September in AK Part II

We caught the evening flight to Sitka. This plane was fuller than the first--i guess other people would rather not fly at 6 am, too. All they serve is either orange juice or water as the flight is too short. The captain came on, announced we had reached our cruising altitude and would remain here for the next 4 minutes, so he would turn the seatbelt sign off in case a bathroom run was needed. Hundreds in 4 minutes--right.

Sitka is a beautiful town. It is located on the west side of Baranof Island on the Pacific. It was settled by the Tlingit peoples and they were "joined" by the Russians right around 1800. We stayed at the Sitka Hotel in downtown (which has spotty internet for anyone who googled that and got here). The view when i went to sleep was dreary but lovely:

The clouds wrap around the mountains like a protective smoke screen, it was quiet and peaceful. When I woke up, it was a different story. In the night, a couple of cruise ships, probably the same ones we were in Ketchikan with, turned up in Sitka. All of a sudden, my stellar view became lame.

And thus the little town of Sitka had its population jump by a 1/3 overnight. 3,500 folks descended on the town to shop and take pictures of the Russian church the heart of town has developed around. When they all departed at about 2pm, all the shops closed and the quiet descended.