We are officially empty nesters. Our guests for the past week+ have flown the coop and we are now experiencing a quiet ship. That's both liberating and lonesome at the same time. It was a great week filled with laughter, deeply personal conversations, stories, and speculations.
After doing many loads of laundry, filling-up with water, cleaning, etc. we decided to take a hike. Jerry was so kind as to leave me with two new fishing poles, completely setup, and rigged. They will be here when you come back next year! So, to store them, I need something better than cramming them in my lazarette. The first item I was shopping for is an overhead fishing rod rack. Off to LFS Marine Supply. No luck in Sitka for my rod holders. Next...
Then on to the tourist and local/native shops that are downtown. We shopped for Christmas presents and that was successful. We found some lovely items that may make an appearance under some of your Christmas trees this winter. No further spoilers...
Shopping complete, we walked the waterfront all the way south and east of town to the waterfront park.
Along the way we stopped by the waterfront park, where we'd taken some pictures when we were here last in 2010 on a Holland America cruise.
We went further and ended up at the Sitka National Historic Park which has a Totem Forest area.
In this park, the Totems have been donated and collected from all over SE Alaska with the promise to preserve them. Totems are carved from wood, like cedar, and so they rot and eventually return to the earth from whence they came. So, those decaying Totems are duplicated by Master Totem Carvers to preserve them. In the picture to the right, they are carving new duplicate Totems.
These are the trails we hiked and the totems and views we experienced.
Here, I'm a stand-in for a pencil to show scale. These Totems are really tall!
After the slow meander through the woods, my back was killing me, so a moment of stretching on the washed-up cedar log. It is about 5' in diameter.
Then it was the meander at a more purposeful pace back downtown to diner at the Mean Queen for pizza and an IPA.
Tomorrow, we are supposed to have quite the storm. We overheard many residents talking about and preparing for the coming "horizontal rain". The forecast doesn't look that bad, but I deferred to local wisdom and got the boat tucked away and prepared, just in case.
This shows that we should expect 28knots from the southeast starting around 1600 (4:00pm). Well, we shall see!
Pretty day. Those totem poles were impressive! That non-traditional one was striking in contrast. Was it made by a contemporary craftsman?
ReplyDeleteHope the storm is less extreme than predicted. Keep us posted! 🤞🏻CManning
A huge public "Thank You!" and boatload of appreciation for a fantastic time on Blue Redd. She's a beautiful vessel inside and out and you care for her so well.
ReplyDeleteBest of all, you are wonderful, gracious, and patient hosts - and we made some wonderful memories - like fulfilling Diane's lifelong dream of catching and landing a Halibut.
Finally, I'm hoping that introducing us to your Selene friends at dinner and at the docks didn't do any lasting damage to your club standing or reputation. Here's to hoping you and your other guests catch a lot more fish with the gear you now have available on board. I'll be sending some rigging instructions, and you can always call for a quick "Fish-on" consult if your mind suddenly goes blank in the middle of the "Bite-to-Boat" phase excitement.
But with what you already know you certainly won't starve.
Thanks again! >===%> (that's supposed to be a Halibut)