This morning, we are
participating in the “Explore
Sitka Highlights
& Totem Park ”
tour. We board bus #8 and begin our
tour of the Sitka highlights (crossing the O'Connell
Bridge to Japonski
Island ). We see the harbor, 3 huge colorful buoys, a
bald eagle, and the University of Alaska before re-crossing the bridge back to Baranof Island where Sitka is located.
Our tour continues downtown where we pass by the Hanion-
Osbakken House and St. Peter's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church.
We stop at a beach to see a bald eagle but we get an extra
treat and see a whale too.
Next we arrive at the Naa Kahidi
Community House to watch the Alaskan Tlingit Natives perform traditional songs
and dances from their culture. The last
dance is an invitational dance and members of the audience are invited to
participate - so I do. You simply spread
your arms out like the wings of a raven and dance with a limp.
At the Sitka National
Historical Park
is a loop trail where totem poles are on display. Unfortunately, we only have time to walk
about 1/3 of the trail. We do see 6 or
7 of the totem poles before our time here is up and we need to return to the
bus.
For more information on this Park, I invite you to view my Blog Post on Sitka National Historical Park by clicking on the following link:
Denice's Blog Post - Sitka National Historical Park
The bus driver drops us off
downtown by St. Michael's Cathedral
(a Russian Orthodox Church). St. Michael’s Cathedral was built between the
years of 1844-1848 and was destroyed by fire in 1966 and rebuilt. The
church’s green domes and crosses are a prominent and iconic landmark in Sitka .
In the afternoon, we embark on
the “Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest” (Allen Marine Tours). We are very fortunate today because the
waters around Sitka
are pretty smooth. This allows the boat to
sail quickly and easily around the area in search of wildlife. Within 45 seconds of leaving the dock, we see
sea otters. We continue sailing around
locating bald eagles and lots of sea otters near Black Rock. Bieli Rocks (a small rocky island) has three
crosses at the top of it honoring those who lost their lives at sea. We sail by the dormant cinder cone of Mount Edgecombe
(3,201'). It was named by Captain James
Cook in 1778.
We cruise to the 65-acre St. Lazaria Island
(National Wildlife Refuge). Here we see Puffins
floating in the water and a rugged coastline.
Shortly after leaving the Refuge, we spot a couple of gray whales. We watch them for a short time before moving
to another location in search of humpback whales. We do see whales spouting and making brief
appearances but mostly they are playing hide-and-go seek with us.
For more information about Sitka , visit the following website:
For more information on St. Michael’s Cathedral, visit the
following website:
For more information on the Sitka National
Historical Park ,
visit the following website:
For more information on the Naa Kahidi Community House,
visit the following websites:
For more information on Allen Marine Tours, visit the
following website:
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