What do you call it when the rain isn’t falling, the breeze isn’t blowing and the day isn’t cold and bitter? A rare, sunny day in Ketchikan, Alaska’s rainiest town. Why just yesterday they had almost three inches of liquid fall from the sky. How lucky were we to see the sun? What a wonderful day. Here is the view as we sailed in.
After a leisurely morning and a relaxing early lunch, we decided to amble from the ship to Creek Street, the infamous red light district of by gone Ketchikan. As we made our way along the dock I stopped to take this photo of JoAnn as she luxuriated in the sun.
We passed through the downtown district. Although there were at least four other cruise ships in town it did not feel the least bit crowded. The downtown area, including Creek Street, is architecturally reminiscent of what one would expect in the gold rush era. The buildings are painted in bright, warm colors and flowers abound throughout the town.
Creek Street, with its welcoming totem pole,
is colorful and loaded with shops selling gold nuggets, artwork, fabrics, more artwork, knives, jewelry and many other interesting items. Creek Street is actually a boardwalk mounted on stilts on the east side of Ketchikan Creek. Here are a couple of photos taken along Creek Street.
Historically, Creek Street was where one could find booze during the Prohibition Era and women in bawdy houses for entertainment. The history of Creek Street is fascinating and worth a read.
We crossed over to the Stedman Street Bridge as we left the old red-light district. There were a number of people gazing over the bridge, looking into the water.
As we mimicked them, we saw salmon clustered together trying to swim up the creek.
Time and tide wait for no man and so we decided to make our way back to the Noordam. As I suggested before, Ketchikan is a colorful town and all along the dock are these bright, vibrant banners.
As we walked along we saw some interesting art along the way. The sculpture is entitled “The Rock” and is dedicated to the founding of the town. The fence is just a colorful piece we happened upon.
The Noordam is a welcoming view for those of us with achey, tired feet. Here it is tied up and waiting just for us.
One thing we saw in all the ports was float planes. They are a vital form of transportation and an interesting way to take a tour. Here is a series of five photos as a plane was approaching for a landing along side of our ship.
What a beautiful day we had in Ketchikan. Perfect weather in the rainiest town in Alaska. Now, all we had to do was sit back and relax. Our last day is rapidly approaching and it will be a day at sea. Unfortunately, we are going to have to pack as our time on board is coming to an end. Oh well; it’s one of the inevitable parts of cruising and one we readily accept in return for all the pleasure traveling provides.
Travels with Cappy 