Day 3 - Ketchikan

6:30am... in the hazy, blue light of the Alaska dawn, we pull into our berth in the old Alaskan fishing village of Ketchikan. Close behind us, the massive Star Princess approaches her berth. In front of us, the MS Statendam is already docked. Between the 3 ships, over 5,000 tourists disembark and descend on the sleepy town of 14,000.
There is an unbelievable amount of jewellry shops in Ketchikan (and Juneau and Skagway), selling the most incredible selections of both loose and set stones, some valued at more than $100,000 (who brings that kind of cash in their suitcase, anyway?). As you can imagine, the primary market for all those jewels are women. Therefore, I thought it was only fair to show you that there is at least one shop in Ketchikan that catered to men's jewels.

"Are you looking at me?"... We were able to get closer than ever before to an injured bald eagle at a display put on by an Alaska wildlife conservation group. This is Thor. His right foot/talons were badly damaged by a trap, and after much rehabilitation, it was decided he could not be released into the wild... so he, along with his Great Horned Owl and Screech Owl (Peanut) friends, helps garner donations to keep up the rehabilitation work.

This is the original Ketchikan, built literally on the river. These are all original buildings from the Gold Rush at the turn of the 19th/20th century, refurbished but still where they sat 100 years ago. You have to see these buildings up close to appreciate how nervous you would be if you were inside one and it started creaking and groaning. The river pours out into the harbour a short distance away, so we saw otters and seals playing in the river among the pilings.

The sun begins to set (it's actually 8pm, and there are still nearly 2 hours of daylight left) in the West, as we sail north and west out of Ketchikan, heading for Juneau.

Day 3 dinner: Big ole steaks at the East Meets West Steakhouse!