Sept 19, 2018 Ketchican, Alaska

Woke up already docked in beautiful downtown Ketchikan. I got ready and went for breakfast then disembarked and I was excited to see the Time Bandit docked near us. My husband and I have enjoyed the show The Deadliest Catch for several seasons now. It looked a little smaller than I had remembered it to be. I wandered around town for awhile. Shopped in a lot of shops and the best thing I saw that I wanted to buy was salt water taffy which was priced $5.99 for a huge bag full. I didn’t buy it because then I’d have to take it with me on the duck tour. Later after the tour I forgot to go back in and buy it but I think i'll be getting enough calories as it is on this cruise so it's a good thing.

At the appointed time I went to where the duck vehicle was parked and then climbed aboard when it was ready. The tour through the town of Ketchikan was real nice and the guide pointed out every building of any importance, every street and store and school and the hospital with tales for each one. He was witty and I enjoyed learning all about not only Ketchikan but about life and living in Alaska. Eventually we arrived at the entry point for the duck vehicle to drive into the ocean. It was kind of cool to feel the difference of land versus water. So off we went sailing around in this duck boat and I was astonished to see so many boats docked in the marina there. Many were fishing boats, some were pleasure craft (I think there’s a lot of rich people in Alaska) and there were even houseboats with people living on them. Wish I would have asked him if they stay in this location year round. I expect the answer would be no even although he did say that it really doesn’t get that cold there in the winter. I kind of came to the conclusion that the mass exodus from there once the cruise season is over might be due to being so remote rather than anything to do with the weather. The only way out of Ketchikan is by plane or boat. It was a nice excursion and I was very lucky to go once again on such a beautiful sunny day because it rains here over 300 days of the year. Just the same a duck boat has a roof but the sides are open and the wind is whistling by. I had a heavy scarf around my neck and a hood to cover my head too and was real glad I had brought it along.

Back on the ship I dropped off all the excess clothing and went to the buffet for lunch. Soon a lady asked if she could join me and I said yes of course. Her name was Margaret and she was a very interesting solo cruiser formerly from England and now living in Australia. We had a nice visit and then she had something to attend so off she went one way and I went the other way to the casino where they were just powering it up and I wasted my money once again. This is starting to sound like a repeat of another cruise where I was a casino loser for the first two weeks and then suddenly won it all back and then some in the third week. Well, I sure hope that happens again but of course I can’t count on it.

I returned to the cabin to repair a fingernail before it ripped completely off and ended up deciding to shower and wash my hair. Weird goings on when on a cruise as I never shower in the middle of the day but I felt a little grungy from the salty spray on the duck boat.

Later, for dinner Annie had reserved a table for a dozen people from the solos group so I went and joined them. I sat next to a man named Brad and he was a very interesting guy (ex marine) with a lot of funny stories to tell. Once again I forgot to take pics of my meal and now I can’t remember what I ate except for my dessert which was bananas Foster. Afterwards we all went to the Fyzz Lounge where some of our group danced the night away to the music of an awesome singing couple called Fire and Ice. I then returned to the cabin as they were all proceeding to another music/dancing lounge and I was too tired to go.

I may have sized my pics too small to see that the fish in the carpet are all swimming towards the front of the ship. This makes it so much easier to find your way to your cabin. There's also an occasional red herring swimming the wrong way.