Wake up this morning was, um, early again (5:30 a.m.). We weren’t due into Sitka until around 10:00 a.m., however, I wanted to see our approach, as I we had never visited Sitka on past cruises.
When I got on deck, we were surrounded by forested pines under partly sunny skies. An Alaskan Marine Highway ferry, the Taku, approached us to our left. Ahead of it, humpback whales were spouting and diving in the distance. We saw a majestic bald eagle in the pine trees, before I had a chance to get my camera in position. There were several fishing boats out with their nets in the water.
Around 7:30 a.m., the breakfast call was made over the intercom and Carol & I headed to the dining room. Sitting at a table for four, we were joined by the two sisters from Springfield, IL. We shared what we all had planned in port. Carol had the Western omlette with bacon, while I had the Mushroom omlette with bacon. The bacon throughout the cruise was excellent; on the slightly thick side. The omlettes, while good, seemed slightly miniature compared to omlettes enjoyed at hotels and restaurants.
We arrived in port just before 10:00 a.m., with Sitka on your right and Mt. Edgecumbe on our left. Tour buses met us at the dock for our included tour, a brief city tour, followed by the visit to Sitka National Historic Park. The bus driver was witty, with his “tongue & cheek” sense of humor and showed us around town. We then arrived at Sitka National Historic Park where a short tour was provided. We felt comfortable that we could tour the park on our own. Plus, we had plans to visit the nearby Raptor center, then to walk back into town before returning to the ship.
We were surprised at how short the included tour of Sitka National Historic Park was. We had just arrived at Indian River, where salmon could be seen struggling to swim upstream to spawn before dying. We then heard people who got off our bus returning to the bus. We were very glad that we decided to go on our own.
From an arching bridge over the Indian River, we could see hundreds, if not thousands of salmon, swimming in place. We couldn’t figure out why they would just swim in place, instead of swimming forward. All we could think about is what a great place this would be for bears. We found out later that a few people did see a bear in the park. The closest we came was a sighting of bear poop.
Once we were done watching the salmon, we headed to the path that would take us along the shore and to the totem poles. About every 100 feet, there was another totem pole. Some were natural and others were painted in the familiar Tlingit color scheme of red, black, and sometimes turquoise. From time to time, the path would open up to beautiful views of the town, with Mt. Edgecumbe in the background. We found ourselves taking as many pictures of tree formations and fungus as we did of totem poles (we’re weird). When we approached the furthest point, before it looped closer to the Indian River side, it opened out onto a rocky beach, which we explored. Looking at the time, we agreed to skip the Raptor center and just take our time returning to town and the ship (a good choice).
On our way back from the rocky beach, we ran across yellowish orange berries, similar to raspberries, called salmonberries (of course). We wanted to taste them, but were afraid we’d chosen the one poisonous berry in the park.
Once we left the park, it was only a short 15 min. walk back into town. Along the way, we ran across several points of interest. One was the Sheldon Jackson College Aquarium & Hatchery, hosted in an abandoned-looking brick structure. Inside, there were tanks of various local creatures. I’d strongly recommend this place if your in this area, as the touch tanks are a wonderful experience. I got to touch sea anemone and starfish, something I had never done.
We then continued on, past the Russian Bishop’s House, which is operated by the National Park Service. We found a lovely artisan shop where I was again tempted with many native art items.
We arrived in the heart of town, hungry. While many of the people who took the included tours went back to the ship for lunch, we decided to eat locally. On the way to the park onboard the tour bus, we past by the Westmark Sitka Hotel, promoting their Alaskan King Crab legs. When we returned to town, the banner promoting the crab legs continued to stare us in the face. So we decided to give it a shot. The first clue that something might be amiss was the sign at the entrance to the Raven Dining Room stating “all out of Alaskan King Crab legs.” This didn’t bother us though, because we weren’t all that interested in the crab legs. We viewed it as a sign of great seafood. Well, long story short, we were disappointed. The dining room was served by waitresses that acted more like bartenders. And we were shocked to see simple halibut fish & chips selling for $30. They didn’t live up to their price. But I did get another Alaskan Amber out of the experience.
We walked through town, looking in the windows of all the various touristy shops. We stopped by Saint Michael’s Cathedral, another leftover of the Russian rule days (actually a replica as the original burned to the ground years ago).
We then came upon a place we had saved room for; the Harry Race Pharmacy. A pharmacy, you ask? Why of course, for some of the best milkshakes around. I had a vanilla malt, while Carol opted for a scoop of maple nut in a waffle cone. Yummy! The funny thing is, we found out after the cruise, that this is not the place our travel agent suggested (though the captain of the Spirit of Yorktown mentioned Harry’s as well). She was referring to Lane 7, a shack closer to the cruise ship. A funny story on Lane 7, as told to us by the tour bus driver. He said that the building was part of a larger building located across the harbor, which hosted a bowling alley. Something happened to the bowling alley and the took only lane 7 across the harbor to its current location and turned it into a sanctuary for hamburgers and milkshakes. Go figure. Only in Sitka.
We continued our walk back to the ship. Much of this portion of Sitka is fisheries and run down buildings. As we approached the ship, we did have a bald eagle soar immediately overhead, at a low altitude. Never back home.
We got back onboard ship with about 30 mins. to spare. Sitka was such a nice place, we wanted to explore for several more hours.We weren’t quite sure why we had to sail off by 4:00 p.m., however it may have been due to the tides.
We camped out in our cabin and took a nap until the social hour and appetizers at 6:00 p.m. The expedition leaders also covered the daily recap and the expected highlights for the next day.
At 7:00 p.m., dinner was served. Carol, not interested in the featured offerings, had the mushroom quiche, while I had the Seafood Bouillabaisse, which was tasty. We also had a spinach salad which was good as well. For dessert, Carol had the scoop of ice cream, while I had the strawberry shortcake.
Several people remarked that Caro, & I were able to explore much more of the park than they were. And that the Raptor center, while nice, wasn’t worth the time dedicated to it.
Nikki, the expedition leader, presented on humpback whales, as we were to be cruising through Frederick Sound the following day. After a few sips of hot apple cider, we were back in our cabin for a nice restful night. For some of us, it was early to rise (guess who?).
