Ketchikan

If Sitka was the least touristy of our stops, then Ketchikan was the most.

There is a big harbor and just a huge shopping section there. There was a vending machine with used DVDs, something that I had never seen before, but that made a lot of sense in the context of the last major stop for many cruises. There was a lot of decorative artwork, and everything was well-maintained, and it was probably the best stop for nicer handicrafts. There were some great quilts and mobiles. (At the same time, some of it was quite pricey.) The shop staff that we spoke to were all very helpful.

For these reasons, this was probably the favorite stop for my sisters. I spent most of my time waiting outside for them to be done shopping, because I am not into that. Still, the stop was not a total loss because I got to pet a dog. I saw a dog in Juneau too, but I did not get to pet it, so in that specific area, Ketchikan was superior.

Of them, my favorite store was Christmas in Alaska. There are a lot of nice ornaments and decorations, but the really cool thing is that you can get your picture taken with Santa all year long.

Ketchikan was also the place where we came closest to going on a shore excursion. We tried to get tickets for the Lumberjack Show, but we waited too long. There was only one spot left for the 11:00 show, and we weren't motivated enough to go to the 8:15 show, so we did no official shore excursions on the entire cruise. It is much cheaper that way, though, some of the money could have been well spent. (There will be other posts on cruising in general and that specific time of year.)

Honestly, we probably should have taken the funicular, and gotten a view that way. Apparently that only costs $2.00. We did get fairly near there on our way to the library, but there were no free terminals, and we really weren't feeling it, so we got back on the ship. It was a short stop, leaving at noon, so we did have some concerns about making it back in time, and ultimately, that was our day.