Our next port was in Juno, but unfortunately the rain that had been threatening starting coming down. We had been pretty lucky with rain so far, but since it rains 50% of the time in August in Alaska that couldn’t hold. It was also a work day for me and our shortest day in port and we needed to take a boat to the dock. Add all that together and I ultimately decided to skip this port which was a bummer because I still hadn’t had any crab.
We did have a lovely Alaska themed dinner on the boat, but despite the tons of Salmon options no crab at all. I didn’t actually get crab the entire trip despite numerous attempts to find a place that served it in various ports. In all fairness crab season ends around my birthday so I was a little late but I still wish I could have had some. I also really wanted to see the State capital building but ultimately had to settle for a peek of the corner of the building I could see from the boat and a google search for a picture. This is the only State Capital building without a dome and looks more like a fancy office building than anything else. Overall I was really cranky about the entire day and regretting what I felt I was missing.
Thankfully the next day we arrived at Sitka, which turned out to be my absolute favorite port. Even though we were departing at 3pm, it was much easier to get into town because we were right on the dock. The town also had wonderful shuttles which not only stopped at various places throughout town but had the best bus driver who talked about the town as he drove us.
Sitka has a really wonderful history as it started as a Russian settlement which was purchase by the US in 1867. It is only accessible by air or sea and is a working fishing town. The absolute best part is every single business (per local laws) is owned by someone who lives in the town which not only gives it a unique set of stores, but also stops outside companies from taking it over. There is pride when people talk about the town, and more than one person said they visited on a cruise ship and then decided to settle here. After visiting I see why.
The coolest thing about the town were the two churches right down town. The first one I went into was a Lutheran church and the people outside were extremely friendly and gave me a tour talking about the history of the town. I am Lutheran so I found it all very interesting including the huge organ in the church. There was a large fire of the original building in 1888 but some artifacts were at the local museum at the time and survived and I found the history fascinating and the people were so nice.
Across the street is a Saint Michael’s Cathedral Russian Orthodox church and it was amazing. I love visiting churches on our travels and this one was steeped in history as well. I even lit a candle for Grandma Anna who is Catholic but I am sure she appreciates me thinking of her.
The churches co exist next to each other and have helped each other in the past which seems to be the spirit of Sitka. I would definitely love to go back and spend some more time there, and I mentioned to Lee that if we ever decided to live in Alaska this would definitely be high on my list. Next up we hit some Canadian ports and I was able to see the difference between Alaska and northwest Canada.
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