I had no idea what to expect from this first leg of our Alaska adventure except to annunciate the T and K in Sitka like Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. Super cute movie, not filmed in Sitka, but you get the jest of its super cute village charm. In that movie Ramon is a character who shows up all over the place. He is a caterer, works in the general store, is the town stripper, and also a minister. Not kidding, we have our own Ramon and his name is Sadeed. He was our waiter on day 1 at lunch at the Westmark, then sold us our chowder on day 2 at the Science Center. He is our neighbor and lives above the dock near our hotel and served us at the Wine Bar above Ludvig's Bistro earlier tonight. This isn't our only Ramon-type experience. Our German waiter from the pizza joint is also our host in the morning at our new favorite breakfast spot. And still, we continue to run into Ryan and Denise, our new besties from Homer, AK who we have circled at least 3 times over as many days. It really is funny and emphasizes how very small this little gem is.
Today was much cooler and overcast and apparently more typical of the weather in Sitka. We had breakfast at the Nugget. Best breakfast restaurant we have found and, wait for it, inside the airport. While dinning you can watch them load the planes and listen as flight details are announced. It is super tasty and a good deal. Alaska is pricey. Clearly, a person needs to hold down 3 jobs in order to afford the cost of living.
We had a free pass to the Alaska Raptor Center which is a raptor hospital and education facility. Free
pass given to us yesterday by our lovely docent at the SE Alaska Indian Cultural Center. Raptor Center was really cool and they had a really great group of birds. SE Alaska is home to 50% of the worlds bald eagles. About 15 of them are being rehabilitated at the Center and we could watch many of them close up. What is as interesting is that you can see them every day, several times a day, flying around town, perched on top of sailboats, trees, church steeples, and everywhere in between. They are all over the place. Really a cool thing.
Next stop, Sheldon Jackson State Museum. Sheldon Jackson was the first Presbyterian Missionary to Sitka and a collector of Alaskan artifacts. He commissioned the first concrete building in town to avoid the risk of fire and it houses an impressive collection of Alaskan artifacts. Guess what? Ran into Ryan and Denise there.
Took the only road out of town about 10 miles until the road ends. No kidding, it just ends. Stopped and played at the Whale Park and walked the boardwalk which lines the ocean. Walked around town and checked a few other sites off our list; the Sitka Pioneer Home, the Russian Block house, and Sheet'ka kwaan Naa Kahidi Clan House. Not kidding, we banged these all out from a single street corner. Winning!
David and I really wanted to eat dinner at a recommended restaurant called Ludvig's. I had tried to get a reservation earlier this week for 6 and could not get a reservation. Fear not, we ditched the kiddos and had a really fun night out alone. The kids were happy to take a handful of cash and have there own dinner in our little lodge restaurant. Our lodge has only 14 rooms and our gang is pretty identifiable. Later this evening the waitress stopped me to tell me how nice the children behaved. Always nice to get positive feedback on the kids, especially since we are likely to run into her again
somewhere in town tomorrow.
Wrapped up the evening with another really great Alaska movie, Into the Wild. True story, book turned movie. I have read the book and seen the movie in the past. Spoiler alert, the kid in the story runs away to Alaska to escape all the norms of society and dies alone in the wilderness after eating poisonous berries. Dagny and Magnolia were not happy to learn it was a true story.
Nighty night kids, sleep tight! Jll
Today was much cooler and overcast and apparently more typical of the weather in Sitka. We had breakfast at the Nugget. Best breakfast restaurant we have found and, wait for it, inside the airport. While dinning you can watch them load the planes and listen as flight details are announced. It is super tasty and a good deal. Alaska is pricey. Clearly, a person needs to hold down 3 jobs in order to afford the cost of living.
We had a free pass to the Alaska Raptor Center which is a raptor hospital and education facility. Free pass given to us yesterday by our lovely docent at the SE Alaska Indian Cultural Center. Raptor Center was really cool and they had a really great group of birds. SE Alaska is home to 50% of the worlds bald eagles. About 15 of them are being rehabilitated at the Center and we could watch many of them close up. What is as interesting is that you can see them every day, several times a day, flying around town, perched on top of sailboats, trees, church steeples, and everywhere in between. They are all over the place. Really a cool thing.
Next stop, Sheldon Jackson State Museum. Sheldon Jackson was the first Presbyterian Missionary to Sitka and a collector of Alaskan artifacts. He commissioned the first concrete building in town to avoid the risk of fire and it houses an impressive collection of Alaskan artifacts. Guess what? Ran into Ryan and Denise there.
David and I really wanted to eat dinner at a recommended restaurant called Ludvig's. I had tried to get a reservation earlier this week for 6 and could not get a reservation. Fear not, we ditched the kiddos and had a really fun night out alone. The kids were happy to take a handful of cash and have there own dinner in our little lodge restaurant. Our lodge has only 14 rooms and our gang is pretty identifiable. Later this evening the waitress stopped me to tell me how nice the children behaved. Always nice to get positive feedback on the kids, especially since we are likely to run into her again somewhere in town tomorrow.
Wrapped up the evening with another really great Alaska movie, Into the Wild. True story, book turned movie. I have read the book and seen the movie in the past. Spoiler alert, the kid in the story runs away to Alaska to escape all the norms of society and dies alone in the wilderness after eating poisonous berries. Dagny and Magnolia were not happy to learn it was a true story.
Nighty night kids, sleep tight! Jll
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