Alaska's Exciting Ports of Call
Float-equipped fightseeing plane departs from Juneau cruise docks to view the massive Juneau Icefield. - Mike Miller photo.
Port of the Month...
An Alaska Port City
Vignette – Petersburg
The
casual cruiseship or Alaska ferry visitor who arrives in the Southeast
Alaska port of Petersburg might be forgiven for thinking he
or she has been transported somehow to an enclave of Norway. There are,
for instance, scores of homes, businesses, even downtown sidewalks upon
which traditional Nordic symbols and designs – called rosemaling – are
painted or etched. Too, there's the imposing large Sons of Norway Hall,
constructed in 1912, It's a major social and community
meeting place and just outside its doors photographers go wild taking
pictures of the square-sailed vessel Valhalla, an authentic replica of
a Viking sailing craft.It's called "rosemaling" and you see this colorful Norwegian art form on homes and commercial buildings throughout the city. This example adorns one of Petersburg's downtown businesses. (Mike Miller Photo)
Come early summer each year the community celebrates – wouldn't you know it? – Norwegian Independence Day with a “Little Norway Festival” over the third weekend of May. Townspeople parade the city in traditional Scandinavian dress amid flurries
of Viking "raids" from the sea by Nordic
“warriors” off the Valhalla. Too, there are halibut-filleting contests
and folk dancing, and on the beach there's a popular salmon bake. At
other venues locals and visitors enjoy tasting the likes of fish cakes,
gravid lox, lutefisk, and all manner of mouth-watering Norwegian
desserts.<- Viking vessel Valhalla, on display near Petersburg's Sons of Norway Hall, actually takes to the sea when the annual "Little Norway Festival" is staged in late May. (Mike Miller Photo)
But of
course there are many more things to see and do in Petersburg and its
environs than celebrating a particular heritage. What, for instance, is
your favorite “thing?” Fishing perhaps? Freshwater streams
nearby are hugely productive for trout and other species. Nearby
saltwater arms, bays, and inlets, are likewise rewarding for fishers
seeking salmon, halibut, and other ocean-going fish. And if you see a
humpback whale leaping or sounding in the process, all the better. Or
how about hiking? The community abounds with trekking opportunities
along U.S. Forest Service and other trails through thick, verdant
stands of Sitka Spruce and Hemlock.The Petersburg Lake Trail, maintained by the U.S. Forest Service on nearby Kupreanof Island across Wrangell Narrows, is but one of a number of excellent short or long hiking choices. (Marilyn Miller Photo)
About 25 miles east of Petersburg lies the ever-calving, ever-splashing, ever- iceberg-making river of ice called Le Conte Glacier. This, the southernmost tidewater glacier in North America, along with Le Conte Bay, is home to some 2,000 seals who raise their pups each year upon myriad icebergs in the bay waters. Waterborne excursions to the site are easy to book and richely rewarding.
To learn about Petersburg's founding in the late 1890s, its fascinating local museum, a popular recreation area called "Man-Made-Hole" and the appropriately-named "Eagle's Roost Park" a short walk north of downtown, visit www.petersburg.org on the internet. Or, you can call 907-772-INFO for a 46-page visitor's guide whose opening article says it all: “Welkommen to Alaska's Little Norway.”
Previous Ports of the Month...
Be sure to check out the previous Ports of the Month here.December 2008 - Ketchikan
January 2009 - Sitka
February 2009 - Seward
March 2009 - Juneau
April 2009 - Skagway
May 2009 - Icy Straight Point
Alaska's Port Cities –From "A" to (Not Quite) "Z"
The port cities, towns, and villages you can visit on an Alaska cruise orferry ride are a diverse and exciting lot. Some communities, like Anchorage, are big and busy and business-oriented, yet Alaskan to the core; the Anchorage Museum of History and Art and the Alaska Native Heritage Center are both "must see." Skagway is an authentic 19th century goldrush town. Sitka relishes the memory of its ancient Tlingit Indian heritage and its Russian colonial past.
They don't call Petersburg "Little Norway" for nothing, and if you don't believe it drop by toward the end of May and help the locals celebrate Norwegian Independence Day. Juneau's three "G's" (Glaciers, Gold, and Government) make it a favorite stop among both cruisers and ferry patrons.
Ketchikan's world class collection of totem poles is much treasured by residents and visitors alike - as are the magnificent cedar monuments on Chief Shakes Island within the harbor at Wrangell. At Haines, residents likewise embrace historic and contemporary Tlingit Indian art, as well as the world's largest gathering of American bald eagles. Tiny Baranof Warm Springs, as the name implies, boasts natural outdoor warm springs pools in the woods - sites much appreciated both by locals, itinerant commercial fishermen and smallboat cruise passengers. Tenakee's natural springs have similar appeal.
