Yes, it rained in Ketchikan but it was not enough to make the day unpleasant. We explored the town in the morning and spent most of the time in Creek Street which used to be the red light district of Ketchikan and is the most picturesque and most photoed in the town. Of course Jim had to visit Dolly’s House which is a tiny museum dedicated to Dolly Arthur, star courtesan in Ketchikan’s Red Light District. Her house of “ill repute” paints a colourful picture of her saucy life. We were captivated by the silk condom roses that decorated her bathroom. Jim especially liked the "Married Men's Trail" which allowed married men to enter her premises via a more secluded route and into a second bedroom without having to use the main entrance. I'm not sure what happened after that!
The rest of the town seems to consist of endless jewellery and curios shops and souvenir shops. It was a similar situation in Juneau and Skagway. Everyone but us returned to the boat laden!
In the afternoon we visited the Saxman Native Village which is a Tlingit (pronounced “kling-it”) village. It was quite interesting and the singing/dancing was hilarious - one of the “dancers” used a crutch! The children were really funny. Contrary to expectations, Jim did not get an opportunity to dance as there was a more eager male.
Today we begin our preparations for disembarkation - a rather complicated affair of declaration form filling, bag label filling and packing in such a way that our cases can be picked up tonight without having to disembark in our pyjamas! However, we did have time to attend a Culinary Demonstration, followed by a tour of the galley; an Extravaganza Buffet of cakes and desserts; the last art auction (with free champagne). A lot of time was also spent trying to get connected to the internet in order to use up the minutes that we have paid for.
Tomorrow we plan to do the hopping on hopping off thing in Vancouver followed by meeting up with Fearghal for drinks and dinner. Fearghal already has got somewhere to live and is looking forward to starting work on Monday - just in case his anxious mother and father are following this!
We return to Victoria on Friday and then I hope to get some photos of the cruise uploaded. Until then ...
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