Monday 24 June 2013 Ketchikan, Alaska

We were up at 8 for breakfast and then went out on deck while we sailed through the narrow channel leading to Ketchikan. It was like sailing through an airshow, with float planes coming and going on both sides of the ship. We docked on time at 10 and were ashore about half an hour later. We wandered around the shopping area for an hour and checked a few stores before joining our tour. The dock area here was the most touristy so far, with a couple of blocks of new retail development aimed at the cruise ships. The tours here weren’t too appealing and our stay here is pretty short, but we booked one anyway just to do and see something. The tour was a bit disappointing. We were with a small local tour company that seemed to have been squeezed out of the prime locations by the big operators. We visited a couple of local scenic spots before going to a display of totem poles, however, we were not allowed inside the native lodge house and our guide gave his commentary from the edge of the area rather than inside like the other guides. He was pretty laid back though, so maybe it was just him.

Finally we were dropped off at the home of a legendary local Madame. She died in 1971 and her house was preserved with many artifacts from her time here, beginning in the early 1900s. It was fairly interesting.

 

We returned to the ship and had lunch at 3. We wandered around for a while, ending up in the Crow’s Nest for happy hour at 5, followed by dinner as we departed the dock at 5:30. We sat with a couple from England tonight, although she was originally from Scotland. We again took in the live show at the theatre at 8. After that we went to the movie theatre, joining Identity Thief half way through then watching the first half immediately after. We like Jason Bateman, but did not go to the movie in the theatre at home because it was not well reviewed. This seemed like a good opportunity to fill some time and satisfy our curiosity.

Weather: Ketchikan is renowned for its rain. It is supposedly one of the two or three rainiest places in North America. Our guide said they average 152 inches per year with a normal low temperature in winter of about 15 degrees F due to the moderating effect of the ocean. Today was an anomaly. It was sunny and warm with a clear sky as we sailed into port and remained that way throughout our touring. At one point I heard someone say it was 76 degrees F, about 24 or 25 C. Our driver complained continuously about the heat. When we got back to the ship at 3 there was a black cloud behind the mountain and there was a small rain shower while we were in the Crow’s Nest at 5. While we were in the dining room at 6, there was steady rain with lightning.