Icy Strait Point, adjacent to Hoonah, is Alaska's first planned cultural and soft activity port, reserved for passengers from no more than one cruiseship a day. Cordova and Valdez, both located on the shores of glacier-rich Prince William Sound, offer unexcelled waterborne sightseeing and angling. Goldrush Nome, the Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, and Little Diomede Island can only be described as "way far out," in more ways than one.
The list goes happily on... And on...
Welcome group of Alaska Natives from the Icy Strait Point soft-adventure/cultural center paddle out to greet cruisers. (Icy Strait Point photo)
The Following are Alaska's cruiseship and ferry stops, large and small, along with California, Washington, and British Columbia ports of embarkation and disembarkation. If a community has a presence on the worldwide web, the appropriate URL link is noted. The port list runs roughly south to north. Happy surfing.
Please note: Some of the very small villages marked with a star (*) have no websites of their own. For these communities we have supplied a data site prepared by the State of Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development or other agencies. To access the State site, click on the blue link here or at the bottom of the page which reads: http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CF_BLOCK.cfm
When the window opens,
- scroll the box containing community names and select the community you are seeking,
- select "General Overview" in the other box, then
- click "submit data"
"PoC" indicates a cruise port of call.
"Ferry" indicates a ferry stop.
CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, B.C. PORTS
San Diego, www.sandiego.org - E/D
Los Angeles, www.lacvb.com - E/D
San Francisco, www.sfvisitor.org - E/D
Seattle, www.seeseattle.org - E/D, PoC
Bellingham, www.bellingham.org - Ferry
Vancouver, www.tourismvancouver.com - E/D
Victoria, www.tourismvictoria.com - PoC
Pr. Rupert, www.tourismprincerupert.com - E/D, Ferry, PoC
ALASKA PORTS
Escorted hikes through
Alaska forests are a favorite port activity. - Mike Miller photoHyder, www.stewart-hyder.com - PoC
Ketchikan, www.visit-ketchikan.com - E/D, Ferry, PoC
Hollis*- Ferry
Metlakatla, www.metlakatla.org - Ferry, PoC
Wrangell, www.wrangell.com - Ferry PoC
Petersburg, www.petersburg.org - Ferry, PoC
Kake*- Ferry, PoC
Sitka, www.sitka.org - E/D, Ferry, PoC
Angoon*- Ferry
Elfin Cove* - PoC
Baranof Warm Springs (No community web site found. Following is a private site linked by permission from Online Highways)
http://users.erols.com/ovoss/hot-springs-photos-page3.htm#Baranof - PoC
Tenakee Springs*- Ferry
Juneau, www.traveljuneau.com - E/D, Ferry, PoC
Hoonah / Icy Strait Point, www.hunatotem.com/affiliates/icy_strait_point.html - Ferry, PoC
Haines, www.haines.ak.us -Ferry, PoC
Skagway, www.skagway.com -Ferry, PoC
Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay Nat’l Prk, www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm - PoC
Yakutat, www.yakutat.net - Ferry
Cordova, www.cordovachamber.com - Ferry, PoC
Tatitlek*- Ferry
Valdez, www.valdezalaska.org -Ferry
Chenega Bay*- Ferry
Seward, www.sewardak.org - E/D
Whittier, www.ci.whittier.ak.us- E/D, Ferry
Anchorage, www.anchorage.net - E/D
Homer, www.homeralaska.org - E/D, Ferry
Seldovia, www.seldovia.com - Ferry
Kodiak, www.kodiak.org - E/D - Ferry
Port Lions*- Ferry
Chignik*- Ferry
Sand Point*- Ferry
King Cove*- Ferry
Cold Bay*- Ferry
False Pass*- Ferry
Akutan*- Ferry
Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, www.unalaska.info - Ferry, PoC
Nome, www.nomealaska.org - E/D
St. Paul, Pribilof Islands, www.southwestalaska.com/pribilof - PoC
Gambell, St. Lawrence Island,
www.beringsea.com/communities/index.php?community -129 - PoC
Diomede (also Little Diomede)*- PoC
RUSSIAN & JAPANESE PORTS
Petropavlovsk, Russia - E/D
Hakodate. Japan - E/D
Sendai. Japan - E/D
Yokohama.Japan - E/D
Tokyo, Japan - E/D
To access State of Alaska database information about small communities marked with a star (*), visit the following URL:
http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CF_BLOCK.cfm