{"id":521,"date":"2016-07-17T15:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-17T15:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/17\/catching-ketchikans-spriit-in-alaska\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:59:36","slug":"catching-ketchikans-spriit-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/17\/catching-ketchikans-spriit-in-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching Ketchikan’s Spriit in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nThursday,
\nJuly 7, 2016: <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nKetchikan, Alaska:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span><\/span><\/b>It was our last
\ndestination in Alaska\u2014Ketchikan. A place that became familiar to me a few years
\nago when a priest-friend of ours, Fr. James Valladaras, had served as Ship\u2019s
\nChaplain on a cruise liner and had sent us a postcard form this destination in
\nAlaska. Little did I dream that one day I would actually set foot on this spot.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>I
\nexpected Ketchikan to be little more than a touristic spot with kitschy
\nsouvenir stores and the chain jewelry stores that we have been seeing from
\nJuneau onwards. We arrived there about 9.30 am (rather late in the day by cruise
\nship standards). By this hour, we\u2019d found the time to have breakfast in the
\nLido. Eggs with meats for Llew, waffles with strawberry compote and whipped
\ncream for me washed down with hot chocolate. These breakfasts are quite
\nmagnificent. We also made ourselves bagel sandwiches (smoked salmon for me, ham
\nand cheese for Llew) to take aboard as we were not sure how much there would be
\nto see in Ketchikan and we did not want to have to waste time in a restaurant.
\nWe thought that a sandwich on the run would be perfect\u2014so we packed one each.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nJewelry
\nCharm Collecting:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>And
\nso it was that we raced from one jewelry store to the next to collect the free
\ncharms that are distributed and, in the process, we ended up collecting quite a
\nfew. I also bought a few bracelets on which we could hang the charms. I will
\nprobably give a couple of them away as gifts. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nExploring
\nCreek Street and Souvenir Shopping:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nThat task done, we
\nheaded towards Creek Street\u2014the best-known tourist spot in Ketchikan. This area
\nwas once the town\u2019s red-light district and it has been maintained as a quaint
\nand very pretty part of the state of Alaska. It is also known as Alaska\u2019s First
\nCity because most cruise liners stop at this port first\u2014in our case, the order
\nwas reversed and we arrived at Ketchikan at the end of our travels. Houses on
\nCreek Street are built on stilts over a tumbling river to which we had, alas,
\narrived just two weeks too early. Had we come at the end of July, we\u2019d have
\nfound thousands of salmon leaping all over the Salmon Ladder as they swim
\nupstream to spawn. My friend Bonnie had highly recommended this sight and I was
\nsorely disappointed that we missed it. Instead, we began to walk towards a
\nSalmon Hatchery, in the hope of finding some spawning salmon there. Sadly, the
\nhatchery was closed for renovation and we could see nothing. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>As
\nfate had it, however, we found ourselves just steps away from the Totem Heritage Museum<\/b> where a number of
\ngenuine, original totem poles gathered from all over the native settlements in
\nAlaska have been brought here for safe-keeping. There were several totem poles
\nall over town and several scattered about the entrance at this museum. We did
\nnot feel the need to enter it, so elected to walk back to town as we had
\ntrekked on a walking tour far out of the central tourist area. And then, as
\nluck would have it, we found a free shuttle bus that the town operates\u2014waiting
\nfor us to board it and take it back to the center. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>So
\nhop it we did\u2014and that was when we went souvenir and gift shopping in the
\nstores so that we\u2019d have a few trinkets to take back to family members. Of
\ncourse, we got our mandatory postcard and magnet and other little odds and
\nends\u2014and armed with those, we went out in search of Alaska\u2019s famous smoked
\nsalmon to take back as gifts. There were a few shops selling and shipping
\nsmoked salmon anywhere in the States. They offered samples\u2014served on crackers
\nwith a dab of cream cheese\u2014and I really did enjoy those nibbles (Llew does not
\neat fish). With some smoked salmon packs in our bags, we left and began to look
\nfor a spot where we could eat our lunch.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nLunch
\non the Dock and More Exploration:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>It
\nwas time for lunch for both of us were feeling peckish\u2014despite our big
\nbreakfasts, all the walking we are doing does work up an appetite. We found a
\nvibrant place on the Dock to sit and eat our bagel sandwiches and do a bit of
\npeople-watching\u2014which was a lot of fun as another cruise ship was docked right
\nby and was filling with passengers. Others posed by the sculpture of
\nprospectors in the Klondike. When we were done, we decided to go out and find
\nEdmund Street (aka Street of Stairs). And when we found it, we realized why it
\nwas so named. It is quite simply a street of stairs. You climb higher and
\nhigher (about 7 floors) to get some interesting views of the city\u2014a Lonely Planet<\/i> recommendation\u2014as Ketchikan
\nis built in tiers\u2014the more expensive housing is found the higher you go. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nVisiting
\nthe Southeast Alaskan Discovery Center:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Lonely Planet<\/i> had also stated that the
\nmuseum that would probably most appeal to short-time visitors was the Southeast Alaskan Discovery Center<\/b>.
