Ketchikan

We're kind of sad for this to be our final tour stop.  Once again we're told that the weather today is exceptional. Blue skies and sunshine followed us to this port.   Ketchikan is another quaint city on the Southeastern Alaska coast.  Even though it's pretty geared toward tourists, logging and wood pulp production industries keep the city busy year round.  We watched the ship pull in to port which is a production in itself.  As we're docking, we're also dodging airplanes.  The best way to get to Ketchikan, besides cruise ship is by float plane. The planes land and take off parallel to ship docks from both the water and the land runways.  Our friends rush off to an awaiting airplane for a 40 minute flight to see bears. Although it sounds fun, Rick and I decided to just take it easy today, walking around town.  When we visited Ketchikan before, Mark and I went zip lining so I didn't see much of the town.  Rick and I head down the street of shops, stopping in a few of them, though each shop seems to be stocked by the same supplier.  T-shirts, sweatshirts, shot glasses, pens, Ulu knives, every moose & bear-joke-covered-gear imaginable.  Every other store sells jewelry. I stopped in a couple of them just to look and felt like fresh meat!  The cruise lines own many of the stores, so I imagine they control the prices.   We walked down by the docks and up to Creek Street, a famous red-light district from days gone by.  The boardwalk follows the creek, stairs up the hill past some pretty run-down buildings with graffiti.  Why did we come here again?  Back down the hill, we stop at a bridge where locals fish for salmon. We see them swarming in the water. It is near the end of their spawning season when they swim up the creek, spawn, then die.  Lovely smell... We stop to eat lunch a place on the dock that serves fish, crab and salmon.  We stand in line and order, then eat near the windows watching the local fishing charters pull in and dock.  Halibut sandwich and Halibut tacos. We keep tailing about our favorite excursions, favorite meal, favorite place. The grilled halibut tacos are high on my list.   We head back to the ship, stopping at a few stores.  The temperature keeps climbing and by the time we re-board the ship, we're in shirt sleeves ready to sit on our balcony in the sun, watching the planes land on the water.  One of them had to be our friends returning from the bear excursion.  Soon they return and begin to tell their bear tales.  I cannot relay all their funny stories but apparently the bears were almost too close for comfort.  From their plane, they needed to hike a half mile down a bear-poo-covered trail.  At that point, I understand that Cary was giving Ellen the: "what have you gotten us into??"stare.  I think they had to time their outhouse visits with the bears wandering through.  I'm not sure if our friends were in any danger, but the bears were totally absorbed in their salmon buffet.  I think their pilot was trying to rattle them by flying low over the mountains. It sounds like a fun trip, but we had a nice quiet day anyway. Reservations for dinner at the Cajun Steakhouse. Our food was decent but we missed the service of Carlos in the dining room.  Jambalaya, blackened meat and chorizo were the spicer entrees.   After dinner in the theatre, the ships' performers put on a wonderful music show with a New Orleans theme. They really attract some great talent...Are you listening, Hannah??  Performing on a cruise ship might be kinda fun! Tomorrow, a day at sea on our way to Vancouver, then home. G'night y'all!