Ketchikan, Alaska – The third shore excursion, on our Alaskan cruise of the Inside Passage with the Norwegian Cruise Line (our cruise video), was in the town of Ketchikan.

Baby boomers cruising Alaska have a lot of decisions to make regarding their shore excursions.  Fortunately for us, we were able to turn to the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau for some help.

Given the short duration of our stop, here is a walking tour that tourism Ketchikan helped us with:

1. Stroll through the town of Ketchikan and enjoy the local boutiques, restaurants, and galleries.
2. Explore the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery (think jumping salmon) and Eagle Center.
3. Explore the Totem Heritage Center
4. Explore Creek Street for boutique shopping and restaurants set in historic buildings on wooden pilings set along Ketchikan Creek.  This is where we found Dolly’s House (a gold-rush-era bordello).
5. Explore the Tongass Historical Museum.

By the time we finished our circle tour of the town, it was time to head back to our ship.  Here’s a short video with the highlights of our journey:

Note: click here if you can’t see the video.

We really enjoyed Ketchikan.  I (David) really enjoyed photographing Creek Street and the many totem poles that were strewn about the town.  We were sad that we didn’t have time to visit the Misty Fjords National Monument, but that just gives us another reason to return to Ketchikan.

Disclosure:  our experience was provided by the kind folks at the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau.  Thank you!  We loved it!