We drove from here to Seattle where we spent the night before boarding our shuttle-bus to the pier in Vancouver, B.C. That made crossing the border a whole lot faster plus when we flew home to Sea-Tac from Fairbanks we just picked up our car at the hotel kept which kept it for $8/night, a big plus.
We sailed from "Canada Place" on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas. This particular class of ship has lots of outside windows and walkways. I highly recommend it. This is Phil and our friends, Dave and Nancy Jones, waiting to set sail - about an hour late, of course. We had a lifeboat drill later on. Kids wear a wristband and staff are responsible for their wherabouts in an emergency. Parents are told not to go looking for them.
This was an inside pool in a very tropical setting. We never did get into a pool. Too busy.
This is called the Centrum. It's the center of the ship and can be accessed from all the floors 4 and above.
Entertainment went on here from afternoon on. The ship also had a movie and stage theater as well as numerous other venues. There were 2 elevators that traveled the inside of the Centrum and 4 that traveled on the "outside" of the ship.The stage shows were great: comedians, performers..
We played miniature golf a couple of times but being on the stern of the ship was windy and not so warm. Our friends are avid golfers but we held our own.
This was one of 2 formal dinner nights. We didn't always eat in the main dining room but when you do you are treated like royalty. This was the first time I've eaten where all the dishes, glassware and utensils were just like those teaching charts! The waiter pulls out your chair and places the napkin in your lap. If you dine at the same time you get the same waiters and by the end of the week they know you well.
This would be the only sunset we observed for any length of time. Not only was it overcast a lot but the farther north we got the less dark it was. The last week of our trip we didn't have darkness at all until we flew home. It's very weird to look at your watch and notice how late it is without it being dark! Our hotels had heavy curtains so that wasn't a problem. Staying up too late can be.
Our first port of call was Ketchikan. This was the biggest tourist town of them all, I think. Lots of shopping opportunities everywhere you went, some quite casual and others very nice. Lots of places for local artisans to sell their stuff - and there is a lot of beautiful stuff. What else can they do during the long winters?! Some of the towns close down in September - no one lives there in winter.
Look who we rant into! Our friends have a joke in their family that they're related to Bigfoot so this was great (Dave is short). His companion would take 3 photos with your camera for $5. Very enterprising I must say and goodness knows many such enterprising people could be found. On the ship photographers wander around taking your pictures either formally or with the scenery or with a "dolphin", "orca", "eagle"...and then post them in the studio for you to buy at $10 or more.
This is part of the original section of Ketchikan. Built on a river and accessed by boat. During prohibition days you could get bootleg booze delivered througth secret doors in your floors. Saw an otter chasing fish up the river here.
Of course brothels prospered here as well. One in particular is called "Dolly's" and you can tour the place. It's really small. This is a sign on the trail that leads from the family homes above to the backside of town. If you're single you'd come in the front way, of course!
We took a tour and the guide took us to see the wildlife and totem village. This was just 1 tree FULL of eagles. They were flying around "like robins". Our guide, an older gentleman, was born and raised here and was very informative. This particular tree was next to an inlet and the salmon were swimming upstream.
I managed to catch this fish as it jumped. It was happening a lot.
Here's some as they are swimming.
And this guy was sitting not far away. Our guide said in a few days bears would be gathering here as well.
Our guide then drove us up the road a ways to this waterfall. It was tucked off the side of the road. It's called "Rainbow Falls".
We then went to this Saxman Village. These
totems were rescued or restored during the depression by the WPA. They came from various places and placed here. Our guide told us many of the stories accociated with them - I can only remember a few. I love totem poles and to see so many - all over Alaska - was really cool. They are all so different. Those made by natives are costly. They can celebrate many things and some are built as doorways to homes.
The first one just right of the center pole is a "shame" pole. If someone owes a debt, the person to whom it is owed can place a shame pole until the debt is repaid. In this case it's Seward. A potlatch was held in his honor and he failed to reciprocate even during his lifetime. His descendants came to the village a few years ago to repay the debt and have the pole removed. However only the original people involved can do that so their offer was declined and the pole remains.
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