I slept okay last night. Jane’s mother was awake shortly after 5 AM as we were pulling into the dock at Ketchikan. That got Jane out of bed. I tried to stay asleep in bed, but it was difficult. I wasn’t anxious to go out on another cold, rainy day. I told Jane I wasn’t going. She decided that she would take my scooter, and she and her mother got ready and left, leaving me with the lights out, trying to sleep. It didn’t work. I don’t think I slept more than ten minutes after they left. I was out of bed by 7:30 AM and got dressed.
Ketchikan* is located in the southeasternmost part of Alaska on Revillagigedo Island. It sits along the Tongass Narrows and is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest. Originally a summer fishing camp for the Tlingit people, Ketchikan was established as a town in 1885. The city holds the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles. Ketchikan experiences heavy rainfall year-round, earning it the nickname Rain Capital of Alaska. Winters are mild but occasionally influenced by cold air from the Yukon, leading to freezing conditions. As of 2020, the city had a population of 8,192 people. Historically reliant on fishing, lumber, and canning, Ketchikan’s economy now thrives on tourism, with over a million cruise ship passengers visiting annually. Attractions include Misty Fjords National Monument, totem pole parks, and the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.
Went down to breakfast and had the usual oatmeal with brown sugar and butter, two eggs over easy, and bacon. After eating, I went to the observation deck, where a table lent itself well to typing, and I worked on editing the blog. I’m amazed that I am now caught up to this very minute at 9 o’clock on Thursday morning. That’s 9 o’clock Alaska, daylight saving time. The scenery outside is probably beautiful, but it’s so gray and misty that it’s hard to say. Looking at the brochures from the cruise ship company, it looks like the only attractions here are shops, totem museums, and brothel museums. I don’t think I missed that much. I suspect that tourism was pretty big and Ketchikan even in the late 19th century, Wikipedia and Copilot notwithstanding.
When Jane and Emily came back, it turned out that I was right. They said that it was cold and rainy and not that much fun. They were back onboard by noon. They wanted to get something to eat. I kept working on the blog in the observation area. Then, after they had eaten, they came back to the observation area. We were able to watch the ship as it left port and Ketchikan. We were headed for British Columbia, Victoria, tomorrow, and would be cruising the rest of the day. We returned to the room after a while, relaxed, and watched the Reagan biopic. We went to dinner at the buffet because they had more choices and not so much grease. We had reservations for a show, Jersey Boys at 9:30 PM, but the ship was being jostled quite a bit with rough seas, and Jane was worried that she would throw up, so we returned to our stateroom to relax.
During this cruise, we stopped at several ports: Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Often, while cruising at sea, I would look from our aft-facing balcony and see another ship, a cruise ship, following close behind. Often, when we were in port, we would see one or more of the cruise ships that had been shadowing us. So, when 4,000 people got off the ship, at Sitka, for instance, there might have been eight or twelve thousand people getting off that day, counting the various other cruise ships we saw around us. I can imagine that Caribbean or Mediterranean cruise destinations are even more flooded with tourists.
*Wikipedia contributors. Ketchikan, Alaska. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. May 24, 2025, 16:56 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ketchikan,_Alaska&oldid=1292000105. Accessed June 14, 2025. From the Copilot summary