27 June 2007 – Ferry Day 2
Today was Ketchikan day. We were going to be in port for about 6 hours so we could get out and explore. We docked about an hour late at 11 a.m., grabbed Malley and headed out. It was raining. This was not a shock. It is pretty much always raining in southeast Alaska.
Last time we were in Ketch, we took a cab into the center of town, had breakfast and walked around the shops. Of course, at that time, Alaska souvenirs were new and exciting. This time notsomuch. Also this time, we had a puppy to drag around with us so she could have as much time out of the box as possible. So we had our comfy shoes, some of us had our ponchos, and a 2.5 mile walk to town.
Who didn’t have a poncho, you ask? That would be Nate. We all have waterproof anorak jackets that zip into their own pouch. Actually we each have 2 – one for each car. Well, Nate’s wasn’t in either car when we were packing & he had no idea where they were. Yes, he’s seven. It was just misting as we walked towards town and he was wearing a fleece sweatshirt, so I made him tough it out. I’m not mother of the year, but it works for us.
Amongst other things, Ketchikan is a cruise ship port. Of course the cruise ships pull up right in town, not 2 ½ miles down the road. Three ships were in port that day, Princess, Norwegian and some Japanese line. We bopped into a few gift shops and I looked for a $1 stupid-tourist-poncho for Nate. At this point the more embarrassing the better. I finally found a slightly glorified white trash bag with a gift shop name printed all over the back, wrapped our youngest the plastic bag, and off we went. By now it was really raining and we were hungry. One (OK, one of the many) downsides of traveling with the pooch is the lack of dining options. Especially when it is raining.
We found a cute little diner called the Pioneer Café and the boys and I went in to order two seafood and chips combos to go while Steve stood under the awning with the dog. Steve scoped out an awning down the block, so we sat on the sidewalk in front of a closed business and had a picnic in the rain. Yup, we’re Alaskan. The cruise passengers enjoyed the show.
The food was really good. The platters were a combination of fried clams, shrimp, scallops, and cod with fries and garlic bread. We had cole slaw with one and macaroni salad with the other. Two platters were plenty for the four of us. It was a strange little picnic, but it was fun. Oh, and Malley liked the cod.
We continued our exploration of commercial Ketchikan; the guys formed a human totem pole
and we discovered a cute little shopping area called Creek Street.
I thought this was funny, and very Alaskan. The whole state seems to have a great sense of humor.
We stopped at an outdoor stand for mocha (hot chocolate for the boys) and began our 2.5 mile trek back to the ferry. Funny, it was much longer going this way.
Ketchikan is one of the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” sites. The airport is on an island across from the town. Now, one of the criticisms of the whole situation coming from the lower 48 is “Why the heck did they build the airport on an island?” Well, it is the only place that is flat enough to actually put an airport. The mountains and cliffs basically come out of the sea. In fact most of the people in town live like this:
I’m sure there is some sort of inspection process, but I still don’t think I would want to live up this road.
Just in case you’ve been dying to know the lyrics of the Alaksa Flag Song:
Shout out to my pirate peeps:
We made it back to the ferry with about an hour to spare, hung out in the room for a while and headed to the observation lounge to hang out. The boys had a great time watching the float planes take off and land as we were pulling away from the dock.
At about 9, we got the boys ready for bed, left them in the cabin to “go to bed” (i.e. watch a movie). Steve and I went to the bar for a while. We found the best bargain of the trip! $2.50 pint Alaskan Amber. Yay! Tony the bartender hooked us up and we settled in with a deck of cards. There wasn’t much in the way of entertainment in the bar – I guess our fellow cruisers weren’t talented enough. The bar has several guitars and a piano in the corner for “people powered” music, as Tony put it. Basically, if you can play an instrument you are welcome to pick it up and entertain. On our last cruise, there was a guy who played piano every night, but not this time. I figured no one wanted to hear me play the high part of Heart and Soul, which is the only thing I can play on the piano.
We settled in and played cards for a while. Eventually Steve started dealing Texas Hold ‘Em. I actually did pretty well during the first few hands, much to both of our amazement. Steve pointed out that the game changes when you add more people, so the next hand he dealt in an invisible third player who he named Fred. Since Santana & other Latin selections had been playing in the bar for a while, I decided that his name should really be Jorge. It is sad, but Jorge actually did pretty well with just blind hands. And Jorge never folds.
We head back to the room at about 11:30 and stopped on the deck to wave goodbye to Alaska and catch our last glimpse of the midnight sun.