\nSince it was right in town and was run by the National Parks Services, Llew and
\nI had free entry into it as we are National Parks members (entry is normally
\njust $5 per person). The most interesting aspect of the museum is the Rain
\nForest that has been re-created indoors with birds and animal life presented in
\ntaxidermied form\u2014this allowed us to finally see a brown bear! The museum also
\npresented very good exhibits on the Tlingit, Huna and Tshaimshin people who
\nfirst inhabited this region\u2014much of which was very informative. We did manage
\nto browse around for about an hour. And then when our legs began to give way,
\nit was time to think of returning to the ship.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nRelaxing
\nthe Evening Away:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n  <\/span> <\/span>     <\/span>Ketchikan
\nturned out to be a delightful place. We did have some disappointments\u2014not enough
\nwild life, no salmon to be seen at all, some charms not available as I did not
\nhave a particular coupon book that would have entitled me to them. But,
\noverall, it was a truly sweet place\u2014not just a touristic spot. Alaska\u2019s few
\ntowns revealed themselves to us in different ways and we were glad we
\nexperienced their variations. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Back
\nin board, we went directly to the Manhattan
\nDining Room<\/i> for some tea and nibbled at a few of the open sandwiches,
\nscones and assorted pastries that were offered: the raspberry mousse cake and
\nthe pecan tarts were simply divine and much against my better judgement, I
\nindulged as no one has a sweeter tooth that I do so. In fact, I have an entire
\nset of sweet teeth!!!<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>In
\nour staterooms, we caught up on email through our on-board internet connection
\nand switched on the TV to catch up with international news when we received the
\nawful reports about the shooting of a black man in Dallas that ended with the
\nsniper shootout that killed 5 policemen and seriously injured several others.
\nLike the rest of the country, we watched in horror as the events unfolded and
\nfor the rest of the evening we felt the sobering sense of being jolted out of
\nour bubble of luxury and unreality to come to grips with the fact that for the
\nrest of the world life goes on in its usual painful way. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nDinner
\nat Tamarind<\/i>:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Still,
\nbecause life had to go on, we had our showers and got dressed for the next item
\non our agenda: Dinner at Tamarind<\/i>,
\nthe pan-Asian restaurant on board where there is a nominal surcharge ($20 per
\nperson) for a really special meal. We had reservations for 8. 30 pm, which left
\nus ample time to get a cocktail in the adjoining bar called Silk Den<\/i>. I had a Mango Mojito which was
\nexcellent while Llew got a glass of red wine. As for our dinner at Tamarind<\/i>, it was quite superlative to
\nsay the least with service that was beyond outstanding. We started with the
\nSatay Sampler and Peking Duck in Chinese crepes for our appetizers\u2014both were
\nawesome. We got lamb, pork, chicken, veal and shrimp satays served with a spicy
\npeanut sauce and Peking Duck served with two pancakes served with hoisin sauce,
\ngreen onions, cucumbers\u2014all to be rolled and eaten. Llew and I shared them so
\nthat we had a chance to taste both (and they were both good). One can get
\nreally good sushi and sashimi in Tamarind<\/i>,
\nbut since Llew does not eat fish, we stayed far away from those offerings. For
\nour main course, we both chose the Asian-style Lobster Tail which was served in
\na spicy sauce and outside its shell. As an accompaniment, I chose the stir-fried
\nveg which included cucumbers, snow peas, mushrooms and scallions while Llew got
\nthe oyster and shitake mushrooms. The food was simply grand and we couldn\u2019t
\nhave been more delighted. For our dessert, we picked the Tamarind Chocolate
\nBasket which I had eaten on our cruise the last time and remembered to be
\nsuperb. I was not disappointed. It is a chocolate mousse tinged with the flavor
\nof ginger and served in a dark chocolate tart shell with berries on the side.
\nAs was to be expected, our entire meal was outstanding.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA
\nShow in the Theater by \u2018On Tour\u2019:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>We
\nwere running a trifle late for the late-evening (10.00 pm) show called \u2018On Tour\u2019
\nthat featured the singers and dancers of Nieuw
\nAmsterdam<\/i>, but we decided to go and catch as much of it as we could. And
\nboy, were we glad we did! The show was simply terrific with the most thrilling
\nsinging you could have wished for and well-choreographed numbers by obviously
\nwell-trained ballet dancers. Truly, just when we thought we couldn\u2019t possibly
\nhave a better time, along comes a show like this that simply sweeps you off
\nyour feet. It was grand. Sadly, we got just about 20 minutes of it but those
\nminutes were amazing. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nAnother
\nEvening at the Piano Bar<\/i> with Jimmy:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Just
\nwhen we thought we ought to call it a night, we passed right by the Piano Bar
\nand since our man Jimmy Maddox was doing an \u2018Elton John Night\u2019, it was hard to
\nresist. We settled ourselves on bar stools right by his piano and, for the next
\nhour, gave ourselves entirely to the pleasure of listening to him and joining
\nin wherever we could. He has truly been one of the treasures of our cruise and
\nwe were simply delighted to stay right up to midnight when he finally called it
\na night. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nWe returned to our
\nstateroom just astonished by just how much we are packing into our days as we
\nsettled down for the second last night in our stateroom. Because we were
\ninstructed to put our clocks one hour forward as we left Alaska behind during
\nthe night, it was already my birthday by the time we fell asleep. What a great
\nstart it was to my birthday!  <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\nUntil tomorrow\u2026                 <\/span> <\/span>  <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, July 7, 2016: Ketchikan, Alaska:             It was our last destination in Alaska\u2014Ketchikan. A place that became familiar to me a few years ago when a priest-friend of ours, Fr. James Valladaras, had served as Ship\u2019s Chaplain on a cruise liner and had sent us a postcard form this destination in Alaska. Little did… <\/p>\n

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