Alaskan Cruise - Day 3

Tuesday, May 30th-- Ketchikan, Alaska

We left home Friday and the kids early Saturday morning and are finally in Alaska! The scenery has been beautiful so far, we love having a balcony, but are ready to get on shore and do some exploring! Ketchikan was either tied or very close runner-up for my favorite day/place on our itinerary. We had a great day and apparently one of the very few sunny days they experience all year!

One of the first things we did after getting on dry land was call the kids. It was the first time we had reception since leaving Seattle and wanted to see how things were going. All was well, as anticipated, and the kids barely spoke to us. But Rose filled us in on all the happenings.

We walked around the town, it was a nice little place but we were there so early that hardly anything was open (we docked at 6:30am- took a few mins to get off the boat, of course, but still). Strolled through the famous Creek Street (red light district from the gold rush days), checked out the salmon ladder then headed to the 8:30 Lumberjack Show. Initially I wanted to take a hike I read about online when we first got there, but it was gonna be a tight squeeze.

The Lumberjack show was pretty neat. It was pricey, but everything seems to be. Still, probably my only chance to see one, at least in person, and Daniel thought it would be cool as well. So the show is a competition between 4 lumberjacks- 2 on the Canadian team and 2 on the American team. I think these 4 were all Americans, just the way the show works. You don't get to pick a side- unless you knew before coming in where to sit.

We were on the Canadian side of the stands aaaand we lost. BUT I got an autographed postcard for being the most excited fan after one of the competitions! Daniel swears he's the one that got it for me, but I was jumping up and down and screaming, so we'll agree to disagree on that. They threw in some humor too, so it was a fun way to spend an hour. The host was from TN so we talked to him for a few mins after the show.

After this, it was about time to head toward the rain gauge for our flightseeing tour over the Misty Fjord National Monument! We were in the air for a full two hours, plus about a 15-20 minute stop in the water to get out on land, but ours turned out to be floating on the water b/c we spotted bears! This was as fantastic as it sounds. Just beautiful.

bear

It was so hard narrowing down the pics, did the best I could. Every inch, every moment was picturesque. Of the 5 passengers, Daniel and I were the only ones to get out on the floats! They sure missed out. Standing out there, practically floating on the water (I mean, we were floating, but you know what I mean), it was majestic. Quiet, but in a tranquil way. Just amazing. Wonderful experience, so glad we did this tour.

When our exciting flightseeing adventure ended, it was time for lunch! We walked to a place recommended by locals and I got some delicious clam chowder and we split crab legs. After this we had a little time before heading back to the ship so we went to a museum that cost a few dollars, saw a video and learned a little about the indigenous people of Alaska. Very fun and exciting day, wish we could've stayed longer!

Back on board (by 2:30pm), we relaxed a little bit before heading to dinner then the evening production show, I got the Music. It was so good! I'm really enjoying the shows/entertainment on this ship. Then we went to the evening trivia- movie poster challenge where Daniel & I did pretty good, but didn't win. Then we retired for the evening watching movies in our stateroom, reading and relaxing. Just a great day.