Our port of call for today was Kodiak, Alaska, United States of America. What a welcoming feeling being back in the good old USA. And a few facts are well worth printing. The capital of the USA is Washington DC and the population is somewhere in the 323 million range. The official language is English. It is a country of diverse cities from the East coast with NYC and Miami to the West coast with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to name just a few. The most famous areas include the music scene of the South, free spirits of Boston, the magnificent waterfront of San Francisco, and the jazzy French Quarter of New Orleans.
It is a country of 4 million miles of highways tying the deserts to the mountains and the redwood forests to the wheat fields. Favorite foods include deep fried Buffalo wings, fusion sushi, clam chowder, donuts, tacos, Reuben sandwiches, and Southern fried chicken. Wineries are in the hundreds if not thousands.
A city close to our hearts is San Francisco, where we were born and raised. Land of the fog and the bells of the cable cars, we have memorable moments there. Memories of a grandparent’s home in the Victorian house district and Sunday drives to the many outlying areas of the North Bay brings back distant thoughts of Napa, Sonoma, and Russian River. Yes, we left our hearts in San Francisco, as the song goes….
Well we were all pleased to have made it to Kodiak in the largest state of the union. We did not know what to expect after so many days of rough seas. So to wake up (later than usual) to see sunlight, calm seas, and majestic snow-covered mountains was such a treat. It was cold with the temperature at 37 degrees with 93% humidity. Winds were light with clear skies and some fog. That would change several times over the course of the day. By the way, the ship was at anchor and not docked. There is a dock capable of handling ships this size, so we are not sure why we tendered. One of us went to deck six forward to capture some pictures of those beautiful mountains before they got swallowed up with fog. Good thing he did that.
We did have a job to do after breakfast, and that was to attend the mandatory immigration inspection, which commenced a little later than planned. It was held in the Explorer’s Lounge where we were summoned by group numbers. Ours was group E at about 8:45am or later since we were able to attend anytime with the President Club status. All we needed were our room keys, passports, the customs declaration card, and the printed letter with our names, room and group numbers on it. The letter was never checked.
We were assigned the same agent who asked if we were 49er fans, which of course, we said yes. We would have added that the best memories were from the days Joe Montana played, but we guessed that he wasn’t even born yet. So we just said yes, we were big fans. He could not have been nicer, making us feel quite welcomed and proud to be “home”. Once we were cleared, we would be able to leave the ship.
We were not in a hurry to get off, so we returned to our room until after 10am. The announcements from Erin kept coming for the inspection until well after 10am, then they got urgent because not everyone was showing up as requested. Sometimes they are forced to call guests by name and room number, and believe us, that ruffles a lot of feathers. Those passengers end up blaming the misunderstanding on poor instructions.
First we met up with Kumar who cleared us for the elevator monitor who took us down to deck A and the tender platform. There was no line, and we easily boarded in calm waters. Looking at the remainder of our itinerary, this will be the final port where we have to tender ashore. Bet the crew are happy about that, except for the boat drivers who seem to have fun doing it.
There were some tours here today that included a self-guided one in Ft. Abercrombie State Park for 3.75 hours and $25. A Kodiak city drive was 1.5 hours for $65, and a walk through town and the harbor was 1.75 hours for $95. The best of Kodiak highlights was 2.5 hours and $120 and a rain forest hike was 2.5 hours for $150. That was the end of the reasonable excursions, then came a remote coastal rainforest hike and a gourmet seafood picnic and brewery that was 3.5 hours for $315. Finally, the most expensive one was a Kodiak sight-seeing ride on a wildlife cruise for 2.75 hours for $420 (no food listed).
