We got up bright and early in order to get off the ship before the rush. And we did! We got on the very first shuttle into Ketchikan. But as we got closer to town I realized I didn't have my phone or my camera. Or our rain jackets... After all, the sun was starting to peek out and we had made the decision to leave them behind.
Then it started to rain. By the time we got off the shuttle it was pouring! And as we stood next to a building on the main street waiting for the bus, I realized I couldn't spend the whole day hiking in the rain in a sweatshirt. So we went back to the ship. It was kind of like swimming back upstream. And the sun was still shining back at Ward Cove...
Luckily for us, the city bus stopped right at the top of the hill on the Tongass Highway at the State Patrol office. We snuck by the line of shuttles, by the abandoned pulp mill, up the hill, walked along the shoulder of the highway, and made it to the stop. But there was no sign anywhere. The very nice officer told us that all we had to do was stand out by the road, wave them down and the bus would stop. After waiting about 20 minutes, we saw the bus coming. We waved and watched the bus drive right on by...
By this time we had wasted much of our early start and were feeling frustrated. The woman at the bus office told us the bus only stops if it's safe. What's safer than the State Patrol office? Plan C??? To walk back to Ward Cove, hop on the free WalMart shuttle and catch the bus where we knew there was an official bus stop.
Thankfully, the shuttle was getting ready to turn onto the highway and let us get on. And up until 2020 this WalMart was the smallest in the world. I can't believe we didn't take a picture. In fact, when I look back at our pictures of this trip there's a lot of things I wish we had taken a picture of. :(
After wandering around, getting a sandwich at the Subway, we finally got on a bus and headed back past Ward Cove (again) to Totem Bight State Park. Before exploring, we sat on a bench in the sun to eat our sandwich. This state park has a short easy trail past about 20 totem poles, a longhouse, and some very nice views of the water...
Then we caught the next bus back into town and the stop at the high school. We had to hike up the hill to the college campus and the Rainbird Trail. It wasn't nearly as bad as the internet made it seem and the view of Ketchikan from the top was pretty nice!
The trail ended at another major road but we followed another couple down the hill right to where our shuttle stop was. But since we had a little bit more time, we walked back up the hill to Bawden Street Brewing for a flight and a pint.
Back at the dock everyone was talking about how nice the weather was for Ketchikan where it rains an average of 140-160 inches of rain per year (compared to 40 inches per year in Seattle)!
Turns out we still had time to catch the shuttle back, change clothes, let the photographer take our picture and make our dinner reservation. And I'm glad we did because our table "neighbors" told our server it was my birthday. Two desserts is totally ok when it's your birthday.
After dinner we did a bit of exploring at the 270 Lounge. A huge area at the back of the ship with 270 degrees of windows. This area is used for shows in the evening, movies, sipping on a drink from the bar, relaxing, having a bite to eat from the cafe, rehearsing for a future production show (as seen in picture), reading a book from the adjacent library, or just enjoying the view... It might be one of the best places on board!
Then it was drinks and 50s and 60s trivia and Name That Tune before the Andy Elton show. Turns out I'm pretty good at them both. The late-night show was basically an Elton John cover band (well, guy).
We had a night cap, went back to our room, turned on a movie and stayed up late... :)
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