Today, we docked in our last Alaskan port, Ketchikan. Ketchikan is the Salmon capital of the world. Ketchikan boasts a population of 8,230 people. It is Alaska’s southeasternmost major settlement. It was around 60 degrees and overcast when we arrived.

We had a fishing excursion already booked, so we got off the ship to explore the town a bit before we had to meet up for our excursion.  An onboard guide told us to visit Creek Street, so we headed straight there. On the way there, we passed the typical cruise tourist traps. Creek Street has it’s name because it is built over a creek that the salmon run in. The creek was full of salmon and we enjoyed watching them jump up steam and they had a manmade salmon ladder that they could climb as well. After this, we happened upon the local “Blueberry Festival”, where surprisingly no blueberries were to be found.

It was then time for our fishing excursion. We met up with our Captain James, and two other people who would join us on our boat. Captain James was every bit of Tom Hanks in Castaway. He is a Florida native that spends his summers in Alaska doing excursions, then heads back down to Florida for winter. Sounds like he has the right idea to me. We caught Red Stripe Rockfish, Dusky Rockfish, and salmon.

After we were done fishing, we went to this island where the company cooked our fish and made a meal for us. We got to warm up by the fire and eat our meal. It was really a great experience.

As the cruise wrapped up, it was unanimous, Ketchikan was our favorite port. It offered a downtown that had unique, locally owned shops and restaurants and of course, the fishing excursion was a hit!