By the time we reached St. Paul Harbor with a 15-minute tender ride, the skies were already losing their blue color and it becoming partly cloudy. Eventually, it was total overcast with fog covering the surrounding mountains. Talk about turning on a dime. Glad we did not leave the Arctic jackets behind because we never took them off. The tenders left us off right across from the Pacific Fisheries, the biggest factory in town that we could see. The nicest surprise was seeing so many bald eagles flying overhead and perched on the tall light poles. No doubt the fish processing plant attracts these magnificent birds for the easy pickings they discard. They had some other birds like the seagulls and the ravens pirating their fish. A mature bald eagle can measure 39 inches from beak to tail, and weigh up to 14 pounds. The other local birds are no match for their strength and their ability to rule the roost. Did you know that the bald eagle was designated as the national emblem of the USA in 1782? It is indeed one of the most striking birds of prey of North America.
We have been here a few times, but it has been several years since our last visit. Following the ship’s map, we found the main road into town that took us past the St. Paul Plaza, which was not your usual type of mall. We did see a sign saying there was a craft market inside today, but we figured we would save that for on the way back. We did see the local brewery, Kodiak Island Brewing Company, but it appeared closed until later. They claim to have a laid-back taproom with rustic Alaskan vibes. Not a restaurant we guess. Up the road a piece, we saw a McDonalds and several cruise guests heading that way. It would he a good morning to stop for coffee and take advantage of their free WIFI and restrooms. You might be surprised how many people do that in every port.
Climbing up the steep street, we thought we were dreaming when we spotted two Sitka deer does crossing the street. Cars had stopped going in both directions and we figured that was an every day thing here. We did get a photo before they disappeared between some apartment buildings. We turned right at the next street and found our way towards the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church on the hilltop. There was a bus stopped at the corner and also a group of walkers on the city tour heading to and from this old blue and white church with onion domes. It happened to be opened, so we climbed the steps to find that a priest was giving a talk to a group on the inside. We learned that there are over 225 million Orthodox Christians worldwide with more than 1 million in the United States. This friendly elderly priest explained a bit about their services and the icons we saw on the walls. He also added some history of the church itself, which burned down in the 1940’s. It was re-built to what we see today and has been thoughtfully preserved since then. He was quite opened to all questions, but since we were not part of the tour group, we quietly ended around the people and left. There was another small chapel further up the hill by the name of St. Herman’s Chapel, but we did not venture any higher.
Close to this church was the Alutiiq Museum or the Kodiak History Museum. It is situated in the oldest log house of Alaska, dating back to the pioneer days. It was filled with historic treasures from the 7500 years of Alutiiq people, and exhibits that explained Kodiak during the Russian and American periods. Photos from WWII, the 1964 earthquake and tsunami were on display as well as some Kodiak bears, eagles and Arctic fox mounts. It must have been opened for free today, since no one was collecting the $10 entrance fee.
There were two tourist info places down the street on Marine Highway and Center Street. One had a good selection of printed info on excursions, hotels, restaurants and more. We picked up a local map which was way better than what the ship provided. At the second Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center, we saw some neat interactive displays of wildlife on the island and even a simulated bear cave. Overhead was a full-scale whale skeleton hanging from the second floor ceiling. A local docent was giving a detailed talk upstairs, which we recalled the last time we were here. On one end was a shop with all types of souvenirs and it was the busiest spot in the building. Talking with the young cashier, he recommended some pizza restaurants and what he considered to be the best. He was pretty hung up on Buffalo wings, which we bet he has for dinner tonight. He also added that the Volendam was the very first ship to stop here this year so far and welcomed us profusely.
Back outside we headed back to the St. Paul Plaza – the mall we passed earlier in the morning. Going in a side door, we discovered a mini-mall with small boutique shops and typical craft stalls in the center aisles. There were coffee shops, bakeries, and a produce co-op, as well as souvenir stores. One thing we have noticed is that every indoor building was heated more than we are used to. Leaving our jackets on, we did not last long in this mall and headed back outside where some of the bigger and better restaurants were located.
