Full transparency here, we did not road trip up to Alaska. We found ourselves in Ketchikan, Alaska thanks to our first cruise. I wanted to share how we spent our day there since you technically could drive to Alaska and then catch a ferry to Ketchikan.
First up the *planned* itinerary:
Of course when traveling things rarely go to plan and unfortunately our Duck Boat Tour was cancelled 🙁
We spent 10 hours in Ketchikan and that may have been too many hours for us. Let me preface this by saying if we had done any of the nature hikes or trekked out to the Totem Pole Park then 10 hours would have been a great amount of time! However, we got notice of the duck tour cancellation late the night before we docked in Ketchikan and didn’t have the right clothing on hand for other more nature-involved excursions.
So, if you find yourself in Ketchikan for 10 hours on a drizzly day, here is how we filled our time:
- Get breakfast at 55 North Bakery and Coffee. This is a MUST! They used to trade their cinnamon rolls for fresh caught salmon, that’s a testament to how good they are. They live up to the hype and coffee was a great way for us to warm our rain soaked selves.
- Stroll Along Creek Street. Historically Creek Street was a red light district. Now it’s filled with historical signs, local shops, gorgeous views, and totem poles.
- My Favorite shop here was Creek Street #11, they had cute items at reasonable prices and I came away with a new Chinese Takeaway purse!
- Dolly’s House on Creek Street is a must-see from what we were told but sadly it was closed when we were there. If you check it out, tell me about it!
Walking through Downtown Ketchikan there are certainly some interesting sites to see. For example we saw two different restaurants:
Unfortunately, we were not brave enough to try either, but I also did not want to give up my chance to eat at Burger Queen!
- Must Try: Burger Queen. In my book Burger King is a no-go but women do it better 😉 so I knew I had to give this local restaurant a try. You can go to the window of Burger Queen and order with outdoor seating. If it’s rainy like it usually is then head into The Asylum bar. Asylum and Burger Queen are owned by the same person and if you want a wide variety of beer at an affordable price with the added benefit of people watching then The Asylum is the place to be. The best part: You can order Burger Queen at the bar and someone will run it over to your table when it’s ready!
- Souvenirs, Souvenirs, and More Souvenirs. I highly recommend perusing the local shops before the commercialized shops, they have some unique items and it’s always better to support local. However, if you have a souvenir itch you just can’t scratch, you’ll have no shortage of options in Ketchikan. Honestly, it was overwhelming and I felt it took away from the natural small town feel that most of Ketchikan is going for. However, the shops were warm and clean and had any kind of souvenir you need to take back home to all your friends and family.
Now for my favorite part of the trip: The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show! I cannot hype this enough. If you love cheering on your team while they pull of near impossible feats of physical strength then you will LOVE this. We were entertained, we were educated, we were stunned! The host tells you all about why each lumberjack skill may be needed on the job as well as brief history of the lumberjacks in the area. Then the two lumberjack teams compete to complete the task the fastest. It was easily the best hour we spent in Ketchikan and it truly is fun for all ages. If you find yourself in Ketchikan for just a couple of hours and you can only do one thing do this! I mean, just check out these pictures (no filming is allowed):
Afterwards we were soaked through with rain, we were cold, and I just wanted my pajamas. So we headed back to the ship and ended our day in Alaska.
Before I end this post, we learned a lot of Alaska fun facts while we were there thanks to my Dad and brother texting me everything they knew about Alaska (They are huge fans of the series ‘Alone’):
- Alaska is 2.5 times bigger than Texas but only has a population of 736,990. Texas has 28.64 million residents.
- Ketchikan is surrounded by the 17 million acre Tongass National Forest which is the largest National Forest in the U.S.
- Ketchikan averages 153 inches (~13 feet!) of rain per year and it rains around 234 days per year
- A set of stairs is considered a street in Ketchikan if it is over 100 steps and is given a street name and sign:
Find my video of the trip on my TikTok (@TaysiaTravels) or Instagram (@roadtrip_plans). If you’re dreaming of an Alaskan road trip, reach out! All my road trips are customized to what you want to get most out of the trip. I’m here to make traveling easier, so ask me a question or book a trip today!
-Taysia