Alaska: Day Three

Ketchikan, Tuesday 6am-3pm

   We made it! We got to step on sweet sweet Alaskan soil! In Alaska's first city to be exact, Ketchikan. What a great first stop. First thing we did was head to the Totem Bight State Park. If we did the cruise expedition we each would have to pay around $45... Just to get a shuttle there drop you off and pick you up... WELL thankfully I did a ton of research before our vacation and read a lot of blogs of people who've been. Turns out a city bus cost $1! AND the park is free! So we only spent $2 in total of our day in the town. So make sure if you ever go on a cruise you do your research before hand. It will save you hundreds of dollars. They charge a ridiculous amount for some of the expeditions. Some are worth it but some are defiantly not. Plus if you do the local tours and fun stuff it actually goes to the towns who only survive on tourist money, that has to last them the whole year. So support the state not the cruise who've you already spent over a thousand dollars on!

   Bus ride was like ten minutes. They only have a few stops since in the actual town is all walking distance and most people just walk the streets. Not many cars at all. So anyway, this state park was filled with totem poles, obviously, it's in the name! They were so neat, all restored and is beautifully done. Plus it was a mini hike too, everything is so green, the grass and moss is very lush looking. Very different from CT. They had a stunning water view. We had a cloudy day and a very short light sprinkle at one point. But by the time we got back to the main area is was sunny. It was great weather since we heard it rains, A LOT. We lucked out, that's for sure. There was also a little cabin where Native Americans would gather. 

 Here is a little information about the park incase you're interested in learning a tid bit. Skip the next paragraph if ya don't care!

"With the growth of non-Native settlements in Southeast Alaska in the early 1900's, and the decline of a barter economy, Natives moved to communities where work was available. The villages and totem poles they left behind were soon overgrown by forests and eroded by weather. In 1938 the U.S. Forest Services began a program aimed at salvaging and reconstructing these large cedar monuments. By using CCC funds to hire skilled carvers from among the older Natives, two things took place: young artisans learned the art of carving totem poles, and totems which had been left to rot in the woods were either repaired or duplicated."

The first part we went to that most people didn't go to was through this little trail that lead you to the waters edge. Wow, the mountains were stunning with clouds lower than there tops. We walked where a tide covers the land. You could see old washed up logs, vibrant yellow/orange seaweed along the ground, rocks around the end. What a good first real view of the Alaskan nature. I got beautiful shots, it wasn't hard with this view!     Okay I'm going to spam you with photos from the park, then I'll go back to the town part! So enjoy the pictures!

   Next we took the bus back to the busy little town. It was so cute with cobble stone streets and adorable shops. Great views of towering mountains created the perfect backdrop. We just walked around and relaxed. Got a few souvenirs. Sean and I picked out a totem pole, hand carved. It was about a foot tall. I loved it. I of course got a tea mug and also one for my Mama. Mine had a little eagle on it, I picked that because we saw one at the park. We wanted to go to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. Though as we found it we heard the people cheering loudly and laughing. Sounded awesome and then walked up to the door and saw we missed the show by 4 minutes. The next show wasn't till 4pm, unfortunately we'd already have to be back on the ship by then.

 
   The view as our ship was leaving. We had gotten back to the ship at 1:30pm and decided to meet up afterward. So Sean and I napped, I woke up at 3pm but Sean decided he needed sleep so I headed up to the top deck at our meeting spot to watch our ship leave the dock with Tom and Tracy. What a beautiful town, imagine having these gorgeous tree filled mountains to look at every day. It's wild, I still can't believe we were there! We even saw a rainbow as we left!

 Eventually Sean awoke and we all went to the dinning area to eat dinner. We spent the night similar to the other nights, just walking around the ship and enjoying free food and good music!

- Christina

Alaska: Day One And Two
Alaska Day Four
Alaska: Day Five