Ketchikan, Alaska, US - May 16, 2023

Arrive: 7:00 AM         Depart: 3:00 PM

Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska. We actually arrived before 7 am. Holland American has the rights to the docks close to the street, they have been coming here since 1947, which I didn’t know. So, in the morning, I noticed the ship had stopped, I went onto our balcony in my nightgown after all it was our balcony. I quickly realized we were parked next to the road, I went back inside and decided to take my coffee upstairs with more clothes. 

Upstairs with more clothes and some coffee
I was watching the other boats dock, Carnival was one of them. 
If you ever come here by cruise ship, don't miss the view from the ship over to Ketchikan with its brightly colored houses, nested onto the steep hillside on wooden stilts, overlooking the Tongass Narrows. Also, remember Ketchikan has more Bald Eagles than residents.  Take the binoculars from your room and you will find a number of Eagle Nests around the town. The ship’s Naturalist will help you find them, like the one below. 

The homes are built on wooden stilts onto the side of the mountain so many of the streets as actual staircases.  

Ketchikan calls itself the "Salmon Capital of the World". If you read the book The Salmon Way by Amy Gulick, you will know why and what Salmon means to the Alaskan people. I will never look at salmon the same way again, or food for that matter. (I will have to do a separate post about salmon later.)

As we docked in Ketchikan, I saw a number of other cruise ships approaching, I was ready to get off the ship before the little town of about 8000 is flooded with Tourists, like myself decked out with backpacks and baseball hats. For comparison, Key West and Venice on average accommodate about two cruise ships per day. Population Key West is about 26,500 and Venice, 639,000. I know from experience what these towns are like when the ships arrive. The Ketchikan port can accommodate four cruise ships and at times some of them will tender. 

I made my way onto shore. There are tons of shops where you can find Alaska souvenirs, t-shirts, and hats making it the perfect place to do your shopping in Ketchikan, Alaska. I was looking for an Aleut Hat, not that I would wear it but I was reading about it in James Mitchener's Book Alaska and how they became the symbol of the Arctic. So I was curious. I think the Unangan hunting headgear and what James Mitchener called Aleut Hat in his book are the same; however, I didn't find one.

So, I went on the search for the giant chainsaw carving of a Bald Eagle.  It stands about 15 feet tall. On its wings, in colorful Tlingit Letters is Ketchikan written, which apparently translates to Thundering Wings of an Eagle. Don't forget to read the plaque.

I went the back way, but if you walk further into town you may want to stop by the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau and pick up a map. This is what I did mainly to conserve my iPhone battery. The Visitors Bureau is next to the Holland American dock. 

There were a number of places I wanted to check out, Historic Creek Street and Dolly Arthur’s house were at the top of the list.  

Creek Street is only about a 10-minute walk and if you read all the signs you will not get lost, click on this link for more historical markers, at times you need to pick and choose, unless you have enough time to do it all 

If you decide to visit Creek Street, don't be surprised, Creek Street isn't a street but a wooden boardwalk, which is an actual city street with no vehicles allowed. 

The wooden “stair streets” and wooden trestles provide access to homes that were built uphill from the waterfront. 

By now you may have noticed that Creek Street was once known as Ketchikan’s famed red light district and home to Dolly Arthur, the most famous madame in the 1930s. 

You may also read that during prohibition, bootleggers would wait until high tide to row their boats into Ketchikan Creek to smuggle booze through trap doors built in the bottom of houses. 

Today Creek Street is full of shops, restaurants, and private homes.

If you continue on the boardwalk through Creek Street, you’ll find Married Man’s Trail. Cute name because it was once the muddy path married men took to visit the working houses along Creek Street.

Today the wooden boardwalk, which is really beautiful, will take you up wooden stairs to a shady path along Ketchikan Creek. This is also where Salmon migrate to Ketchikan Creek from the ocean beginning mid-July to mid-September to start their journey upstream to calmer waters to spawn. 

Sadly we were too early but I was told it's a wonderful thing to watch. Ketchikan Creek plays an important role in the life cycle of thousands of salmon each year. At the end of Married Man’s Trail, you’ll see the Salmon Ladder built by the town of Ketchikan to help the salmon migrate up the rapids. 

The Creek Street Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Must-See in Alaska!

Another unique find at Creek Street is the Cape Fox Lodge Funicular. 

In recent years, the tram would take visitors 211 feet from the boardwalk up to Cape Fox Lodge on top of the hill for a fee of $2 then walk back down the hill through the woods. I had found out before we arrived that the Cape Fox Tram is permanently closed or I would have scheduled a lunch date at the Cape Fox Lodge. 

Ketchikan is also known for its large collection of totem poles.  
There are more than 80 totem poles and if you want to see the original ones you need to visit the Totem Heritage Center where they are carefully preserved.  The totem poles you see in Saxman Totem Park are authentic replicas. For a $5 fee, you can take a guided tour to learn about each totem pole. The local bus will take to Saxman Totem Park for $2 or you can walk. However, Saxman Totem Prak is located four miles south of the cruise ship docks and the Totem Bight Totem Park is located ten miles north.  I was lamenting the fact that I'm not able to run a seven-minute mile. However there are a number of them around town. 
If you are not interested in Totem Poles and you think one of them is enough, the Totem Pole of Chief Johnson is hanging out at the intersection of Dock Street and Mill Street near the entrance to Creek Street, then be sure you stop there and say hello to Chief Johnson's Totem Pole. 

This historic, massive creation stands 55 ft. tall. The pole is carved from one single western red cedar log and was the first authentic totem pole to be raised in downtown Ketchikan in over 50 years.In the Whale Park, someone was singing “I will always love you “ it was pretty impressive.  She was sitting to the left of the Chief Kyan Totem Pole. 
I made my way back to the ship for a late breakfast. We wanted to have lunch at The Crab King on Creek Street but after looking at the menu I changed my mind. At first, I couldn't decide if we should have lunch there or at Alaska Crepe Co.,

which is owned by a couple, one-half Parisian and one-half Alaskan, but as I said it was the late breakfast instead. 

Our tickets for the Lumberjack Show were at 11 am and the show was about an hour long.  If you want to check it out, there are between three and five shows throughout the day.  It is close to the port and you can easily fit it into your sightseeing, we stopped by a few museums. 

Ketchikan has surprisingly many museums and cultural centers.  You may want to check out this list.  Some of them have virtual tours, which I viewed before our trips to help me pick which ones I want to visit.  

Our next stop is Juneau 

5 Facts about Ketchikan

You can only get there by boat or plane.

The main source of transportation is by boat. Residents live in remote areas and islands without roads.

For transportation to the surrounding communities, Floatplanes also call "air taxis" are used.

Ketchikan is recognized as one of America's Top Small Arts Communities.

To get to the Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island, you need to take the ferry.