There was no dock big enough for the cruise ship so they anchored the boat out in the harbor and we boarded a catamaran off of the ship for a wildlife quest and beach exploration.
It was awesome. We first approached an area with dozens of Bald Eagles. They were magnificent. I have never seen so many at one time. After watching them for a bit and taking lots of pictures - we headed toward the beach.
On the way we saw several sea otters playing - diving and then poking their heads up out of the water. They were very cute!
At the beach our naturalist told us a lot about drift word and creatures we found on the beach. We saw a lot of drift wood in large and small pieces,
small crabs,
a big starfish and a small starfish,
deer tracks,
all shapes, sizes and colors of pumice,
and several sea anemone.
We actually brought home some of the the smooth drift wood, pumice, a couple of crabs to show Chandler, and some shells and sand. While exploring the beach, the captain took the catamaran out away from the shore and later he and one of the guides on shore with us noticed a whale. The captain came back and picked us up and took us fairly close to the whale.
It was a neat excursion. We saw and learned a lot. Afterwards we were taken into Sitka where we had time to do some shopping and looking around. We visited St. Michael's - the 1st Russian Orthodox Cathedral. It was right in the middle of town.
We also hiked up to the spot where Alaska was handed over to the United States from the Russians.
We saw lots of beautiful flowers and some totem poles!!
We got back on the ship about 2:30 p.m. and went to our room. We napped, read, and watched the scenery from the balcony. The waves were from 4 to 7 feet high but luckily the ship was not rocking so no motion sickness today!! Since we had eaten a late lunch, we were not hungry for dinner but we decided to walk around so they could turn down the bed. We walked up on the Lido Deck and noticed they were setting up for the dessert extravaganza that was to begin at 11:30 p.m.
There were some amazing flower arrangements - made with beets and turnips,
fruit carvings,
ice sculptures and desserts.
I couldn't stay up that late and I can pass up desserts so I headed to bed. Robert waited until they were completely set up so he could take more pictures - plus try out some of the desserts. Now you know if they had had a hot bread extravaganza with lots of butter - I would have stayed up for that! :)
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