Ketchikan

We arrived in Ketchikan mid-morning today.

Ketchikan appears to be an interesting mix of stunning natural beauty and tourist kitsch.  

While once fishing fleets kept the town going, cruise ships now provide for the local fiscal wellbeing - at least during the summer.  There were six cruise ships docked here today.

Considering the number of tourists getting off the ships, the business district was surprisingly uncrowded.  We window shopped and cheerfully declined the offers of great deals on jewelry.  We did, however, find a day pack for John in  small but incredibly well-stocked department store.  It reminded me of department stores from the 1950’s and’60’s, before they fell victim to one-stop shopping and Amazon.  Only places as remote as this (accessible only by air and water) still support old-school retail.

After lunch we took a tour of the Potlatch Totem Park, which was disappointing.  After way too much standing around, we were herded around the privately owned reproductions of Haida traditional buildings and totem poles.

Our guide was enthusiastic.

But she spent too much time telling the imaginative tales about the totems and skipped over more in-depth details (John listened in on another guide who was explaining much more interesting facts, like about the genuine old canoe and wolf sculptures).

The park’s owner has his own collection of restored antique cars on display in a shop adjacent to the totem park.

There were some beautiful lilies, as well -

Once we got back to the ship, we headed up to the top level and settled into chairs in front of the windows to watch as we pulled away from the dock and sailed along the shoreline.

Oh - and despite Ketchikan’s well-earned reputation as one of the soggiest places on Planet Earth and very threatening-looking skies, we only experienced a very brief, light shower all day.