Bright and early we arrived in Sitka and moored at the 'cruise' terminal which is located about 6 miles out of town. The last time we were here on the Amsterdam some years ago, we tendered at this port. We met up with Mike and Pam and headed off the ship for the ship-provided former school bus to town. The driver was quite chatty and provided a mini-tour on the drive into town.
We headed out from the drop-off point on a walk along the waterfront past a very cool set of small dams and fish ladders. It was the end of the spawning season and there were lots of dead salmon littering the river as well as a number of still live salmon swimming in the creek. At the Sitka National Historical Park we were able to collect stamp impressions for our National Parks book of parks visited. We also watched a short video about the history of the area.
Leaving the visitor center we walked through the park and across the newly built bridge over the Indian River. Again there were more salmon dead along the banks and live salmon swimming in the river. Today there were first grade children being taught by rangers. A short walk out of the park brought us to the Raptor Center where eagles and owls and other raptors are rehabilitated and or cared for if they can't be released into the wild. There was an introductory lecture including a live demonstration by a young eagle named 'Spirit'. Outside there are a number of raptors that can be viewed and I got a few really good pictures of one of them.
We then walked back to the park and did a stroll through the park which included a number of Indian totems. We retraced our path back to the city center where we split up as Mike and Pam wanted to visit the bear exhibit, I wanted to visit the vintage Russian Orthodox Church plus Angela needed to get back to the ship for a manicure and pedicure. Angela and I enjoyed a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant that served halibut fish and chips and she persuaded them to make a fish taco salad. Afterwards we visited the church, did some shopping, and then split up as she needed to return to the ship. I shopped a bit more and visited the Bishop's House which is also a National Historic Park where I collected another National Park stamp! Two scores in Sitka.
I caught a shuttle bus back to the port, cruised the gift shop, and reboarded the ship around 3:15pm for all aboard time of 3:30pm. I went up to Deck 10 to watch the sail away and we left at 3:40 or 20 minutes early. Just before departing, the captain announced in no uncertain terms that tomorrow's on board time would be 12:30pm and that we would PROMPTLY depart at 1pm as another ship needs our berth.
On the sail out there was a pretty good display of whale activity on the starboard side which was cool to see. We had reservations at the Pinnacle grill and tonight's menu was Sel de Mer. If you have the chance to eat this meal, DO IT! The selections were exquisite and we enjoyed the two Maine Lobsters each as our entrees. The seafood tower was great and the chocolate covered strawberries as a pre-dessert offering was a treat. Our desserts of an apple crisp and a cheese plate were wonderful as was the chocolate mousse anniversary cake. And the dinner didn't take 2 1/2 hours like the main dining room. It was just over an hour.
The evening's main stage entertainment was a young magician, Nick Diffatte, was really good with great timing with his jokes as well. We finished the evening watching the movie, 'The Mummy'.
It's worth noting that our room TV finally became operational today after repeated calls to the office by us and our stateroom atttendant. It was good to watch the news. Now if they could fix the free online NYTimes.com, all would be well with the world. The front office's solution was to send us paper copies of the NYTimes.
Also, Verizon cell service in Sitka is a bit weak and only a 3G signal. WIFI is available in restaurants as well as at the library.
Stay tuned for more.
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