Kittens From The Dark Side: Alaska: Day Seven

This might be my favorite city that we visited. Yes, I think it is.

Though I loved Juneau, too. Skagway has very few year-round residents and very little actual town . . . it's fantastic as far as history and adorable shops, but I didn't see much "real life" going on.

Once again, it rained most of the day!

Look at the gorgeous harbor!

I love all the boat masts in the mist.

The pilings under the pier and docks were gorgeous with mussels and algae.

In the morning, Greg and I went into town together.

We wandered around, poked in little shops, found a cafe with wi-fi, and got very wet (pouring rain!)

I realized that the silver shoes I was wearing (you can sort of see them in the photo above) were NOT water resistant - my socks were wet immediately, and when it's in the 50s, wet feet are unpleasant.

Here's what I wore:

olive pants: Ross
floral blouse: Macy's
"Take Me To The Sea" sweater: Old Navy
Hoodie: Gap
Socks & Shoes: Target - but for some reason I didn't wear these shoes out in the morning!
I switched to these wonderful rubber-soled shoes after lunch and my feet stayed dry the rest of the day!

so you can see the pattern on the blouse

With rain apparel added, of course!

Water resistant hoodie: GAP
Trench Coat: DKNY
shoes: the stupid ones that did nothing against the rain
(though they're great for Arizona summers - very cool!)

On the main drag, there's a great sign welcoming visitors to Ketchikan.
It was the first city founded in Alaska.

In Tlingit, Ketchikan is spelled, "Kichxaan".

There's a great monument in the harbor that honors the people who founded the city.

One of the things on our shopping list for the morning was an in-depth book on the history of Alaska.

Parnassus Books (and the wonderful girls working there!) had just what I was looking for - and a bunch of raw, gluten-free, and vegan snacks by the register (this was the first city in which we found an extremely health-conscious populace - almost every resident we chatted with was health focused in some way).

I also bought this gorgeous ceramic mug at the bookstore.

The design was done by Charles Yaklin.

One of the shops was selling this silly thing . . .
and believe it or not, it's on sale!

The interesting, chatty, and helpful employee at Blasphemous Bill's on Main Street
told us that we should be shopping in Creek Street, because all the stores there are owned by people who really live in the town. Also, Creek Street has a fascinating and naughty history! Also, it's beautiful.

Blasphemous Bill's has a sister store in Creek Street called Sam McGee's

named after this poem:

Creek Street used to be where all the town's woman of negotiable affection lived and worked.
There weren't many women in Alaska (even up until the 1970s ), so the owners of these brothels made a LOT of money. The Chief of Police, from what I remember, owned one of them! The women weren't well liked by the town (at least in the daytime), so they were only allowed to go out of Creek Street after 8 PM on Wednesdays (grocery shopping, etc.)

Ketchikan Creek flows right down "Creek Street"

The boardwalk behind the little houses was very nature-y - it really truly looked like a rainforest!

Dolly's House is famous because she was one of the only women of the night to own her own facility. She became a very wealthy woman, and eventually died in 1973, leaving her money to keep her home/business building as a museum of the "independent working women of Alaska". Tea set still on the table, her clothes still in the closet, from what the woman said while trying to lure us in.

We saw native art all over the place.
I find Alaskan native art (Tlingit and Haida) to be the prettiest of any I have seen so far in my life.
The designs are fantastic and just make me happy.
This one was painted on an old run-down building in town.

My new salad tongs!

And a magnet - love the whale design!

Everything is decorative:

And we found holly growing in Whale Park!

And some totem poles (they're everywhere!)

We went back to the ship for lunch (I also changed my shoes and socks!)

check out the little teeny lights in the floorboard of the ship!

and then headed out into town with my parents.

As the day went by, it got foggier and rainier.

The fog came down from the mountains and settled right in town:

My Mom was well-prepared

We wanted to see the Totem Pole Museum.

It took some navigating!

This time, I saw some gorgeous tiled artworks along the harbor.

Mussels:

Octopus:

Snail shell

On the way, we saw the town's radio station headquarters:

We also saw people selling caramel corn and handmade candies along the way.

The whole way, we walked in the rain. It was probably about two miles.
The pitter-patter of the rain on my umbrella made me feel relaxed and happy.
The slugs were out!

Right next to the Totem Pole Museum was a stream/river.
We had to take some time to appreciate it. Most of our riverbeds in Arizona are dry unless
there's a monsoon storm!

The museum itself:

I love the story of the Raven stealing the sun, and this beautiful carving/painting

was all about that tale:

On the way back, we took my parents by Creek Street.

And then we had enough time to browse through the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center.

Since my parents have some sort of national parks pass, we didn't even have to pay

(though I left a donation!)

Bear prints on the way in . . .

And a bear inside!

There are a few different ecosystems in the islandy areas of Alaksa, and I didn't recognize this one

It means "bog" and is only used in artic areas.
It consists mostly of decomposing plants (peat and other mosses mainly).

After this great little museum, we did a little more browsing around and then went back to the ship to dress for dinner.

I wore black.
With tights and a sweater because I had been CHILLY in the dining room the previous few nights.