Ketchikan

June 22:  Ketchikan

We LOVE the Crab Fest excursion!  We discovered the George Inlet Lodge on our second trip to Alaska.  Since then it is a regular stop, but like everything else on this trip we wanted to do it "with a twist."  And so instead of taking a boat ride on the water we booked the crab fest with a Seaplane Flightseeing adventure.  When we got up this morning it was misty, in the 50s, and gloomy outside.  We walked into town (literally right across the street) and it was chilly and wet.  Not an ideal day for flying I thought.....but like all weather in Alaska, just wait a bit......  We came back to the pier at 11:45 and caught the bus to the George Inlet for the lunch.  The first unique part to this part of our visit came when - because there were six of us scheduled for the flight following lunch - we were seated in a small dining area building instead of the main restaurant.  We enjoyed this because it was much more intimate.  The crab legs, oh my they did NOT disappoint.  

After eating we had about twenty minutes before the plane arrived so we went outside to enjoy the now sunny and cool weather.  Kim filmed me introducing the day's adventure and as we stood there she suddenly whirled around and said, "That's Tom Tirb's voice!"  Tom & Sonia Tirb were our best friends when we taught in Port Charlotte thirty years ago.  I knew at this point Kim is definitely aging and losing her mind.  I looked around and no Tom, but wait, there was Sonia!  OH MY GOODNESS........hugs all around, Tom joined us and we said, "are you on a cruise?"  The reply, "Yes, we're on the Millennium!"  OUR SHIP!  You've got to be kidding!  How much of a coincidence that (a) we'd both pick this summer for Alaska, (b) these dates, (c) on THIS ship, AND then (d) book this excursion at this time slot!  WOW.  We will get together with them on this final day and a half of the trip.  Just as they were heading up to their bus back to the ship our plane was landing.  

Our pilot, Luke, got us on board and I was allowed to take the co-pilot's seat while Kim got the entire back seat to herself.  And off we went!  

A very smooth take-off, in fact I could hardly tell we'd take off the water initially.  We flew for about 40 minutes over the mountains, through the valleys, and back down into town.  It was very interesting that we've seen this scenery twice now from the inlet on the boat, but it was so unique to see it today from above.  As Luke said, the only way to truly appreciate the beauty of Ketchikan is from the air.  

All too soon we were flying over the ship and the channel and making one final turn before landing on the water and floating up to the dock.  Another truly amazing day, and AGAIN we had the best weather.  Everyone tells us, on all four trips, that Alaska is typically very rainy, but we've had beautiful weather nearly every day on every trip.  Tomorrow is our final day of the cruise as we will be sailing the Inside Passage all the way down to Vancouver, British Columbia.  We disembark the ship on Friday morning and then begin our land tour with two days in Vancouver before heading east through the Canadian Rocky Mountains!

Day 6 Video Highlights