As the sun came up we arrived in Ketchikan, the rainiest city in the continental United States. Ironically the rain had stopped as we enjoyed our first dry day since Juneau. Like Juneau, Ketchikan is a port for the large and very large cruise ships. We were dwarfed by thirteen floor behemoths that disembarked several thousand passengers.
The central tourist area of Ketchikan is Creek Street. In the early days it was the location of all of the brothels. The path leading to it is Married Man Way, explained to us as the historic furtive route to find "sportive ladies". Hmmmm? The area has been restored and now houses all of the cruise line tourist shops. We found two galleries that are actually locally owned and showing the work of local artists. The rest of the "downtown" caters to the cruise ships. None of this appeals to us so we hiked off to the Heritage Totem Museum.
The museum is small but well done. It houses many totems that were saved from rotting in the villages. Most are lying on their sides behind glass because they are too fragile to stand. The information placards provide information in a concise paragraph. In addition there were baskets and masks, old and new.
Ketchikan is on an island and so is the airport, just not the same island. If you recall Sarah Palin's 'bridge to nowhere' was a bridge to connect the two. Since it was never built we boarded a van provided by Uncruise that took us onto the ferry and deposited us at the tiny one room airport. Sitting and waiting there was the whale sighting call and all non Alaskans rushed to the window. Cruising between Ketchikan and the airport were four Orcas, with an eagle perched on a pole beside the water watching them. It was the perfect last memory of Alaska before we flew back to Seattle and then Portland.
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