By the time we got to Bellingham, Washington to board the ferry, we had been driving for 46 1/2 hours. Don't worry, we had made tons of stops and this particular "stop" was on day 14 of our journey. We were STOKED for this new part of our adventure. To be fair, our kids are pretty great travelers, but being able to still travel towards our destination without being stuck in seatbelts and car seats and just being able to experience something new all around was something we were ALL looking forward too. Loading the ferry was an exciting experience in and of itself. Driving into the belly of the boat in single file line, then one by one getting on the car lift to park on the 2nd floor couldn't have been more thrilling for our girls (aged 2 and 5), though we were pretty entertained by the whole thing, ourselves! Going up.... As part of taking the ferry on government travel orders, it was required to reserve a berth. This is only worth mentioning because there were quite a few travelers who took advantage of the upper deck camping area as well as setting up "camp" in the evenings in the lower deck viewing areas. We were "warned" about the small rooms but, we were quite pleased with our arrangements. Heck, we could lay down and stand up so it was much roomier than a car! It worked well for us for our 3 day journey but if you're expecting a cruise ship ocean view room, you may need to lower your expectations ;) We set sail at 6:00PM on a Friday and we were at sea until we stopped in Ketchikan, Alaska for a few hours on Sunday morning. Our full day at sea was incredibly relaxing. We had lugged binoculars around with us our entire trip for the sole purpose of watching for wildlife while we were on the ferry. We saw whales and porpoises and sea otters more than once! And the scenery was stunning. Ketchikan is known as Alaska's first city. Not because it was the first city settled, but because it's the first stop along the inside passage. It's affectionately called "Rain City" as they receive, on average, 12.5 feet of rain a year! ALSO known as the Salmon Capital of the world, Ketchikan is such an interesting place. Had we had more time, it would've been so much fun to explore a little more. But our first introduction to our new home state was exciting, to say the least. As we waited for our ferry to dock, we watched Bald Eagles catching fish right out of the ocean. It's important to note, that the ferry docks a few miles away from town because of the cruise ships. It was only on our way back that we discovered there was a free shuttle about half way that would've taken us into downtown haha. But the walk down was pretty cool! Obviously, Ketchikan is right off the ocean, with a lot of the roads and sidewalks actually built over water! As we walked past and looked down, my girls were so excited to see all the big purple starfish in the water! Once in town, we got breakfast at Sweet Mermaids. Awesome breakfast burritos!! The hot chocolate and donuts were also a hit. We then wandered through the cruise port shopping area and made our way to Creek Street. Creek Street is literally a boardwalk built above the water. It was built in the early 1900s and is actually the old Red Light District! It has such an interesting history and we had a lot of fun wandering in and out of the shops and the girls loved watching the water below us. After getting back on the ferry, we made a few more stops though we didn't get off until we reached Haines, Alaska. It was interesting to watch the loading and unloading at the different stops though. It is pretty amazing to realize how many cities and towns in Alaska just don't have roads that connect to other places. The ferry is actually used as a way to ship things like construction equipment, like we saw getting unloaded in Wrangell, Alaska. Docking in Haines ended our trip up the Alaska Marine Highway. We could've gotten a little closer to Anchorage, but we really did want a little taste of driving through Canada and to see places that might not make sense to drive to, but better to drive through on the way to our new home. If you're planning to take a trip on the ferry, we highly recommend it! But we do have a few more tips. First, the ferry has two different places for eating. One is a cafeteria and the other is a restaurant. As you can imagine, it isn't the cheapest food. We actually stocked up a cooler so we had milk, cereal, fruits, bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheeses, sandwich meats, etc so we could save some money on meals. But we did eat in the cafeteria a few times. Second, while you can bring pets onto the ferry, they must stay in your car. On the first day while we were at sea, they had "pet call" every few hours for passengers to go to the car deck and let their dogs walk around. They even had a designated potty area. After our stop in Ketchikan, the rest of the stops weren't too long apart, so pet owners could walk their dogs off and back on between unloading and loading. Third, the ferry does provide entertainment! There was a kids area with toys and even a theater room that showed a few movies each day. Though we did have iPads with downloaded movies that we knew our kids would like. You can read about the next leg of our trip here. Or to start at the beginning you can read about the first leg of our trip, from New Mexico to Arizona, here. Comments or questions? We want to hear them! Make sure to pin to save for later and follow us on Instagram for more of our day to day adventures. Until next time, get out and enjoy where you live!
1 Comment
Vincent Baird
9/24/2019 09:17:29 pm
So fun to see and read, "And now,you know The rest of the story"
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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