May 17th, 2011: Day 3
It was another early morning for B and me with us waking up around 4:45am. But we gained an hours so it didn't feel too early. We had quite a change in scenery as we are now sailing through the Inside Passage.
Hills and mountains were visible on both sides of the ship. We started to notice more and more homes along the shores and figured we were close to Ketchikan.
We had a smallish breakfast at the buffet as we were pulling into the dock and then parted ways with the family as Mom, Dad, C, and R had a different excursion. B and I decided to head into town since we still had a few hours before our excursion left.
We were on a mission to find good hot chocolate (I had heard that the coffee on the ship was horrible, but I didn't expect the hot chocolate to be bad. In fact, everyone in my group who drank coffee said they liked the coffee provided.) and we found it at a little coffee show called Sweet Mermaids!
Not only was the hot chocolate good (it was great in fact!), but the ladies who where there (I think they were the owners) were very friendly and gave us some advice on what to see and do in the city. It looked like they had some great pastries on sale as well, but after just having breakfast, we didn't try any of them (and they didn't look gluten-free either). Their menu was full of unique items to eat and drink as well! So if you're in Ketchikan, I highly recommend a stop at Sweet Mermaids!
After looking around a few shops real quick, we headed back to the ship to catch our bus for our excursion!
The weather was rainy, overcast, foggy, and cool, but we knew they'd have rain gear for us, so it the weather really didn't bother us. The bus driver who drove us to our excursion was very good and informative telling us everything about the region Ketchikan to the skunk cabbage!
Once we got to the site of our excursion, we got into our provided rain gear, listened to our safety briefing, and got into our karts.
Our guides were very good and led us through some beautiful wilderness. We were even able to stop at a beautiful waterfall right on the boarder of the Tongass National Forest.
We all drove back to the start of our adventure and got out of our now cold and muddy rain gear (Note: the rain gear worked great, but if you're taking this excursion, it might be a good idea to bring gloves to keep your hands warm.). We were covered in mud splatters! It was so much fun and we really enjoyed it!
By the time we got back to the ship, it was close to 1pm. We were hungry since we hadn't had lunch. So we showered (so muddy!) and had a quick lunch at the buffet. The ship was leaving at 4pm so we didn't have much time to explore the town. We did get a chance to shop very quickly in town and got some great souvenirs (for a great price too!)!
Back on the ship, we prepared for what was about to be a great dinner experience!
We decided to try the specialty restaurant called Sabatini's tonight. It cost $20 extra per person, but we were soon to find out it was well worth it!
Our waiter (Alex was AMAZING by the way! He had us laughing all night long!) told us that all we needed to order was the main course. Alex then started coming out with our antipasti and there were probably six-ten different options. Most of them were just okay, but others were just amazing! We then had a soup and pasta dish which was also good, but not amazing. Then came the main course! I had stuffed supreme chicken and it was so amazing and beyond words! Everyone really enjoyed their meals too! And of course, there was dessert to be had! I had the espresso creme brule and again, it was so good it was beyond words! The meal was just such an experience! Oh yeah, did I mention we were in the restaurant for three hours (It sure didn't feel like three hours though!)? I still look back on this meal and smile!
We were all so full that we went back to our rooms to sleep. Tomorrow, we are sailing through Tracy Arm and then it's off to Juneau!
Oh! I wanted to reiterate again how awesome the service is on this ship! Sabatini's knew ahead of time that I was gluten-free and made me special antipastos and even gluten-free pasta! It wasn't the greatest pasta, but it's really the thought that counts for me! The could have told me that they just couldn't make certain dishes for me, but they didn't. Towards the end of our dinner, our maitre d from our main dinning room stopped by and took down my dinner order for tomorrow. It really does almost make me cry just knowing all the extra work these people are going through just to make me happy! It's a very humbling experience.
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