DAY 10 (DAY 3 OF NEXT SEGMENT---SITKA, ALASKA

        We were tied up on the pier at Sitka a little late at 8:30 but the first tours were not schedule to leave until 9:20.  Another gloriously sunny day and temperature this morning is 54 degrees.  Should warm up later.

 BACKGROUND INFO

SITKA

        The city and borough of Sitka is located on Baranof Island about midway between Vancouver and Anchorage in Sitka Sound part of the Gulf of Alaska.  Its 2010 population was nearly 8900.  This area was originally inhabited over 10,000 years ago by the Tlingit people.  In 1799 Russians settled here in Old Sitka.  In 1802 Tlingit warriors destroyed the Russian settlement and ransomed the survivors.  But in 1804 the Russians returned with a force of 850 fighting men and a war ship finally forcing the Tlingits out in what is called the Battle of Sitka.  Sitka was designated the capital of Russian America in 1808. 

        Russia, after its loss of the Crimean War, decided to sell Alaska.  Secretary of State William Seward under Presidents Lincoln and Andrew Johnson saw this purchase as part of America’s “Manifest Destiny”.  (Can you remember high school America history class?)  So on October 18, 1867, America bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million which equated to 2 cents per acre.  The port city for Anchorage, Seward, was named after William Seward.

        In the early 1900’s gold mining and fish canning spurred the economy.  Sitka was the capital of Alaska until 1906 but was moved to Juneau then due to declining whale and fur trade.  With the advent of WWII, the US Navy built an airbase nearby on Japonski Island bringing with it 30,000 GI’s.  Today, 18% of the work force still makes a living from fishing and fish processing.  Other large employers are a health care company and the school district.  There is also a US Coast Guard base here.  An interesting note is a Texas company in 2010 announced it was planning to ship 3 to 9 billion gallons of fresh lake water from Sitka (Blue Lake) to India.  This deal represented the world’s first regular bulk water export via tanker ships.  It was to make $90 million per year for Sitka.  Well, as my daddy always said, “If it sounds too good to be true, it is!”  As of 2013 the project ended in failure.

        Sitka is only accessible by either boat or plane.  You really don’t need a car here as the road from one end of the island to the other is only 14 miles long.  There is no public transportation as most everything is within walking distance of the town.  There is a ferry that operates to Juneau, Ketchikan, and other towns for $49 per ticket. 

LAST EVENING

        We had drinks in the Meridian Lounge at 6pm.  The orchestra's guitar player provided music starting at 6:30.  He was very, very good!

        He headed to Compass Rose for dinner.  This is Serhii who just joined the ship in Whittier and took Joleza's position as head bartender.  She left for vacation.

        I had ordered this wine special.  It is Hartford old vine zinfandel from California.  Very nice wine with hardly any tannins so was drinkable right away.  We also had ordered another Rombauer chardonnay.

        The veal parmesan I had ordered was huge.  Of course we both started with some black mussels.  I couldn't eat half of this.

        Rebecca had the destination dish:  Alaskan sockeye salmon with a sake glaze.  She did not care for it as had a "gamey" taste.  I shared some of my veal parm with her.

                                       We had a window table last night and a nice view.

  I tried this Tanzanian chocolate cake with ice cream.  It was a little dry do did not eat much of it.

I had Rebecca order this French lemon meringue tart so I could taste it.  Very good so I had some of it.

        After dinner we skipped the production cast show as we saw it last segment.  Enjoyed a smooth sailing last night and slept well.

TODAY

        We do not have tours booked here today.  We have been to Sitka several times already.  I did walk off and spent a hour walking around the terminal area.

  

                      The ship looks to be much larger but has 2000 passenger capacity.

                                                   Several souvenir shops at the port.

                                                                    More shops

                                                                    Me after a cruise!

        There is a free shuttle to the downtown area but both ships are using it and the line is very long.  I had planned to go but not now.

      Back onboard after my half hour walk ashore.  Some kayakers taken from our balcony.

                                    Shortly after I took the above photo a float plane took off.

        Well seems I have given Rebecca my cough so she started a Zpac this morning to try to get ahead of how bad I felt.  I still have some occasional coughing spells but feel ok.

        At 10:15 this morning they had a general crew drill that simulated an emergency.  The drill lasted about 40 minutes.     

                                 I decided on some lobster nachos in La Veranda for lunch.

                                             Got some photos of the pool deck after lunch.

                                                              "Only the shadow know"

        I went to a cooking class "Seriously Seafood" at 3:30 this afternoon and just got back at 5:15.  I will be putting those photos on the blog tomorrow.  No time now.  I also booked a Glacier Discovery by Helicopter tour for tomorrow.  The weather should be good enough for it as had one canceled last segment due to bad weather.

        Usual time and place for cocktails.  We're planning dinner in Compass Rose.  Menu above.  They have another comedian (different one this segment) for the show tonight.  Definitely not going.  I'm VERY disappointed with the entertainment on these two Alaska cruise segments.  It is Regent corporate who books entertainment and they will be hearing about it.