Molly Goes North: Part 8 (Ketchikan)

(Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7)


Saturday, August 26

Late Saturday morning, the ship docked in Ketchikan. As neither of us had any excursions planned, Heather and I took our time getting into town. Actually, we took our time getting out of bed in the first place! Ahhh, sleep...

Some people were eager to get out and explore...

We were eager for food. Cabanas was serving lunch, so...

Born In China was playing in the Buena Vista Theater early that afternoon. We both wanted to see it, but it only played a couple of times on the cruise. This seemed like the most convenient time. Heather left before it was over (she was tired, if I recall) but I stayed -- and then the movie got SAD! Ohhh my goodness. Tears, people. Tears galore.

Eventually I managed to pull myself together, and soon after, Heather and I left the ship to explore Ketchikan.

Note: The photos below may be out of order. I was using two different cameras, and the time stamps were way off on one of them, so it's hard to tell what order they were taken in.

Here's what we did, though! First, we sort of just started walking aimlessly...

We made our way up into a residential area, not particularly fancy. There was a park...

... and near that was a fish hatchery, which was closed, but we could see fish jumping in the creek next to it.

We followed this waterway until we came upon signs for Creek Street; then we followed that pathway.

Soon we returned to the waterfront and began going into shops.

We got some sweets here....

Heather and I both shopped for souvenirs at the various shops. I bought some postcards, chocolate bars, and gifts for my nieces.

We ran across 2 smushed penny machines; I got 3 of the 8 available pennies for my collection...

I got some coffee from this place, which was right next to a taxidermy shop. ;-/ That's not how I wanted to see Alaskan animals!

We returned to the ship about 5:30.

I took some photos from the ship; some were taken after we left port.

Heather spotted a porthole on deck 4 that looks into the restaurant kitchens...

At one point I saw some splashing in the water, and then...

Something jumping! (Far left.)

People said it was an orca.

That was cool!

That evening, we did 90's Music Trivia in Crown & Fin. They had been having different-era music trivias all week. The 90's was the only decade in which I have any decent knowledge of pop music, so I agreed to go to this one. Heather and I partnered with The Guys. 

We did well -- but once again, we didn't win.

So I'm a little hazy on what happened right after this, and I can't find the Navigator for this day, so that doesn't help. I know The Guys were doing Palo that night, so I think maybe they went off to Palo right after trivia ended. At any rate, we knew they wouldn't be in the main dining room that night. We expected the ladies to be there, though. Dinner was in Animator's Palate.

Sometime around the end of trivia, I started to feel sick. The feeling was so sudden that I was afraid I was coming down with something contagious. I told Heather I would meet her at AP, and I went back to the room to take something. 

Tonight was going to be "animation" night in AP, and this was one of the things I had been most looking forward to! I'd loved this event on C1 and was excited to experience it again. But, as I left the room and headed toward the restaurant, I continued to feel awful. 

I sat down outside AP in one of the window seats, not sure what to do. Our Assistant Server happened by and asked if I was okay. I hesitated, then asked if he would tell Heather that I was out there (for by then it was about 8:20 and I assumed Heather was already inside.) A few minutes later, Heather came out of AP, and I told her I wasn't feeling well and would have to skip dinner. (If I was contagious, I didn't want to infect our tablemates.)

I went back to the room, where I ran into our Stateroom Hostess in the hall. All week she had probably been doing the turn-down stuff around that time because she knew we were typically at dinner, and then there I was, unexpectedly. She looked a bit startled, then worried. It was sweet. She  gave me our Navigator for the next day, as well as our chocolates. (Heather's sofa bed was already set up, as we'd left a note a few days prior asking the SH to keep it like a bed day and night.)

I changed into pajamas and climbed into bed and lay there for an hour, feeling miserable. Eventually I turned on the TV. At least one of my favorite movies was on!

Heather returned from dinner to report that she had eaten solo! The ladies hadn't shown up (we found out later that they'd had an excursion in Ketchikan that had provided dinner) and since the guys were at Palo, Heather ate by herself. She said she didn't mind, though. She did get to do the animation activity. I was glad one of us did!

We ordered room service, and I ate my food slowly...

Before too long, I felt better. Afterwards, I got to thinking about it, and I wonder if part of my not-feeling-well had to do with being hungry. I know... hunger on a cruise ship? Absurd! But we'd had lunch around noon, and between noon and 7:30 basically all I'd had was coffee and candy. It didn't even occur to me, then, that this might be part of my problem. All I know is that I felt quite a bit better after eating.

No towel animal tonight, as our Stateroom Hostess wasn't able to do the turn-down routine, thanks to me. Oh well!

Tomorrow, our last day at sea -- but packed with fun times! :)