Day 6
This was our long awaited art stop. Unfortunately we were only scheduled to be here until just before noon, which meant we had no time to waste. Fortunately the local shops are also not about to waste any time when a cruise ship is in port, so most everything is open by the time the first tourists de-plank.

Ketchikan

We had spotted in advance a number of galleries, and noted their addresses, including one owned by Marvin Oliver and his wife Brigette. Martin Oliver is a particularly talented NW native artist we have admired for many years. If I remember correctly, he also teaches at the UW.
We made a beeline for the Oliver shop (Alaska Eagle Arts). It was next to a Ray Troll gallery (an artist we have enjoyed for many years and have several t-shirts by – if you don’t know who Ray Troll is, you should certainly google him). Martin’s wife was managing their shop and we talked to her for a while. It turns out that while they run the shop in Ketchikan during the summer, their regular home is in Seattle and they have their print making shop in Ballard, a matter of blocks from our office! We got on their email list so we can get notices of when they have events in Ballard.

Dock Street, where the best shops were, including Marvin Oliver and Ray Troll

While in the gallery, we saw a long coat made out of a Pendleton blanket. The blanket was designed by Marvin and we have one of them hanging up in our office. They have someone who takes those blankets and makes coats out of them. The one in the shop was Tami’s size, but longer than she would wear with any regularity. However, Brigette said they can have them done to your measurements, to any length you would like.

A totem in Ketchikan

While we walked around town after that Mike worked on Tami to consider getting one made for her. She gradually came around to the idea (they are not inexpensive) so after seeing the rest of the downtown area we went back and ordered one in a more Tami appropriate length. We had the measurements taken on site so they could start work on it right away. Tami was really thrown when Brigette’s first question was, “What’s your dress size?” We recovered as quickly as possible and came up with a suitable answer after admitting that Tami owned no dresses. We can’t wait for it to arrive!

Ketchikan from the water

We also found a woodcut print of a salmon cannery. We are going to have a lot of framing to do when we get back. Thank Thor for Aaron Brothers. Tami was also delighted to discover that one of the city buses was completely covered by Ray Troll designs. She needed to get a picture, but the buses only run every twenty minutes and were not all Troll buses. Tami had resigned herself to disappointment as we trudged back to the dock, but just then Mike exclaimed, “LOOK!”. Tami was actually afraid she was about to be run over by something large but then looked up to see a Troll bus headed to the bus stop in front of her!!! So we have a picture!!!

Ray Troll bus

We also found a shop that had outdoor equipment and clothing where the locals shop. There was a bin of very large rubber bands, four for $1. I’m still curious what those are for. We also found a Seahawks hard hat. Now, if that had been Sounders…

Rubber bands…???

Getting back to the ship was a bit more involved than expected. When we got back, only 15 minutes before last call, there was a VERY long line stretching back to the next ship and then doubling back towards ours.

If only it was Sounders

Apparently there had been a problem with one of the fork lifts that maneuver the gang planks into place (they have to be repositioned as the tide goes in or out) and we all had to wait for things to get straightened out. We figured there was no point in actually waiting in line. We grabbed a couple drinks (hey, it was morning, just a chai and a diet soda) and found a place to sit and watch the line instead.

Eating chocolate, waiting to board

Tami kept herself entertained by taking pictures of people in the funny hats they were wearing and making up captions in her mind. Perhaps that’s another blog someday. Once the line finally wound down, we jumped on the end and boarded.
This afternoon we couldn’t decide whether to go to the vodka tasting or the wine tasting, so we did both. And both were good! Tonight is another formal night, so Mike will once again attempt to shoe horn himself into his black pants. Probably even tighter by now.

Fries!!