A New Port for Us...SITKA

 This was our first visit to Sitka. This area was settled by Russians and they were here for over a hundred years and they did leave their mark.

Our excursion involved 4 stops to learn about Sitka then and now.

The area off of the dock was well developed with shops and a few places to eat. The port is 15 miles from town and because of that the town supplied free transportation. These buses ran every 15 minutes or until full, which ever came first. The buses were new tourist buses. We did not explore the shops because it was almost time for our tour to begin.

Our transportation was by bus. Here in Alaska once a school bus has been in use for 10 years it is retired. Enterprising business men purchase them, paint them white and use them for tourism.

Our tour began at 9:30 and there were 46 on our bus. Our guide was a 

Tlingit native. He was a big man whose voice was deep and it carried well. We had no difficulty in hearing him or understanding him.

Sitka has a population of 9 thousand and it has 14 miles of road. It has many many churches but only 4 bars. Their schools and hospitals are first rate. They have a boarding school for children who live too far from the town to commute. Everything is paid for . Yesterday was the day that every Alaskian received a check for more than 3 thousand dollars. I think it is their share of the oil revenue.

Our first stop was to visit the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. This is actually the second building. The original burned to the ground. However the original artifacts weresaved and placed into the new structure. We were given a guided tour. An interesting fact ... services last 2 or 3 or more hours and only the elders are permitted to sit. I am so glad I would be considered an elder. My knees would not be able to hold me up for that long.

Oun next stop on our tour was the Sheldon Jackson Museum. This is one of the two official Alaska State Museums. It has an amazing collection of native artifacts from watercrafts, to tools,equipment, clothing, and ceremonial objects. These items were collected between 1888 and 1898 by missionary-educator the Rev.Dr.Sheldon Jackson. The displays are amazing. Because the living was easy with an abundance of food the native people had lots of time for arts and crafts. I learned that the game of cribbage was begun in 1740 and here I saw some amazing cribbage boards carved from Walrus tusks or deer antlers.

The third stop was a visit to the Sitka National Historic Park. The park visitor center houses a collection of Tlingit artifacts many of them loaned to the National Park service by Tlingit clans. Here we viewed "The Voices of Sitka" video which connects the stories of Sitkans present and past. 

This is where you can view and enjoy The Totem Trail. It is a one mile loop trail through a temperate rain forrest, where you will find a collection of totem poles carved by Tlingit and Haida artists.

We were fortunate to see the end of the spawning of the pink salmon in the Indian River. Even this was supposed to be the end the waters were filled with spawning salmon and the noise of the gulls feeding on the dead salmon was almost deafening.

Next we proceeded to witness an native actually caving a totem. The scent of cedar was wonderful. 

This small park features 16 amazing totems.

At our last stop we were treated to a dance presentation which featured 4 ladies and one young man. They told the story of the history of Sitka from the point of view of a mosquito. It was very well done, was amusing and informative at the same time.

From there we boarded the town transportation for the ride back to the ship. The line was VERY long but it moved quickly.

Many of the shops here were displaying signs saying 40% off store wide. So of course I had to shop. I bought a wonderful soft scarf which featured native art.

By now it was almost 2 o'clock so we went to the salty dog and got  a hot dog and fries and brought them back to the room to eat.

We had a quick nap and by then it was time to get ready for dinner. Lunch and dinner were so close together that I had no appetite but Ken cleaned up on his Yorkshire pudding and roast beef.

We were not interested is seeing Ryan Ahern pound the piano again so we returned to our cabin and called it a night. It was a long event filled day.