Inside the Inside Passage Towns
Posted on June 21, 2008
Filed Under Call us tourists | 1 Comment
Posted by Sierra
Along the Alaska’s Inside Passage, tourists frequently visit several towns. These are easily accessible by ferry (see: “The Alaska Marine Highway System” by Sierra). We are going to journey through many of these towns. Here we goooooooooooo!
Our first stop is Ketchikan. This used to be Alaska’s largest city but is currently in fourth place. If you want to know the best time to visit, it’s when the cruise ships are there. Almost everything closes after they leave.
An interesting area to visit is Creek Street. It has tall boardwalks that go over the creek. On Creek Street is the old house of Dolly Arthur, Ketchikan’s first, um, “madam.” (It would be better if we didn’t go there.) We can also go to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. This museum is full of interesting information, such as how Indians smoked salmon and how they used plants for medicine.
Outside the city, we can choose from a variety of hikes. Let’s do the Ward Lake hike! The hike goes around Ward Lake and is filled with different plants, such as the salmonberry, skunk cabbage, dwarf dogwood, and false lily of the valley. Next, we’ll stay at Signal Creek Campground.
How about if we head to Sitka? We’ll start off our visit with a trip to Sitka National Historical Park. Here we can see totem poles, watch Native artists hard at work, and hike! There is also a junior ranger program for younger explorers.
Now let’s go into the city. First we’ll see the Russian Bishop’s House. This is owned by the National Park Service. Tours are available, and you can see finely restored rooms. We can also go to Castle Hill. This is where Baranof boasted his “castle,” which tragically burned in the 1900s.
Our next stop is Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Here we will go to the capitol and then to two bookstores: Rainy Day Books and The Amazing Bookstore. Both have used books, and The Amazing Bookstore has particularly cheap books. Next, we’ll go to the state museum. It has both traveling and permanant exhibits, such as a fun exhibit about ravens and and one about Russian America. There is also a small children’s room with plenty of hands-on activities, like a model of the hull of Captain Cook’s S.S. Discovery that can be played on.
Now let’s hike on the Mount Roberts Trail. It goes up quite a bit of Mount Roberts, but we’ll only go to a certain overlook. We’ll also go to Mendenhall Glacier, where we can see the magnificent glacier. There I turned in my Tongass National Forest Junior Ranger booklet and I got a pencil, a badge, and a patch. A park ranger also announced over the PA system that I was an official Tongass National Forest Junior Ranger. We can also see a movie which is rated PG for “Perfect Glacier.”
Now we’ll head to Haines. Here we will go to Fort Seward. It was named after William H. Seward, who helped negotiate the purchase of Alaska. The fort was a military base during World War II. There are also small ferries that go to and from Skagway.
Let’s take a ferry to our final destination, Skagway. In Skagway we will first visit the Klondike Gold Rush Museum. This is similar to the one in Seattle. We will also head to the Mascot Saloon, which is part of the Gold Rush Museum. It is a restored saloon which has old whiskey bottles, cigar boxes, and other items.
Well, it’s time to go! I hope you enjoyed your time along the Inside Passage and I hope to see you again.
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I am really enjoying your website! The pictures are fantastic and the writing is very entertaining-Sierra, you are an excellent travel writer! I find myself chuckling out loud while I’m reading your posts. What a great job of recording your trip you are doing!
Daria,
I hate to ask you this, but if I have a couple more job-related questions, how should I write to you-through this comment link? You offered to answer any questions I might have after you left (but you were probably hoping I wouldn’t really have any-ha! ha!) You look like you are having such a great time, I hate to ruin it by reminding you about work. But you seem to be doing ALOT other than relaxing on your journey-reading, writing, studying languages, etc.! Take care,
Debbie