This was our last port day, and one I was rather looking forward to. Our port stop that day was Ketchikan. We had previously visited Ketchikan in 2013 and really enjoyed our time there. Unfortunately, neither of our cruises in 2022 took us there. I was delighted that we would get another chance to visit. We were not due into port until 10:00 and it was estimated that the ship would be cleared by approximately 10:30. There was absolutely no rush, but Graham remembered that the sail in into Ketchikan is rather pretty. We got up around 08:00 and got ready. We headed up to the Windjammer for some breakfast. Creatures of habit that we are, we had our usual. Graham had fruit, yogurt and oatmeal and I had congee. After breakfast we quickly headed back to the cabin to pick up what we needed for the day, and then we found a window table in the Schooner Bar. I headed down to Café Lattetudes to get an Americano for Graham and a caramel macchiato for me. Then I settled down in the Schooner bar, too and we enjoyed the view.
As we were not due to be allowed off the ship until 10:30 and we were not on any particular timetable that day, we stayed for morning trivia. We scored 9 out of 20, which was not a stellar result. However, as the winning score was only 12, we did not feel too bad about this. Soon after morning trivia was over, the announcement was made that the ship had been cleared by the authorities. We headed downstairs and got our last port photos. Then we headed out. We were docked right downtown. We used a different dock from the one that Disney Cruise Line had used in 2013, but it was only minimally further from where we wanted to be. I did feel for the people who were cruising on Norwegian Jewel and Regatta, which is an Oceania ship. We cruised past them on the way into Ketchikan. They use a port called Wards Cove, which is owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, which in turn also own Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. Wards Cove is about 7 miles outside of Ketchikan and the port provides shuttles into downtown, which take about 20 minutes. The port in Ketchikan can be very busy, but that day, we were the only ship docked downtown. I have to say if I had just come off a 20-minute shuttle ride with probably some queuing to get on the shuttle, I would have been a little annoyed to find three empty docks right downtown. This was however not our concern.
Pretty much as soon as we walked off the ship, there was a very welcome sight. I saw Ketchikan’s two “official husky guides” with their owner ReAnn. Scarlet and Quinn are two rescued Alaskan huskies who together with ReAnn are offering a 90-minute walking tour called Husky Tales and Feats. The tour takes guests off the beaten tourist track and aims to introduce them to local foods, artists, and businesses. This is right up my street and to be honest, they had me at “huskies”. I had found out about this tour the previous week when I checked if there were other opportunities to meet huskie puppies after having to miss out on our excursion that included playtime with husky puppies. I was seriously tempted and if this had been offered in any other place, I would have jumped on it. However, after having a jam-packed day in Ketchikan in 2013, I really wanted the opportunity to explore Ketchikan at our leisure. I have to admit that I doubted the wisdom of that decision that morning. I was more than just a little bit envious. Thankfully ReAnn, Scarlet and Quinn graciously allowed me to spend some time with them while they were waiting for their guests to arrive.
Once I had very reluctantly torn myself away from Scarlet and Quinn, we headed off on our exploration. Our first stop was the nearby marina. We found a bench and watched the comings and goings for a while and admired the gorgeous views in the background. After a while, we pushed on to Creek Street.
Creek Street is a historic boardwalk perched on pilings along the banks of Ketchikan Creek. This was the historical red-light district, where according to some of the local signage both men and salmon swam upstream to spawn. Today it is home to Dolly’s House museum, showcasing what an early 19th century brothel would have been like with period furnishing and self-guided tours. Apart from Dolly’s House museum, there a range of locally owned shops and galleries. In the summer months salmon gather by the thousands in Ketchikan Creek to spawn upstream. At the end of Creek Street, there is a salmon ladder. This must be quite a sight to behold. Unfortunately, both of our visits were too early in the season. Even the salmon statue that is normally near the salmon ladder was not there. It must have been taken for repairs. Back in 2013, there was a funicular that connected Creek Street with Cape Fox Lodge. Cape Fox Lodge is a hotel and restaurant and the area around it provides some amazing views of the Tongass Narrows waterway, Deer Mountain, and the Thomas Basin Marina. However, the funicular is now out of commission and no view is spectacular enough for me to go up countless stairs. We gave this a hard pass on this occasion.
Apart from the fact that Creek Street is very pretty, I had another reason for a visit. There is a shop that only sells items that were made in Alaska. I knew that they were a stockist of Glacier Smoothie Soaps. As I did not get the chance to visit their shop in Juneau this time, I jumped on the opportunity to be able to stock up here. I expected that they would have a limited selection, but they actually offered the full range. I did not want to carry the soap with me all day and decided to come back on the way back.
There were two things that I wanted to check out as we did not have the opportunity to do so in 2013. They were both in the same area. We walked along to the end of Creek Street. The area the other side of where the funicular used to be is relatively undeveloped. At the end of this stretch is a staircase that leads up to a very nice residential area and the continuation of Ketchikan Creek. We did see some fish in the creek which may have been some early salmon, or they could have been something like trout. Neither of us is an expert in game fish. We followed the creek until we got to City Park and walked through City Park until we got to the first point of interest. On the way to City Park, we met ReAnn, Scarlet and Quinn again with their guests.
The first stop was the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center. The hatchery produces king and silver salmon and steelhead trout. Neither of us was particularly bothered about this. What was however of interest was the attached Eagle Centre. From what I had found online, the Eagle Center was home to between 10 and 15 rescued birds of prey including a resident pair of injured, flightless bald eagles have mated for life and built a nest where they lay eggs each year. They hunt salmon swimming naturally through their enclosure. I thought this would be quite interesting especially as you can get quite close to the eagles. Unfortunately, when we go there, we came across locked doors with no indication if the closure is temporary or permanent. There is something still happening there as we could see some of the pools of the hatchery though the fence and there were definitely fish in there. I wonder if they just run this as a commercial operation now without allowing visitors in. I could not hear any birds. I think they probably have been moved to other facilities.
