Ketchikan, Alaska:
We arrived at our first port, Ketchikan, which is one hour behind Los Angeles time. The evening prior, I set the alarm on my phone, not realizing the lack of service would prevent the clock from updating. Yikes! My alarm woke me 1 hr early after a very late night. It took me only a minute to realize I could go back to sleep, but just like a child on Christmas morning, I couldn't stop myself from looking at my first view of Alaska.
So beautiful, even with the slightly rainy weather! Lesson learned, next time I'll use the ship's wake up call when there is a time change.
With no excursion planned, my friend and I decided to wander the town. We stopped in some shops and made our way to Creek Street, otherwise known as the former red light district.
Though there were three other ships in port (Voldendam, Millennium and Norwegian Sun) the town seemed relatively quiet. After a stop in my favorite shop, we rode the tram up to Cape Fox Lodge. This quaint lodge includes a hotel, restaurants, gift shop, and a totem circle which is representative of the culture of the Northwest Coast peoples. Best of all is the view overlooking Tongass Narrows and the historic downtown. This was a new experience for me, which added knowledge to my Alaska arsenal of wisdom. The view and totems were worth the short, inexpensive ride.
On our way back to the ship, we stopped by the Tongass Historical Museum to view the current exhibit of Native artifacts. It was interested to learn how storytelling through craft is passed from one generation to the next.
As we were walking up the gangway of Crystal Serenity, another passenger spotted a bear on a nearby ridge! I was so excited! Can you see it?
We rushed back to my cabin and grabbed the binoculars, but when we looked again we noticed that the bear hadn't moved. Upon further investigation, we realized that the bear was actually a tree stump! This disappointment didn’t last long as we had an evening of fun planned ahead of us.
As the ship set sail, we attended Magic Castle at Sea. Only a limited number of guests are able to attend this close up magic show put on by a member of Hollywood's Magic Castle. Tickets are complimentary through a quick visit to the ship’s librarian, but they are first come, first serve. I always tell my clients to request tickets early. As an extra bonus, these tickets also provide for future entrance into the Magic Castle in Hollywood!
Our evening began with our butler delivering Nobu sushi to our suite at 6:00 p.m.. What a spread! Good thing this was shared among 6 people, because dinner was around the corner at 8:30! Were we really going to attend dinner in the Crystal Dining Room after this? You bet! Crawling into bed that night, completely satisfied, I looked forward to our next port, one of my favorites.
