Thursday morning we woke up bright and early, and found ourselves already docked in Ketchikan. We had a duck tour booked first thing, so after eating a quick breakfast, off we went.
The duck tour was a land and water tour of the town and the bay. We rode around in an amphibious bus and our guide pointed out interesting sites.
It was beautiful, the bay was gorgeous, and we saw some bald eagles, as well as the blue heron I managed to get a photo of. We all enjoyed ourselves and the tour director was rather amusing.
After the tour was over, Mike and I wandered off on our own to take a look around. Since it was my birthday he took me shopping for a gift (in addition to the beautiful ring he bought for me in Skagway). We went into a few jewelry stores and browsed, before he picked out this gorgeous garnet bracelet. It matches a garnet ring that my mother passed down to me a couple of years ago, and they make a lovely set.
I was pretty spoiled for my 29th!
After picking up the bracelet, we toured through the museum in town, picked up some patches for our backpacks, and some souvenirs for the kids. It was our last stop in Alaska, so we made sure to get everything we hadn’t picked up yet for other people. I got an Ulu and a glass seal for my best friend, Ronnie, and a few odds and ends for my family. We had a great time in town.
It was formal night on the ship, so everyone dressed their best that evening for dinner. We got together before the meal to take some photos of everyone all decked out.
After our photo-shoot, we all went for dinner. Thursday also happened to be the night when they served the baked Alaska, which is apparently cause for excitement (I don’t care much for baked Alaska personally, but it was well presented).
I got a special birthday dessert, and the waiters and everyone else sang to me! It was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had (and certainly one of the most memorable, it’s not every year you get to celebrate on a cruise!) I got some lovely gifts as well 🙂
After supper, I decided to change and then we all met up at the lounge for drinks and entertainment. Somehow I got roped onto having a birthday dance with Mike, but to save us from being the only ones up there, Ruth and Bill and Danny and Kerri also joined us!
After dancing, the ship entertainment hosts held a marriage game show and despite their protests, we signed up Nanny and Pa, and they got picked! I think some of the questions made them a little…uncomfortable, but it was all in fun. They ended up winning the game by answering the most questions about each other correctly!
That night was also the last qualifying round for “Princess Popstar” which I guess is the cruise equivalent of American Idol. Ben and Mike both participated, and Ben made it into the finals, which was hilarious.
After Princess Popstar was over, Michelle, Kerri, Michael, and I headed up to the club to dance some more and have another cocktail. Ben was up there too somewhere but we couldn’t find him, LOL. We danced, celebrated, and generally had a great time until Mike and I were worn out and decided to head to bed. It was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday.
