The last Alaskan port on our Princess Inside Passage Passage cruise was the picturesque town of Ketchikan. As you can see from the photos, we had another cloudy day, and rain started mid-way through our visit.
Jann and I walked from the waterfront to scenic Creek Street to visit Dolly’s House, now a “brother museum”. The house was quite interesting, as was Dolly herself, so I’ll devote a separate blog to that visit.
The rain started while we were inside Dolly’s House, so we sought shelter in several stops along the way where we made last minute purchases. I found some Alaska T-shirts to bring home, one with a graphic of the Northern Lights–viewing the Aurora Borealis some day is still on my bucket list–and another proclaiming Alaska as being “Just North of Normal”. Alaskans seem to pride themselves on being just a little bit different than those of us who live in the Lower 48.
Back at the dock, we stopped to admire the sculpture in the round called The Rock by Dave Rubin. The monument features seven figures from area history: Chief Johnson, plus a fisherman, a miner, a logger, an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and an elegant lady in 1890s clothing and carrying a carpetbag.
We sailed from Ketchikan around noon and spent the rest of the day at sea. That night we had our second formal dinner in the dining room, topped off by the ceremonial procession of the Baked Alaska desserts to the tune of the Tarantella. I’d forgotten how yummy Baked Alaska can be. This isn’t the best photo–it’s a bit blurry–but gives you an idea of what it looks like. I think cruise ships are about the only places where Baked Alaska is still served. Neapolitan ice cream topped off with meringue. What’s not to like?
I’ll close with yet another pretty picture of sunset at sea, this time with a tiny crescent moon visible at the left top.
Linda
Interesting places and thanks for sharing the photos! Thanks to you, I visited them, too. As about the Baked Alaska….. I’m sure it was delicious.
Glad you had a nice trip, even if rain can be a bother for tourists.
It was a great trip, and I really didn’t mind the rain. We so little of it in Southern California!
Enjoyed the photos and commentary! My story with Baked Alaska began when my husband and I, as newlyweds, visited his former college roommate and wife in San Diego. The four of us had been in college together, so we knew each other. We’d been invited for dinner, and the dessert was baked Alaska. Before the first bite, the husband said, “If you don’t like this, you don’t have to eat it.
I thought that was very rude to say in front of his wife because she had made it. It looked delicious, but the first bite was so salty I had to chug it down. I noticed my hubby having the same difficulty. After about three bites, the husband said to his wife, “Honey, I’m really sorry, but I just can’t eat this, and I don’t think the Palmers should either.”
Turns out, she had whipped up three different meringues. A fly had landed in the first batch, so it was tossed out. The second had slipped onto the floor when she was carrying the finished Alaska to the refrigerator. Her husband had gone out to buy more eggs to do the third one, but when it was sitting in the bowl while she retrieved the frozen ice cream so she could spread it on top, another disaster happened: Her husband was swatting a fly and instead knocked the salt cellar into the meringue. It was too late to make another meringue, and so it was served.
As I recall, we had a good laugh and no dessert.
Dee Ann
P.S. I don’t remember our BA looking as elegant as yours.
That’s so funny about the salty Baked Alaska. The Neapolitan ice cream should have been okay though.