Sitka – a charming Alaskan town

I’m continuing my wandering around the places that really resonated with us on our recent Viking cruise from Seward to Vancouver and today I’m visiting my images and thoughts about Sitka. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the cruise – not because of the dramatic scenery although there was some of that, but just because this is a lovely little town to just walk around.

I didn’t think all of these images were worthy of being printed and framed for a wall, but if there is something that really appeals to you, please let me know! Sitka is famous for its extinct volcano which is very much in the traditional design for a volcano!

But wait, there is more! Sitka is also famous for having the United States’ first vehicular cable-stayed girder spanned bridge. Impressive, you may think! But perhaps the design is in the details somewhere?

It is interesting in many of these small towns how difficult it is to get to the local airport. Before this bridge was completed in 1971, the only way to get to the airport was via a ferry service. Miss that, and you miss your plane! The small port here couldn’t handle any cruise ships, even the smaller Viking ones, and so we were ferried to the pier using the tender boats.

The overall view of the town is quite impressive as well:

And, looking back in the opposite direction you see the size of the bay with many small islands dotted with homes and vacation cabins:

Sitka was originally called New Archangel (although I am sure it had a local name before then) when the Russians occupied the area from 1799 to 1867. At that point they decided that they couldn’t make much money from furs and sold the entirety of Alaska for $7.2M, or 2c per acre, to the USA. The handover ceremony was held here in Sitka. That explains the presence of the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Sitka although it burned down, and this is a replica:

The interior was restored as well and is certainly worth a visit. I was also impressed by the very large and grand Alaska Pioneer Retirement Home:

Sitka is also home to the National Historical Park which celebrates the Klingit culture with many carved totem poles installed throughout the forest and connected by paths. Each totem pole tells a story and kept the culture of storytelling alive in each group. There are too many to photograph all of them, but here is the detail of a Raven’s head on one of the poles.

From there we walked through the forest to the Alaska Raptor Center although we didn’t really have time to visit it. However, there are some interesting exhibits of birds outside the center, including this Snowy Owl:

From there, another walk through the outskirts of town and back to the waterfront to see our ship anchored in the bay with the full panorama of the islands around it:

As you can see, a lot to see in a relatively small town in Alaska! The next part of this story of the Viking Alaska cruise can be found here with the visit to Juneau, the capital of Alaska.