A Walk with Bald Eagles, Salmon, Totems, and Stairs! - Part 2, Mon., July 30, 2018

Continued from Part 1...

Oops, I didn't quite finish the first 5k loop in the last blog. We had to go up and down again in the old part of town and learned a little more about Ketchikan.

Interesting what they did with the old press!

Doesn't count as wildlife. LOL.

Is this like the Elks or Moose Lodge?

Two-cruise-ship view from these stairs!

Another walker heading down the stairs.

NOW we're done with the first loop. At the bottom of the stairs above, our directions wanted us to go across the street to a sidewalk in the sun. Being from Texas, where it's frequently in the high 90s to low 100s, we walk in shade as much as possible. Therefore, we modified the directions and turned right into the tunnel for the shade it provided.

The tunnel isn't long.  In fact, a historical marker makes mention of it:

"The one-year tunnel project..., beginning in August, 1953, ... was a major engineering feat. Following completion, a Juneau visitor remarked, 'After all I'd heard about the tunnel, I thought it must be at least a mile long. Heck, I see it's nothing but a gopher hole!'"

The tunnel is about two blocks long. 

We walked for quite a distance on Water St., past a couple of restaurants and some water-related transportation businesses. 

Bob had a run-in with a bear.

Great sense of humor!

Helicopter tours.

Tugboats

Our directions said to follow Water Street which would turn into Second Ave. Well, we missed that and ended up walking a little way on Tongass Ave., before turning around and going back to Water St. It was a climb up Water St. There were signs saying the street was closed to vehicles and pedestrians. I mentioned this to Bob who seemed to think pedestrians should be able to get through, no matter what. He just kept on going and I grudgingly and trudgingly followed him. Grr.

We finally got to a spot where we could see the construction. There was no way we were getting through that. They were rebuilding a viaduct. A concrete pumper truck was blocking the way. So, it was either find some stairs down to Tongass Ave. from up where we were, or turn around and go back the four blocks we had walked up the hill. 

We looked and looked at stairs going down, but they all seemed to go to people's houses and we didn't want to intrude to find out if they continued on down to the other street. Sooo, we retraced our route back down the hill to Tongass Ave. Grr again. It was too hot to be doing that kind of stuff.

Tongass Ave. wasn't exactly scenic and it was very busy traffic. From Tongass Ave. we could see up to the viaduct they were replacing on Second Ave. That is where we spotted a deer, just moseying around under the viaduct construction area.

The viaduct is where the fence is
in the middle of the photo.

Thankfully, there was a map on our instructions. We could see that First Ave. angled up to meet Second Ave. which is where we were supposed to be. Off we went, up the hill to Second Ave. Once back on track, we continued up and down around the neighborhood on the hill.

Keeping the yard mowed (and fertilized).

Worth the beautiful views!

A seaplane taking off.

I can tell you, we took a few blocks off the end of the hilly part in the neighborhoods to make up for the earlier boo boo. It was lunch time and we had been hungry for a while. The second 5k loop didn't have many restaurants. 

Finally, I asked a couple of cable TV workers sitting in their truck what was available nearby for lunch. They started out with Taco Time and McDonald's in the mall, followed by Godfather's Pizza. They had me at Taco Time. I love Taco Time. We had them in Oregon. So, it was lunch at Taco Time in the AIR-CONDITIONED mall! That was a good stop, in my opinion. We finished the walk on Tongass Ave. to Front St.

Some houses are built on stilts because it's so steep!

When we got close to the ship, we walked on Casey Moran Harbor City Float Ramp. There were some beautiful stained-glass pieces of art along the walkway there.

Our ship from the end of the Float Ramp

Me in front of the Wyland art on the bow.

Jellyfish in the harbor.

Stained glass art along the float ramp.

We had to be back on board at 2:30 p.m. I was done and returned to the ship. Bob, however, wanted to go buy a jigsaw puzzle for me. It was so nice of him to run back downtown. He found a really fun 500-piece puzzle of Ketchikan. I think he also bought some postcards. Thank you, Bob!

Meanwhile, I went back to our room, took off my shoes, and changed clothes. Then, ahh, I sat down on our balcony to read. Wonderful! 

Reading material is Mark Adams' "The Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier." Bob read it before we left on our cruise. I am almost done with it. We enjoyed reading about the history of Alaska contained in it, along with the trip the author took to retrace the Harriman expedition.

View from our balcony.

Leaving Ketchikan behind. Two more cruise ships
are holding down the fort pier.

Tonight, we have reservations in The Manhattan Room (complimentary) restaurant. The decor and service are reminiscent of cruise ships of yore. We dressed up because after dinner our agenda includes The Cavern Club to hear Britain's Finest: the early years, and then at 10:00 p.m., we have reservations to see the musical, "Havana!" in the Bliss Theater.

Handsome Bob!

I clean up nice, too.

The Manhattan Room restaurant

We spent a little romantic time on the deck
watching the gorgeous sky and scenery.

The Cavern Club and Britain's Finest.

 After Havana, we found a bunny towel waiting for us in our stateroom.

At about 11:30 p.m. it's still light. We're glad because the scenery is awesome.

So ends another cruise/shore day. We sure sleep well because we're exhausted at the end of the day!

Tomorrow, we will be in Juneau, Alaska's capital.