October was the month of Alaska here on CoziNest and with the saints spiriting away on this All Hallows Eve, I am wrapping up our cruise with a few photos from Ketchikan, AK. If I were dressing up for Halloween on this particular day, I would have been a totem pole except for two things. I’m not skinny enough to be any kind of pole and then there’s that whole carving thing that I don’t know how to pull off. It might fit into Halloween themes, but I’m just not willing to carve up the body in order to finish up my cruise excursions appropriately.
We learned quite a bit about totem poles, saw lots of eagles and had our picture made in front of a lighthouse during this excursion. We highly recommend this little trip off of the ship if you are looking into excursions in Ketchikan.
First of all, totem poles are not necessarily religious in nature. I had always thought of them as objects of worship, but I was wrong. The carvings are meant to tell stories and thanks to government interference, most totem pole carvings ceased to be produced around 1900. Now, due to tourism and collection interests, some of the carvings are being reproduced, but the stories and family lineage may have been lost forever.
The reason we signed up for this excursion is because of my “eagle sighting” item on the old bucket list. I’ve always wanted to see them in their most natural habitat and Ketchikan did not disappoint.
Our captain and crew aboard the Endeavor Alaska told us before we left the dock that we would see lots of eagles, perhaps a whale or two, totem poles and a lighthouse.
The scenery was breathtaking.
And we even passed a few ships in the mist.
One of the most iconic sights along the coast of Ketchikan is St. John’s Episcopal Church. It has been in this location since 1904 and is quite the welcome. If we had more time, I would have loved to have gone inside.
It was a bit chilly and so on our way back to the ship, we stopped in to the souvenir “outlet” and I purchased a warm and memorable sweat shirt. There were two shops at the port and we visited both briefly. Our favorite was The Outlet Store.
I was warm in Alaska and the sweatshirt also came with a T-shirt. Two for one kind of deal! Great for layering!
Be sure to stop in if your cruise visits Ketchikan and if you have any luck dressing up as a totem pole for Halloween, please send photos!