Today was Ketchikan day. We were going to be in port for about 6 hours so we could get out and explore. We docked about an hour late at 11 a.m., grabbed Malley and headed out. It was raining. This was not a shock. It is pretty much always raining in southeast Alaska.
Last time we were in Ketch, we took a cab into the center of town, had breakfast and walked around the shops. Of course, at that time, Alaska souvenirs were new and exciting. This time notsomuch. Also this time, we had a puppy to drag around with us so she could have as much time out of the box as possible. So we had our comfy shoes, some of us had our ponchos, and a 2.5 mile walk to town.
Who didn’t have a poncho, you ask? That would be Nate. We all have waterproof anorak jackets that zip into their own pouch. Actually we each have 2 – one for each car. Well, Nate’s wasn’t in either car when we were packing & he had no idea where they were. Yes, he’s seven. It was just misting as we walked towards town and he was wearing a fleece sweatshirt, so I made him tough it out. I’m not mother of the year, but it works for us.
Amongst other things, Ketchikan is a cruise ship port. Of course the cruise ships pull up right in town, not 2 ½ miles down the road. Three ships were in port that day, Princess, Norwegian and some Japanese line. We bopped into a few gift shops and I looked for a $1 stupid-tourist-poncho for Nate. At this point the more embarrassing the better. I finally found a slightly glorified white trash bag with a gift shop name printed all over the back, wrapped our youngest the plastic bag, and off we went. By now it was really raining and we were hungry. One (OK, one of the many) downsides of traveling with the pooch is the lack of dining options. Especially when it is raining.
We found a cute little diner called the Pioneer Café and the boys and I went in to order two seafood and chips combos to go while Steve stood under the awning with the dog. Steve scoped out an awning down the block, so we sat on the sidewalk in front of a closed business and had a picnic in the rain. Yup, we’re Alaskan. The cruise passengers enjoyed the show.
The food was really good. The platters were a combination of fried clams, shrimp, scallops, and cod with fries and garlic bread. We had cole slaw with one and macaroni salad with the other. Two platters were plenty for the four of us. It was a strange little picnic, but it was fun. Oh, and Malley liked the cod.
We continued our exploration of commercial Ketchikan; the guys formed a human totem pole
and we discovered a cute little shopping area called Creek Street.I thought this was funny, and very Alaskan. The whole state seems to have a great sense of humor.
We stopped at an outdoor stand for mocha (hot chocolate for the boys) and began our 2.5 mile trek back to the ferry. Funny, it was much longer going this way.
Ketchikan is one of the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” sites. The airport is on an island across from the town. Now, one of the criticisms of the whole situation coming from the lower 48 is “Why the heck did they build the airport on an island?” Well, it is the only place that is flat enough to actually put an airport. The mountains and cliffs basically come out of the sea. In fact most of the people in town live like this:
I’m sure there is some sort of inspection process, but I still don’t think I would want to live up this road.Just in case you’ve been dying to know the lyrics of the Alaksa Flag Song:
Shout out to my pirate peeps:
We made it back to the ferry with about an hour to spare, hung out in the room for a while and headed to the observation lounge to hang out. The boys had a great time watching the float planes take off and land as we were pulling away from the dock.
At about 9, we got the boys ready for bed, left them in the cabin to “go to bed” (i.e. watch a movie). Steve and I went to the bar for a while. We found the best bargain of the trip! $2.50 pint Alaskan Amber. Yay! Tony the bartender hooked us up and we settled in with a deck of cards. There wasn’t much in the way of entertainment in the bar – I guess our fellow cruisers weren’t talented enough. The bar has several guitars and a piano in the corner for “people powered” music, as Tony put it. Basically, if you can play an instrument you are welcome to pick it up and entertain. On our last cruise, there was a guy who played piano every night, but not this time. I figured no one wanted to hear me play the high part of Heart and Soul, which is the only thing I can play on the piano.
We settled in and played cards for a while. Eventually Steve started dealing Texas Hold ‘Em. I actually did pretty well during the first few hands, much to both of our amazement. Steve pointed out that the game changes when you add more people, so the next hand he dealt in an invisible third player who he named Fred. Since Santana & other Latin selections had been playing in the bar for a while, I decided that his name should really be Jorge. It is sad, but Jorge actually did pretty well with just blind hands. And Jorge never folds.
We head back to the room at about 11:30 and stopped on the deck to wave goodbye to Alaska and catch our last glimpse of the midnight sun.
1 comment:
Hey M. Erik and I enjoy reading your blogs. We now know that when we leave ALaska in a few years, with boys and dogs in tow, it will not be by ferry. Keep us posted.
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