Alaska Cruise (Part 1)

Before we head out on our Summer Trip, we managed to sneak in a cruise to Alaska on the Celebrity Solstice out of Vancouver.  We spent the night before the cruise a few blocks from the cruise terminal. Check out the beautiful view we had from our hotel room.

We awoke to the cool sight of our ship pulling into the dock. 

The ship was absolutely beautiful.

We saw our first eagle as we were sitting at the Sunset Bar before we left the dock. 

During our cruise we visited several locations in what is called the Alaska panhandle.  Our first stop was Ketchikan.

Ketchikan, near the southern most tip of Alaska’s panhandle is a sleepy little town with a very dramatic title. Squeezed between mountain and sea, it is hard to imagine how the town got the Tlingit Indian name, Ketchikan, which means, “Thundering Wings of an Eagle”.

For the rugged soul that climbs the 3,000 foot Deer Mountain that overlooks the town, the mystery is quickly solved. From that vantage, the town, once a Tlingit summer fishing camp, sprawls out in the perfect shape of an eagle in flight.

The day we were these was slightly overcast  with a few sprinkles now and again.  The locals kept telling us that we were lucky with the weather.  Can you believe that Ketchikan gets 230 days of rain annually? That might have something to do with the fact that it is in the middle of the Tongass National Forest, which is actually a rainforest.

Here are some pictures of Deer Mountain. 

And a few pictures of the town and the our ship from land.

There wasn’t a lot to see in Ketchikan, but it was nice to get off the ship and walk around after a day at sea.

We have a lot more pictures to show you, so stay tuned. More posts to come!