Alaska 2016 - Day 3 (8/22/2016) - Ketchikan

The ship changed time zones back one hour to Alaskan time in the middle of the night (2 AM).  We dropped anchor at Ketchikan early in the morning.  I was also up relatively early – 7ish – partially due to the time change.  After the breakfast buffet I decided to take a tender boat to shore and walk around town for a bit.  While on the boat I met a woman named Christine who was cruising solo-ish – she had friends on the cruise, but was rooming alone.  During the course of conversation I found out that she was an OB/GYN surgeon from Oklahoma City, and we decided to explore Ketchikan together.

After reaching the dock, we scored a map from the tourist information center that guided a walking tour of “downtown” Ketchikan.  We followed the directions for the first few points of interest, but pretty soon abandoned it and began wandering about to various shops.  We eventually sat down at a coffee shop, where I had a sub-par mango smoothie.  Then we checked out a bar named Annabelle’s down the street where Christine bought a t-shirt and sampled a flight, while I gorged on a slice of peanut butter pie.  After a quick stop at Orca Corn to buy some kettle corn, we made it back to the dock to take a boat back to the ship before the 1:30 cast-off.

Back on the ship, we caught a screening of part 2 of Spirit of Alaska and grabbed a late afternoon snack from the buffet.  For dinner, I had my first dining room experience – we went to the anytime dining room (which is what I had selected pre-trip, while she had chosen the assigned dining room) and shared a table with 7 other people.  The cruise dining experience is pretty nice – you get to choose whatever you want (including multiple of each) from a menu of a few starters, salads, soups, mains, entrees, and desserts, all while being served by a pair of attentive wait staff.  After dinner we went to the show by vocal impressionist Travis Turpin – he does pretty good impressions of old timey singers (e.g., Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Neil Diamond).

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My favorite photos from the trip can be found here:
https://goo.gl/photos/4ikrCSuPvRpRkXTKA