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Our final port-of-call was Ketchikan, on Revillagigedo Island -- the southern-most Alaskan port for people traveling along the Inside Passage. It is the Rain Capital of Alaska and receives almost 13 feet of precipitation a year. We got to experience some of that rain first-hand as we explored the downtown area.
Ketchikan was established as a Tlingit Indian salmon fishing camp. Canneries in the area now produce over two million cases of salmon each year. The city has 15,000 residents but the streets swell when large cruise ships pull into dock. While we were there, four large boats were in port (in addition to our own cruise ship). With the number of people disembarking, visiting the town for the day, or coming aboard, the streets of Ketchikan were crowded. By 6:00 p.m., the boats had boarded their passengers and had left or were leaving. The streets seemed almost empty in comparison.
We toured the Totem Heritage Center -- a museum which is attempted to preserve Native totem poles. Bill and I also toured the Deer Mountain Hatchery and Raptor Center -- a fish hatchery and a raptor rescue center (though much smaller than Sitka's raptor center). We also explored the shops along the wood walk ways of Creek Street (which was home to bars and prostitutes in Ketchikan's ealier history).
We stayed at Westmark Cape Fox Lodge, which is accessed from the downtown area via a funicula (think of it as an "elevator" which goes up and down the surface of the side of a steep hill). The front of the Lodge has its very own totem collection.
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