Ketchikan, Alaska - Day 1 ✈️

Описание: I spent 3 nights and 4 days exploring around Ketchikan, Alaska including Vlogging about the flights as well.

This will be a 3 part series totaling about 30 minutes and broken roughly into 10-minute interval Vlogs, or in this case, the 1st one, only 8 minutes long, lol.

Ketchikan, Alaska’s is best explored by cruise ship.
It’s one of the major ports along the Inside Passage section of Alaska.

But for me, since I travel alone, in order for me take a cruise, I’d need to book a room onboard with double occupancy meaning I’d have to pay 2x as much because most passengers travel as couples. But, lol, I haven’t found the right person for me yet, lol.

Regardless, the great thing about flying and exploring Ketchikan is that I get to take my time and do things on my terms.
Best of all, when the cruise ship passengers return onboard, I had the entire town to myself!
And this way I was able to grab beautiful pictures without being disturbed by strangers in the background.
And as all you know, one of my big pet peeves about traveling is being “photobombed” by others during special moments.

Plus, Ketchikan is located within a rain forest climate and is one of the rainiest places in North America.
So at least affording myself 3.5 days and 3 nights, when I did encounter rain, I was able to wait it out.

In total, Ketchikan is really only a 1 day exploration like the cruises do. You take an excursion and walk the charming downtown streets.
But for all the time I had, I was able to hit almost every site possible including eating at different restaurants.
And that’s why with all this time on my hands, lol, I will be presenting a 3-part series.
I’m trying this new, to keep things fresh and innovative. Hopefully you all like it!

I flew from Seattle to Ketchikan on Delta Airlines which I used about $15,000 credit card miles. Or otherwise it would have been $150.
I then flew Alaska Airlines on the return leg and spent about $160.
All in all, the roundtrip flight cost a little over $300, technically.

When arriving at Ketchikan Airport, you actually need to pay $7 each way to ride a ferry across the waters to the mainland!
And this included my rental car as well.
Btw, I did pay $360 for the car, which is expensive in my opinion.
The ferry departs the airport every 30 minutes to the mainland.
And the ferry departs the mainland every 15 minutes over to the airport.

When I first arrived in town, I headed straight over to a Walmart to purchase a gallon jug of water to use as a weight for my selfie stick stand.

Then I headed over to 68 Willow Circle address which is about 4 - 5 miles outside downtown Ketchikan where I had rented an Air BNB for 3 nights.
This ABNB was $50 per night and then with fees Altogether = $170, which in my opinion is very affordable considering hotel options were easily over $100 per night.
Here at this ABNB, I had a clean private room with a bathroom and shower all to myself.
I’d like to thank Lena and Marcus for hosting me. I recommend them and they were friendly and accommodative!

Next I headed back into downtown Ketchikan to start taking in the sights!!!!

First thing, the Welcome to Ketchikan Sign! It’s iconic!!
It says that Ketchikan is officially Alaska’s 1st City and that it’s the “Salmon Capital of the World”!!!
Of course I had to eat salmon while here and in Part 2, I did eat at 2 seafood joints! I’ll mention them later.

Also next to the Ketchikan Sign is The Rock Statue, an homage to the early settlers of Ketchikan. It’s good for a photo.

Next to the Rock Sign is the Rain Gauge Meter, because of course it rains here so much. At least authorities are playful about that aspect. But when it rains on tourists, lol, it’s no fun!

The Thundering Wings statue near the Ketchikan Tunnel is also fine for a picture.

Creek Street is right nearby where you have all these storefronts set upon stilts or poles.
Many, many people throughout the day stop by here and purchase gifts along with soaking up the quaint surroundings.
This Creek Street is definitely a throwback in time!
Don’t forget to watch for any salmon swimming upstream by the creek. It’s a popular activity to see what’s going on in the waters.

Lastly, for my first night here I actually ate some comfort Chinese Food right in downtown at a place called the New China Restaurant. I ordered the Szechuan Chicken for $20 and hot tea. The sauce for the chicken was delicious and I recommend this place if you don’t mind not eating salmon.
But I promise, I did eat salmon the following days, lol.

Alright, well, I am running out of writing room. I will pickup the next day where I start out hiking the RainBird Trail for overlooks of downtown Ketchikan from high above.

Thanks everyone for watching these highlights and see ya for Part of Ketchikan shortly!

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