May 17 -- Ketchikan, Alaska

Our last and final Alaskan port -- Ketchikan -- turned out to be our favorite. It was so picturesque with the boat filled harbor, rainbow colored buildings built around the harbor and on the hillside, and snow capped mountains surrounding the village. Some of the streets were made of timbers. Some of the streets just ended or turned into stairs. Creek Street was built on pillings over the water and was the “red light district” at one time. Dolly’s House still stands as a museum to show what a brothel looked like. Dolly was quoted as saying “If I’m not in my house, I’m not making money.” They say she was always there. Ketchikan claims the title “Salmon Capitol of the World.” We don’t know if it is deserved, but there were a lot of commerical fishermen in the harbor. Some of the passengers went fishing today, so we are looking forward to hearing about their escapades at dinner. Ketchikan has over 300 days of rain and about 220 inches a year, but today we had sunshine and warm temps. That added to the Village’s charm. Lunch today was an Alaskan barbeque on the top pool deck. They opened the sky roof, which has been closed the entire trip, and the sun shined in and the smoke rolled out. We had salmon, sausage, hamburgers and hotdogs with baked potatoes and whole green peas with their pods. For dessert we had baked Alaska. The waiters were dressed in red suspenders and red checkered flannel shirts to respresent the Alaskan loggers. Tonight is formal night in the dining room and lobster is on the menu. The food has been absolutely amazing! We are now sailing toward Victoria, BC, which is the final stop on our 7 day cruise. We are scheduled to arrive in Victoria around 5:00 pm tomorrow and we will arrive in Seattle on Saturday morning around 7:00 am. We probably will not blog again until Sunday evening.