We walked the short distance over to the Totem Heritage Center. Opposite the Totem Heritage Centre was a stream with a bench next to it. Graham decided to sit down and inspect the local wildlife while I checked out the Totem Heritage Center. The name is a little misleading. There are some totems there, but this is not all there is there, and I actually felt that this is not even the most significant part of the museum. It is really a cultural heritage centre celebrating the art and traditions of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people who created the totem poles on display. The Totem Heritage Center houses an invaluable collection of 19th century totem poles retrieved in the 1970s from the Tlingit villages on Tongass Island and Village Island and from the Haida village of Old Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island. The inhabitants of these villages moved to Ketchikan and other towns at the beginning of the 20th century in order to be near schools and churches, as well as the canneries, mines, and sawmills that offered employment. Their ancestral homes became ghost towns. Sixteen of the museum’s thirty-three totem poles are on permanent display, although the rest of the collection is available for research purposes. The centre also exhibits other Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian artifacts and art pieces, including work by world-famous Tlingit carver Nathan Jackson, and renowned Haida weaver Delores Churchill. The Heritage Center houses one of the world’s largest collections of unrestored 19th century totem poles. Apart from the totem poles, traditional art, masks and practical items like boats and baskets, there is a fascinating collection of photos and stories to go with them. I definitely enjoyed my visit.
Once I had thoroughly explored the inside of the museum, I took some photos of the modern totem poles that are displayed on the outside of the building and around he perimeter. Then I returned to where Graham was sitting. While I was inside, he figured out that there is a free shuttle bus back into town. This sounded good. We did not have to wait very long for the bus to arrive. We got off a short distance away from the entrance to Creek Street. We walked over and I picked up some soaps for me and some as a thank you present for the colleague who was looking after my team in my absence. I took a few more photos. Then we headed back towards the port.
Near the port is a huge general store. Graham was hoping to get more of the underwear that he had got in Sitka. Apart from the typical souvenirs, they had just about everything that your heart desires from outdoor, fishing and camping gear, household goods, medication to groceries. Everything that is apart from underwear. There was nothing else that caught our eyes either and we moved on.
Our next stop was Eagle Park, which was right across from where our ship was docked. Eagle Park sounds a lot grander than what it is. It is essentially a small area of grass that is about the size of my living room with some bushes. At the centre of this however is a beautiful carved eagle statue. “Thundering Wings” was carved Nathan Jackson in 1991. It was re-carved in 2014 and in 2016 as it had suffered some damage due to being exposed by the weather. The Tlingit people originally used this area as a summer fishing camp, where five different species of salmon spawn every year. The Tlingit called it “Kitchsk-hin” which means Kitchsk’s stream. This word sounds like another Tlingit phrase, which translates into “Thundering Wings of an Eagle” and is sometimes given as the origin of the word Ketchikan. I took a few photos and then we moved on.
At that point, I figured we would just return to the ship. Graham had other ideas though and I am glad that he did. There is a boardwalk that runs along the sea promenade starting near where our ship was docked. On the lampposts in that area are beautiful stained-glass panels showcasing many local wildlife. I was in my element. I did not manage to take photos of all of them as the sun was at the wrong angle for some, but I got a few photos.
We came across another small shopping area that was aimed at cruise tourism, but mainly this is a residential are catering to locals rather than tourists. I had a look at a couple of shops that were aimed at cruise tourists, but there was nothing that caught my eye. We walked just past the area where the shuttles for Norwegian Cruise Line pick up and then we turned around and headed back to the ship. I took a few more photos on the way back. Once we got on the ship, we dropped off our stuff in the cabin. Our stateroom host had left us another cabin mate. Then we headed upstairs to the Windjammer for some lunch.
We managed to get to the Windjammer just before 15:00 when they were due to close. Graham had a steak, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. I had some fries, chicken nuggets, beef stew, couscous and the burger of the day. There were quite a few late comers, and they kept the Windjammer open a little longer. This was the first time we had experienced this. As they were getting ready to close, they went round and asked people to get some more food if they wanted some as they were about to clear up. We had enough food. We finished our food and then headed down to the Schooner Bar. On the way, I took a few more photos of Ketchikan from the pool deck.
It was pretty empty in the Schooner Bar that afternoon. At some point it was just us and one other person. He came from Germany. I tried to strike up a conversation, but I soon gave up when I just got one-word answers. Graham had a couple Irish coffees. I had one Peanut Butter Tropic and one desert pear margarita. This was the quietest afternoon trivia we encountered. We scored 12 out of 18, which was the winning score. We got another medal and this time it was on a mint green ribbon.
After afternoon trivia, we headed back to our cabin for our last afternoon nap of the cruise. Once the alarm went off, we took turns getting showered and then got glammed up for formal night. Once we were ready, we headed downstairs for dinner.
Dinner that night was Royal Night. Graham had the escargot for his starter, and I had the vegan bright citrus and avocado salad again. For his main course, Graham went with the cheese tortellini, and I had the Chicken Marsala with garlicky mashed potatoes, sautéed asparagus, and tomatoes. For dessert, Graham had strawberry shortcake, and I had the baked Alaska. We had a couple of glasses of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling with our dinner.
After dinner, we decided to get some fresh air. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. We stayed out for a while, but went in once we started to feel cold. Then we headed back to our cabin. We got ready for bed. I read a chapter in my book and then I fell asleep.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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