Friday Sept 8, 2023
Hi Gang! Well I had good luck and not so good luck today. My good luck was that I was in Ketchikan, the rain Capitol of the world and it didn’t rain! Woo Hoo! It was actually one of the warmest days we’ve had… 62! Lol. A bit cooler than the 90’s of Charlotte!
But my not so good luck was I took an excursion to go see bears and no bears showed up! So it seems like my luck is great with whales and not so great with bears. Oh well, the scenery was beautiful though!
My day started off well by sleeping in and having a nice breakfast. They had a lecture mid morning on Alaska’s involvement in World War II. I had no idea (then again, I did not like history in school!).
On June 3rd 1942, Japan attacked Dutch Harbor on the Aleutian Islands, which is the trail of islands extending off the coast of Alaska toward Russia. They did it as a diversion before they attacked Midway Island in the South Pacific. They occupied two islands in the Aleutians, Attu and Kiska islands. This was the first time a foreign govt had occupied American land since the War of 1812! USA and Canada joined forces to take back both Attu and Sitka. After that the
Alaska Territorial Guard was formed between Americans and Native Alaskans which eventually became part of the National Guard. Now see, you not only get cool whale breaching photos, you get to learn a little history here!
After that the ship had docked so I ventured out to walk around Ketchikan. It is a cute little town and is also called the salmon Capitol of the world. And I can attest to that since instead of bears I saw tons of salmon! They have an area called Creek Street where the old brothels used to be years ago. Behind it is a secret path (now a boardwalk) that is called “married man’s trail”. It’s where the married men used to sneak over to the brothels at night so as not to get caught. Darn men!! Lol
Like yesterday, I talked to the crew onboard and found out the free wifi was right across from where the ship docked so I went there to post my blog from Juneau. Today and tomorrow’s blogs won’t get posted until Sunday 9/10 since I won’t have wifi for two days. Tough living off the grid!
Also like yesterday, I cut a deal with the folks on the pier for this excursion out to Herring Point where there is “potential” for seeing bear since the salmon run there. It also stopped in town at the “salmon ladder” where salmon swim upstream to lay their eggs. That was pretty wild seeing those salmon fighting to get up that creek of rushing water. A great philosopher (OK, my good buddy Andy!) once said, “Persistence Overcomes Resistance”, and those salmon sure are persistent!
I ended my night listening to the piano players and going to see the comedian who was here the other night. This show was even funnier than the last one. He was a hoot!
Tomorrow is a sea day and the last day of the cruise. This trip really flew by! Happy Friday to all!
The Wandering Italian 