Sitka, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska

September 19-21, 2014

Because Randy had some appointments the next week in Alaska, he booked his trip to include the weekend before, and I got to tag along.

Our flight took of from Pasco for Seattle at 11:00AM on Friday.  As we were flying over Seattle, I got the biggest pit in my stomach.  A few tears were secretly shed, even.  I just don't have a love for Seattle anymore.  Seattle = anxiety.  I was all-too happy to leave.  Randy got upgraded to first class from Seattle-Ketchican-Sitka, so he gave me his seat.  I have never ridden first class before, so it was a first time for many things this vacation. I can see the pull to pay extra for more room.  I am so spoiled!

We made it to Sitka at 6:30.  This is the view from our room on the 5th floor.

I love the boats, the water, the mountains, and the atmosphere of this hotel view.  The word that I think describes Sitka best is Enchanting.  It was wonderful!

Because of all of the flights and time difference, we headed to dinner later than most places stay open.  It seems like half of the town is open one day, the other half the next, and all of them close exactly at 5:00.  We got to dinner at the Larkspur to find all the tables full.  Instead of turning us away, they asked a couple of gals if we could share their table.  So we did!  I wasn't super hungry, so I thought I'd be safe with a Panini.  Turns out, the island is small, but their portions are not.  Look at this meal!!!

So they bring out the big guns for me and two small crab cakes on a bed of fresh greens for the hubs.  Yep, I felt like a fat cow at that moment, I tell ya!!  Good thing Randy polished off his own meal and helped me with the other half.  It was a fun night!

The next day was a day of sleeping in.  Till 8:00AM.  Which makes it 9:00AM our time.  Does that make me feel guilty at all?  No, no it does not!  Since the town is one that operates from 10:00-5:00, we decided to drive around and see the sights.  Since we were downtown, we had 7 miles of coastal road to the left and to the right.  We chose right first.

 This was a view of downtown.  Danielle asked me if it was anything like The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.  Kind of, but not exact. I, personally, think they should have just filmed it here.  I like this town more!

 This was a state park.  I love the colors and the beauty of a gray ocean. 

 We tried to take a self.  Randy needs to work on his camera skills- look at the camera, Randy!!

I love the feel of the forest here!

 

 We literally drove to the end of the road.  I love how the street ends and the cliff begins.  We later went to lunch with a man that Randy wants to buy his product that said that this is probably one of the most taken picture spots of the whole island.  Everyone thinks it is so funny to just see the end of the road.

We took a few different roads to just check out the "island."  To our great surprise, we found this...

 Naturally, Randy wanted to drink.  It was pretty dang good water!

 

As we were leaving this spot, Randy thought he caught a glimpse of a fish jumping in the river.  It turned out to be a salmon run.  It was amazing to watch.

 We stayed in this spot for about 10 minutes, just watching them splash around, swim upstream, and just chill.  Sad to think that all of them die after spawning.  We saw a lot of dead fish!

There were some even bigger salmon swimming under this bridge, just a few yards below where we watched just moment ago.  It was so cool.

After our morning drive, we went back to the hotel to get ready for lunch with a potential client, as I said before.  We originally were supposed to meet with two men with their spouse/partner/girlfriends, but one of them ended up getting sick.  We had such a good time with Don and his girlfriend, Ros.  It was nice to talk to her about the island while Randy talk business with him.  We had a great lunch!  Then it was back to our sight-seeing!

 The bridge from the airport to the mainland

 Look at all of those islands!!  There were a few homes built on them as well

 And a lighthouse that would be cool to visit.  If we had the time

 This is the whole of Sitka.  14 miles from one end to the next.  Ros told me that they have a K-1, 2-5, 6-8, and 9-12 schools.  She said they have no more than 20 kids in a class, that they offer small motors classes (which explains the 10 boat motors we saw in one of classrooms as we drove around the High School) and that she has seen graduating classes as big as 175 and as small as 75.  I loved hearing her story about how she got to Alaska.  She was born and raised in New York, went to school in Massachusetts, back-packed her way to Colorado, hitchhiked to California, got on a boat with some people she met there, and made it to Sitka.  She loved it so much, she stayed and raised her five kids there.  I would use the same word to describe her as I do for Sitka, Enchanting.

 Trying our Selfie skills again.  I made sure to tell Randy where to look.  And guess what?  I got three good ones in a row!

And just like Casper and Richland, there was wind.  I just can't escape it.

 We went to the Sitka Visitors Center next.  We learned about totems, the discovering of paint, and talked to an actual bead worker and carver.  We also watched a 12-minute video of how Sheet'ka came to be, about how Russia owned it, how it was purchased and considered Seward's Folly, and eventually became Sitka.  It was fascinating.

 I love the colors of this one.

  These are 200 years old.  

While there, the bead worker told us that we should check out the 20th anniversary of their dance school.  She hooked Randy with "food."  He thought it would be authentic Native food, but ended up being hot dogs, hamburgers, and pot luck.  However, it was the dancing that made it totally worth it!!

 We were able to see three dances, along with the exit dance.  There were mothers with their babies strapped to their bellies, little kids, and grandmothers.  No matter the age, they were either singing, dancing, or banging the drums.  It was loud.  It was beautiful.  It was emotional.  I enjoyed every moment!

 By the end of the show, they had sang and danced to the back of our row.  The drums were so close, I blinked every time they hit it.  I felt apart of the celebration, I felt the joy these people felt to be showcasing their legends.  It was a very spiritual thing, for me.  I am SO glad we got to experience this.  And it just so happened that we were there on the exact day, just moments after the girl recommended it to us.  We were lucky!

 The stage was beautiful!  And the fire pit was hidden, you can see it in the middle.

If I liked the end of the road on the other side, I love this one even more!!  It was incredibly peaceful and serene here.

I could have stayed for hours.  If not for the rotting fish smell.  I tell you, we saw a lot of dead fish.  

We tried to find another local place to eat, but like I said before, everything closes at 5:00.  We headed back to the Larkspur for dinner.  This time we found the place practically empty.  I had had such a large lunch, I didn't get a meal this time.  However, with it being less crowded, Randy took a picture of the restaurant.  If you can call it that.  There is a recording studio, rooms upstairs, and a projector hanging from the ceiling.  We're still unsure what else it is really used for.

 

We didn't want it to look like we were really taking a picture, hence the weird pose.  We are so sneaky!  You can see it is just an eclectic assortment of chairs, tables, and instruments.  I counted 6 tables, with an undetermined number of chairs.  It just feels local, ya know?!

With all of the walking, exploring, and sights, we headed back early to our hotel.  Oh, who am I kidding, what else was there to do after the sun went down?  Everything closes at 5:00, remember!  That's just another charm of Sitka, in my opinion!  We flew out on the 6:00AM flight for Anchorage.  I'm not gonna lie, I was sad to leave.  I loved the feel of Sitka, Alaska.