Alaska Ketchikan 

27 May 2024
Ketchikan, “The Salmon Capital of the World.” Ketchikan is best known for her feisty salmon and rich Alaska Native culture.
We arrived port of call around 12.30pm, it was a rainy day at Ketchikan. We went out with full armour, haha, raincoat, rain shoe phone protector. We planned to do the city walk in this town. We first looked for the visitor centre to check if the places we wanted to visit were open as it was US Memorial Day. We were happy to find out there is a free Downtown shuttle bus service, it’s really saved us a lot with such a rainy day.
We head towards the Ketchikan sign just opposite the road. One thing to note as we were told not to jaywalk in Ketchikan, there are crossing guards at the zebra crossing, he would probably follow you if you violated the rule. Hmm, I am a good tourist, not sure how true it was?
After a few roads on foot, we gave up walking as the rain was getting heavy. So we hit back to the bus stop for the free shuttle service. The first stop was Creek Street. We alighted at the stop near Creek Bridge and walked to Creek Street. The is a boardwalk street with wooden small houses propped up over Ketchikan Creek. Today it is mainly a tourist place for shopping, eating and watching jumping salmon in the streams. We didn't see any jumping salmon! The best time to see is between July to October. But if you are lucky, you may spot a couple of salmon. Lastly, do not forget to look for Dolley's House. A small well-preserved home and museum. To find out more about this street, you will have to pay US10 to enter the museum.
Next, we walked for about 30-40 minutes to Totem Herriage Park then Tongass Historical Museum. There are bus stops before each museum, you may take the bus instead. We paid US$9 for two museums. Ketchichen have the largest collection of standing totem poles in the world, this small museum only has a few displays. Little disappointed that we couldn't have any visual experience on the crafting of totem poles. There are informative write-up as well as some other artefacts. Well, the information gives a rich cultural heritage of the indigenous communities. It may be great if there are tour guides explaining more details than just reading by ourselves. Tongass Historical Museum exhibits give you a true sense of the history, culture, and enduring strength and spirit of the people of this salmon city-Ketchikan.
Before we ended our city tour, we took a bus ride around the city and went back to the port. Took a few pictures and videos at the port, the eagle sculpture and The Rock (sculptures that tell the history of the first city of Alaska.), and have some shopping at Tongass Trading Company.