Today we toured Ketchikan. Our last Alaska stop. We we’re scheduled for a 10:30 am kayaking shore excursion so we got going early so we could see a little of the town before heading out on our adventure. It is a neat spot. The Ketchikan Creek cascades right through the town and old buildings are built overhanging the rushing water. They are cute tourist shops now.
After one wrong turn and a missed bridge, we found the Totem Heritage Center. The old totem poles, now protected inside and behind glass were interesting. They reminded me of the Celtic carvings we saw in Ireland, although those were much, much older.
We made a quick potty stop back at the ship before reporting for our kayaking tour. There were nine of us on the tour, a nice small group. We loaded on to a bus and they drove us to a dock where we got on a zodia that took us to the beach for the kayaking. It was beautiful. We kayaked in the heart of the Tatoosh Islands. Much of this area is part of the Tongass National Forest one of the largest rain forests in the world. We were very fortunate when the drizzle we had on the zodiac ride to the kayaks stopped and the sun came out for the remainder of the afternoon. We saw eagles, seals and on the rocks in the water below us starfish!
Before heading back to the ship we bought a cute little carved bear. We asked if it was made in Alaska and the salesperson (being honest which was nice) told us no, that it was mass produced elsewhere and finished in Alaska. She explained that something carved in Alaska would be much more expensive (it was $28). She went on to explain that the bear was painted with Haida images on only one side because it represents how the Haida believe the spirit enters the afterlife. She pointed out and explained the images on the painted side. Now we have a story to go along with our cute little bear carving.
We had dinner with our cruise friends Kevin and Chris. The pumpkin ravioli were very good. The show tonight was the assistant cruise director singing broadway - she was excellent!
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