Alaska and the Yukon - Ketchikan, AK

July 25

Ketchikan, AK

I woke up feeling much better today, which was a relief.  We weren’t scheduled to be in Ketchikan until noon so after breakfast we watched the scenery go by as we sailed down the Inside Passage.

 

The local airport. You can see the special area for seaplanes in the foreground.

 

As we docked in Ketchikan our weather luck ran out as it was raining outside.  There were three other ships docked including another Holland America ship.  We hadn’t planned any excursions so we decided to just walk around town.  It was a bit of a wet walk, but we came prepared so it turned out OK.  We looked in the various shops and took in the sights.  Ketchikan is another Alaskan town that is only accessible by water or air and surrounded by wilderness.  After a while we tired of the rain and went back to the ship for a late lunch. 

We arrive in Ketchikan.

A few pictures of the town from the ship.

A Norwegian Cruise Lines, Regent and another Holland America ship.

Time to brave the rain and see the town.

Lots of commercial fishing boats.

 

The Statendam

 

Time to call it a day and dry off.

One interesting thing we heard was that there had been a derailment on the White Pass train we had been on.  When we got back to the room, I checked it out on the Internet and it turned out the derailment was on the same day we were on the train, just a little later in the afternoon.  Two engines and three cars were derailed, but thankfully there were only twenty-three minor injuries.  The train will be shut down for a few days while they investigate.

We didn’t do much the rest of the afternoon, but did go up to the Crow’s Nest and had drinks and snacks as we left Ketchikan.  Tonight we ate in the dining room and then spent some time in the casino before calling it a night.  We will lose an hours sleep tonight as we switch from Alaskan time to Pacific time.

Seaplanes were everywhere.

 

The Norwegian Cruise Line ship left before we did.