get 30 inches of snow. Their weather really doesn't change too much. The average high during the summer is 50 and the average in the winter is 36.
We started the day by taking a bus tour to Totem Bight State Park. For a crossword puzzle word, a bight is an inlet of water. It is in the Tongass Rainforest, which is the largest temperate rainforest in the world. We saw a number of replica totem poles in this state park. They aren't originals because the originals have rotted by now. However, the replicas were carved by Native Americans in Alaska. It was an interesting tour, but we both felt it was a bit long and too much talking. Afterwards we headed back through town. The town only has 36 miles of drivable road, and in order to leave the town, you either have to take a ferry or a float plane. I definitely would not want to live here! They have this place in town and it was called something like Jose's Mexican food-the best pizza in town! We thought it was funny. However, they just got a Wal-Mart about 10 years ago and apparently within the first 3 hours it was open, they had to close because they sold out and then they had to wait 2 weeks for their next barge from Seattle.
Afterwards we were to go to a Lumberjack show, but we decided we didn't want to because we were hungry and had we gone, we wouldn't have had a lot of time on our own in town. So, while being in the Salmon capitol of the world, what else would we eat for lunch but…….Godfather's pizza! The fish is excellent around here, but you can only have so much and we were both craving a good piece of pizza. We then did some shopping before working our way back to the boat.
We spent the evening relaxing and doing this and that on the ship. We went to get something to eat and as luck would have it, it was German cuisine night! The great thing about cruise ships is that the chefs actually come from all over the world, so it is probably as authentic as possible on a cruise ship. I had some excellent Sauerbraten with sauerkraut and pickled cabbage. I also was able to gross Chris out by enjoying the liver sausage, which was very good, but very mayonnaisey, which is probably why it was so good!
In the casino, they had a slots tournament. It was $20 and we both did that. How it works is that you start with 300 points and whoever gets the most points at the end of those 300 points wins. However, first round is just qualifying. Of course, Chris hit the jackpot on his first turn! Of course, we wished we weren't in a tournament, because if he was just playing regular slots, he would have won $3,700! I did okay, but Chris ended up being the #1 qualifier. Unfortunately, his luck did not continue in the finals. Out of 5 people, he was #4. However, the machine next to him won! The winner received $500.
That was the end of that day. Tomorrow we will spend the day on the ship before disembarking in Vancouver and working our way home.
- comments