Welcome to part two of my Alaskan blog, which will Cover Ketchikan and Juneau. Ketchikan is located 722.3 miles to the north of Vancouver, B.C. and takes a little over 21 hours to get there. By the time we awoke the next morning, we had arrived in port in Ketchikan. I was extremely excited, because I was finally in Alaska! After a quick breakfast, we put on our rain jackets and walked down the gangway off the boat.
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| View of Ketchikan from the cruise ship |
Ketchickan is a beautiful city, located on the inside passage of Alaska along the Tongass Narrows. Ketchikan is one of the most popular ports of call for the many tourists traveling via curise ship in the summer months. Ketchikan is usually an in and out port with visitors leaving the same day they arrived. Ketchikan is one of the rainiest cities in North America, so you must always bring a rainjacket and prepare for anything. We were lucky and did not have any rain the day of our trip.
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| Welcome to Ketchikan Sign |
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Our day in Ketchikan was fairly short, I would have liked to have more time there. We started out our day taking a short funicular ride from Creek Street to Cape Fox Lodge, a beautiful facility overlooking the marina. The ride costs $2 and can be validated at the top for day use if staying at the hotel. Other than the hotel, there are some very nice totem poles with a brief history of Ketchikan.
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| Totem poles at Cape Fox Hotel |
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After viewing the Lodge and totem poles, we boarded the funicular and rode back down the hill to Creek Street. Historic Creek Street is a beautiful boardwalk built on pilings along the Ketchikan Creek. It is a popular tourist destination for those who port for a day in the town. An interesting fact about Creek Street is that it formerly was the Red Light District in the town. The once bustling district filled with fishermen, loggers and outdoorsmen is now a tourist mecca. The 'tourist trap' shops are plentiful and there is a museum, Dolly's House the heart of the Red Light District, now available to tour. As you walk along Creek Street you may catch sight of wildlife and be sure to stop and look at the beautiful totem poles.
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| View down the Creek Street boardwalk |
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| Another view of Historic Creek Street |
As our day in Ketchikan drew to a close, we decided to head back to the boat. We walked through the more commercial part of town, stopping at several stores and taking plenty of pictures. It was a very fun day and luckily the weather held up very well for us!
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| A view from the gangway |
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| The dock where our ship was anchored for the day |
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| Posing by our ship the M.S. Veendam |
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| Another view of the ship |
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As we sat down to dinner that night, we weighed anchor and started the journey to Juneau. We cruised into the early hours of the day and made port the next morning. The trip in total takes about 10 hours and is roughly 310 miles from Ketchikan. Juneau, pronounced 'JOO-noh' is located along the Inside Passage and is the capital of Alaska. What is unique about Juneau is the only way in is by sea or land, making it a very different capital city. Juneau is often described similarly to Seattle, only with more cool and rainy days. Like Ketchikan, there is no shortage of rainfall in this Alaskan city.
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| View from the public transportation on the way to Mendenhall Glacier |
Juneau is another major cruise ship port of call in the late spring and summer months bringing hoards of tourists daily. A nice thing about Juneau is that it is not a hard city to get around the downtown area. There are some slightly hilly areas, but overall it is very tourist friendly. There is a nice public transit service which offers rides for $2 one direction and takes you to various places such as Mendenhall Glacier.
Our agenda for the day in Juneau was first a trip out to the stunning Mendenhall Glacier. We used Blue Bus tours through our cruise and took the Mendenhall loop to the glacier. The glacier is roughly 12 miles long and 12 miles from the downtown area. Unfortunately, the glacier is receding, roughly 1/75 miles since the late 1950s.
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| Mendenhall Glacier |
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| My family in front of the glacial lake Mendenhall formed |
After our trip to Mendenhall, we piled back onto the bus and headed back into to town to look at shops and some more famous sights. It was fun to walk along the street, and look in the stores. We stopped at the famous Red Dog Saloon, the oldest man-made tourist attraction in Alaska. This saloon was world famous during the mining days and has quite a wild history of patrons. In fact during the mining days, the saloon was only a tent on the beach! It has sure has come a long way since those days! The saloon offers drink and souvenirs all with swinging doors and sawdust floors. This is one attraction not to miss, it is a lot of fun and minors are allowed in certain sections.
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| Drinks at the Red Dog Saloon |
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| View of the interior of the saloon |
My next entry will cover Haines and Skagway. Until then, cheers!
