Visiting Sitka, Alaska/Carlos Pueblo

Visiting Sitka, Alaska/Carlos Pueblo

Sitka is also located in an island of the inner sea of Alaska panhandle called

Inner Passage and within certain miles of Juneau radius. It was the old capital

of Russian America. The state capital has been moved to Juneau since Alaska

becoming one of the states. There is not enough docks at the harbor; therefore

, the cruise uses it safety vessels to transfer passengers to the dock and back.

At the designated dock, there are buses to move the passengers again to the

downtown shopping center. We didn’t wait for the bus, instead we followed

the crowds to march several blocks away. There is beautiful garden in front of

a huge building, an hotel actually, with roses, peonies, and forget me not, the

state flower etc. in various combination of colors. There were two other visitors

like me shooting pictures of flowers everywhere in the garden.

It was early in the morning, the visitors were waking up the entire city, merchants

were preparing to open their business. It is all there, St. Michael Cathedral, at a

corner of streets intersection. Amy bought a copy of picture in a lovely gallery

where many art work provided by  local artists. We passed by a Pacific College

campus with a small size garden in the front with colorful flowers which was very

nice to visit during the spring time. We followed the stream of tourists toward an

unknown destination passing by a closed college, Sheldon Jackson College, and

visited its museum with plenty Alaskan collection. On the way, I passed by a church

front yard full of puppy shape flowers which I doubted them as the opium and

nobody could name it.

We reached to the Sitka National Historical Park. Again, we followed to the crowds

Inside the trail to view the forest with many duplicate Alaska Totem Poles. We

passed by a site of the battle ground where native Alaska aboriginal resisted the

Russian invasion. The Indian River is not far away through the boundary and has

been the center of the old Alaskan life. We exit to a highway and across the highway

to the Alaska Raptor Center, a refugee of the big shining black birds.

We took a wrong shuttle bus to a station for Holland America Cruise and a nice young

driver took us right back to the dock area. She and her husband are college students

working her during summer season. She wants to be a teacher of elementary school

while her husband wants to be a coach at a high school after graduation.

I mentioned that there was a bonus of $100 for the change of route on the way back,

actually it was a delay of wheel replacement on the way out of Glacier Bay. I

misunderstood the non-refundable on board credit and lost it and at the end after a

protest, I got it back to use it within a year period with another bonus for Amy. The

cruise company is very good at the business that I have been hooked ever since my

first cruise with this company.