Close to Safeway Liquors, we located an Italian restaurant called Aquamarine Café and Sweets. Compared to the larger Henry’s Restaurant next door, this venue was more like a mom-and-pop diner with limited seating. And they had an extensive variety of pizza in 2 sizes….14 and 16 inch pies. Besides us, there were only a few cruise ship guests in there, which we prefer. We ordered Modelo draft beers which were reasonably priced at $7 a pint. The pizza we chose was the 14 inch Hawaiian with half ham and the other half pepperoni. It was quite good, although we still vote for the best Alaskan pizza is the ones we have in Skagway. Too bad it is not on this itinerary. When the café began filling up with some of the fish factory workers, we continued on our way back towards the ship.
At St. Paul Harbor where the tenders were, we sat on a bench overlooking the fish factory. What a show we had watching the eagles, ravens, and seagulls fight over fish. There was even a sea lion that popped up occasionally gulping a breath of air as it dove back down. All-in-all, Kodiak is unlike the other ports in Alaska because it is one of the least “touristy”. Yes, there are some souvenirs to be had, but none of the big box stores and highend jewelry places you see in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan.
We boarded the tender for the 15 minute smooth ride and ended back on the ship by 3pm . All aboard was 4:30pm, when Captain Frank came on with his daily report. He stated that he hoped everyone had a good day here, after such a long and rocky stretch at sea. He said we would be leaving by 5:30pm with 570 nautical miles to go to Sitka on Sunday April 26th. He expected 6-foot swells, 15 knot winds, and temps in the 40’s. Partly cloudy skies were predicted with zero % chance of rain. All decks would be opened for this crossing, which would be directly east. Sunset would be 9:45pm and sunrise at 6:30am. He advised us all to keep an eye out for otters, eagles, sea birds, and sea lions as we left the harbor. Best info yet…..NO TIME CHANGE.
It wasn’t long after leaving the protected harbor that we spotted some sea otters. Near the rocks and kelp beds, we saw hundreds of otters in rafts, most all of them watching us as we sailed past the ringing red buoys on the port side. Watching from our veranda, we got oodles of photos of the wildlife. Lucky for us, the fog had lifted and the skies were mostly clear making for a nice, but cool sail away. Today we also received our 2 week delivery of flowers and Coke Zeros…always appreciated. There should be one more delivery left in May.
It appears that our computer is working better now with transferring files. It remains slower than we like, but all was not lost. We are slowly catching up on reports.
Dinner was “dressy” this evening. Why, we do not know. Everyone we know said why? Usually these nights are reserved for sea days when the folks are not worn out from tours and walks. The dressy night menu looked a lot more like formal menu with the usual fancy starters. We ordered one Caesar salad and one salad nicoise with tuna. Usually, the tuna is cooked thoroughly and served flaked on the salad. Tonight, there was a hunk of almost raw fish on it, that I could not eat. I love tuna but not raw. Our entrees were one grilled shrimp with a tenderloin steak and one parmesan-crusted chicken with a honey mustard drizzle. Both were barely warm, which we had to remind our waiter we like our food hot. Even if we have to wait longer, we don’t mind.
Vivace was playing music in the orchestra pit, and we did notice the Captain and his wife were hosting a table in the lower dining room. We figured the guests were some of those leaving either in Seattle or San Diego.
One thing we have noticed has to be with the change of having no wine stewards anymore. Now the waiters have to serve the bottled wines, which often takes time away from their normal service. The waiters have to log in the bottles in the computer as well. There is no problem with the folks who purchased the Have-It-All plan since their beverages are served by the bar staff. With such a low numbers of guests right now, that will change when more folks board in Seattle and San Diego.
The entertainer this evening was a comedian Tim Nutt with “Scruffy Logic”. The question we asked is what is this show about? Years ago, we asked cruise director Bruce why there wasn’t a good description of the acts. His answer was that if they got too detailed on the shows, no one would go. Amusing answer we thought.
Looking forward to one sea day on the way to Sitka.
Bill & Mary Ann
