Blogs from Sitka, Alaska, United States, North America - page 2

Sitka, formerly a Russian outpost, where Alaska was ceremoniously transferred to the United States after the purchase promoted by Secretary of State William Seward in 1867, was the one city we continuously heard was the most beautiful in Alaska. My family, who lived in Alaska for decades, said it shouldn’t be missed. A ferry employee was wistfully talking to a co-worker about how she was saving up to retire in Sitka. You often feel you’re going to be disappointed when expectations are set so high, but we fell in love with Sitka just like everyone else! The fact that we had perfectly clear, sunny days for nearly a week, unheard of in the Inside Passage, didn’t hurt. As one local stated, “It usually rains and it’s a good thing because if it didn’t, everyone would want ... read more

After a slightly lazy start for the day, with Sharon and her mom not needing to rush off to mass in the morning or to catch an early tour, we made our way to the Lido. French toast seemed to be the preferred choice; but, I added some fried eggs over medium and sausage to that. There were no hash browns, but they did have cut-up breakfast spuds. Sharon was one step behind trying to get a chocolate croissant, other people seemed to have them, and many were leaving them half eaten or hardly touched and Sharon’s blood pressure was beginning to rise. She never did wrangle one of her favorite morning treats. We made our way to the Vista Lounge where HAL tours were assembling for their group tenders to the pier. For our tour, ... read more

Hello to all. I have finished all sites I wanted to see and some I didn't know I wanted to see until I returned here to Sitka after having been on the 8-day Alaskan Dream Glacier and Wildlife Cruise aboard the Admiralty Dream. The cruise was everything and more than what was expected. There were just over fifty of us plus the 20 person crew. Our time was filled daily with education, adventure, and extraordinary sites. The food was unbelievably good. I have so much to share when I get to doing these days individually. We visited a few villages and met the Tlingit people. In fact our cultural guide was Tlingit and filled with fascinating information and stories of the culture and people both historically and current. We also had a scientific guide who taught ... read more

We had a morning arrival in Sitka, with rainy overcast skies, docking as we were having our breakfast. We turned in our RSVP for the Master Chef dinner this evening. John had the American breakfast, and HAL has proven that they know how to make eggs over medium, as they’ve been perfect every time they’ve been ordered. Sharon had her scrambled eggs and bacon, our short tour not being until after lunch. There are hints of blue in the far off skies, but they are also becoming increasingly gray. Though in point of fact, I don’t think we can complain about the weather on this cruise, it’s been pretty much perfect. We sat with a couple from Seattle, and a single lady and a single man. We had a relaxing morning, taking time to get a ... read more

Sunday May 29th, Sitka, Alaska At the Motel 8 kind of breakfast, I had a conversation with a man visiting his son and granddaughter that live year-round in Sitka. He was recounting a story about questioning his son who left his keys in the ignition of his car. His son said, “Dad there are only 13 miles of road in town and the only way to get off the island is by the ferry that comes a couple of times a week. Anyone stupid enough to steal the car would be met at the dock by the police”. He also said his wife addressed a package to “my son Ron, Sitka, Alaska” and received a phone call from the Sitka postmaster saying that she really needed to put his last name on the package even though ... read more