Sitka was the port of call for today. Named New Archangel in 1804, the Russians settled this area with the intent of establishing the sea otter fur trade. Alexander Baranof named this city the Russian capital of Alaska. Sixty years later, the otter population was nearly decimated, so Russia eventually sold Alaska to the USA for $7.2 million in 1867. Seward’s Folly it was called, where the average cost per acre was 2 cents. Quite a deal considering the wealth of resources Alaska held in the future years. The capital was later changed to Juneau. Today the city of Sitka has 8881 people.
The Eurodam arrived to the Old Sitka Dock, where it was necessary to take a complimentary shuttle to downtown. Years ago, we used to tender ashore to the harbor closer to town. Smaller cruise ships still do this, if there is a larger ship in the port. It looked like the weather would be OK with no rain. It was very cloudy, but almost muggy. We probably did not need our arctic jackets, but they are the only waterproof coats we have with us.
On past trips here, we have taken tours, although most of them are on the water. Ship’s excursions ran from $60 to $230. One in particular that we enjoyed was the sea otters and wildlife boat tour for 3 hours. The Alaska Raptor Center, located a short distance from downtown, is an interesting excursion. If you can walk there, the price of admission is only $12. There is also a compound with bears, Fortress of the Bears, some of which cannot be re-located into the wild. Today, we chose to take a long walk to go in search of salmon and eagles.
That took us to the Sitka National Historical Park, the oldest park unit in Alaska. It was here that the indigenous Indians attacked the Russians in a fierce battle in 1804. Many died on both sides, but the Russians prevailed. This heavily wooded park is the home to 18 totem poles of the Tlingit and Haida tribes. There is a mile long hike from the visitors center, which leads to the Indian River.
We must have missed the warning sign that alerted walkers to the latest bear sightings. Last year there had been one in the park area 2 days before we arrived. Never saw it, thank goodness. Anyway, we reached the Indian River which was loaded with salmon swimming upstream. This time of year, the types are pink or chum. The king and sockeye were here earlier in the summer. Instead of eagles, the area was over-loaded with gulls and ravens. With so many salmon going upstream, there were plenty that lined the banks already dead and dying. The birds pretty much take care of that.
We continued up the trail to the bridge that crosses over the river. This time we turned right and headed up the opposite bank of the river, in hopes of seeing some eagles. No luck, we followed the loop until it brought us back to the footbridge. That pathway led us to the lodge, and eventually back to downtown.
Since we had to be at the bus stop by 3pm, we decided to go to lunch at the Westmark Hotel. We shared a salad and a burger with Alaska Amber beers. Expecting it to be more crowded, it was nice that the guests had already eaten and left. We still had time to walk around the center of town, where we finally got to photograph three eagles. Funny they hang out in town, and not where their food is.
We caught one of the last buses for the 15 minute ride to the old dock. The library is located at this bus spot, which also has free wifi. We need to mention that the internet on the ship gave us a lot of grief this morning. Assuming it would be better while we were in port, was wrong. It took over 45 minutes to get our report sent. One of the staff members came over to help us with another matter, and she admitted that the new system has a lot of negatives about it. So it is no wonder why so many of the people we know do not buy a plan on the ship. They go off in every port in search of the free wifi. Guess it still depends on where the ship is located as far as the availability of the signal. And it also depends on the number of people using the bandwidth. So nothing has really changed from the old system to the new one as far as we can see.
We got back to the ship by 3:30pm to a slight drizzle or heavy fog. There was no sail away happening on the aft deck, so we stayed on our veranda to watch the sail out of the harbor. Within minutes, the Captain was blowing the foghorn every five minutes. Downloading photos took up the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill, with the theme of Rudi’s Sel de Mer. The cuisine is heavily seafood oriented, but we always navigate around that. We ordered tuna salad nicoise, one with tuna and one without. We got the odd look from the waiter, but why order the fish only to waste it? The muse is always a grilled scallop, but knowing that one of us has an allergy to shellfish, they substituted a Mexican salsa in its place. First time that has happened, especially without a special request. The meal began with tapanades, olives, ratatui?, and bellpeppers. The best part was the loaf of French bread with salted herbed butter. Our mains were the steak with frizzled onions and French fries. Saving a bit of room for dessert, we had one order of profiteroles and one apple tart with salted caramel ice cream. The service and food were excellent, as were every staff member there. Seems they all knew our names before we arrived.
While on deck two, we walked through all of the venues near the restaurant. The BB King All Stars were playing full force, while the billboard onboard were playing their dueling pianos. The adjacent casino was half full of folks playing slots or the table games. There was one show this evening, Dan Chopin, a comedian with great jokes and funny songs. Guess we could have gone to this show, but we did not realize it began earlier than usual. Too bad we don’t care for that type of entertainment.
Good time to head back to our room, since tomorrow’s port of Ketchikan begins at 7am. It will be a short stay with all aboard at 12:30pm.
Bill & Mary Ann
