Today is the fifth day of my Alaska cruise and Radiance of the Seas docked in Sitka today for a full day of exploring another beautiful Alaskan port.
Sitka is the 4th largest city in Alaska, with a population of around 8,500 people. The city is the former capital of Russian Alaska and there are several Russian influences to see throughout town, from historic buildings to monuments and souvenir shops.
Like other Alaska cruise ports, the surrounding scenery is breathtaking in Sitka, and the Mount Edgecumbe volcano towers over town.
I was supposed to visit Sitka last year, but our port was changed to Ketchikan due to high seas, so I was excited to have the opportunity to visit today.
We ate breakfast today in the Windjammer, where I enjoyed another plate of my favorite breakfast: french toast topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips.
I also took in my first views of Sitka. I'm definitely going to miss the outdoor seating area at the Windjammer!
Serenade of the Seas pulled into port as we were eating breakfast. This is the first time I've seen Serenade of the Seas and, as Serenade is another Radiance Class cruise ship, she looks identical to Radiance of the Seas.
We disembarked the ship around 9:30AM. Sitka's cruise port is located around 15 minutes from downtown, and there are complimentary shuttle buses available to transport guests to and from the city.
I was worried we'd have to wait a while before getting on a shuttle bus, but the line only took around 5 minutes and we quickly arrived in town.
We did not book any excursions today. Most of Sitka's main attractions are all walkable from downtown, so we planned to explore on foot without a plan and see where the day led us!
We started the day at Lincoln Street, Sitka's main tourist street. It was nice to see that the town blocks the street from cars, making exploring the street easy and safe for all visitors.
The street is lined with souvenir shops and local restaurants. Our first stop was to a Russian souvenir shop selling dolls and Christmas decor. It was definitely more unique than other souvenir shops I've visited so far in Alaska and the displays were beautiful.
At this point it wasn't raining too hard, so we took advantage of the weather and walked to the Baranof Castle State Historic Site, located adjacent to Lincoln Street.
This small hill is the site where the ceremonial transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States occurred. Not only was it fascinating to stand where such an influential historical event took place, but the hill had the best views of Sitka I saw all day.
Sitka's mountain scenery is dramatic and absolutely gorgeous, with jagged peaks and a rainforest dominating over the town. I could have stayed on the hill looking at Sitka's skyline for hours!
However, we're in Alaska, so the rain made us head back to Lincoln Street.
We continued window shopping and visiting local businesses in Sitka. While we didn't purchase the $30,000 fur coat on display at one shop, we did warm up with some hot chocolate at Old Harbor Books coffee shop and bookstore.
We also made a brief visit to St. Michael’s Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church located in downtown Sitka that was founded in 1848. While the original building was destroyed, the replica was built with the same architecture, transporting visitors back in time to when Sitka was owned by the Russians.
Our last stop downtown was to Ashmo’s, a seafood food truck with menu items including salmon mac n' cheese, teriyaki halibut, and rockfish fish n' chips. I ordered the fish n' chips and thought it was well worth the price of only $13 for freshly caught Alaskan seafood.
There was also a small food stand selling reindeer hot dogs, and although I wasn't quite adventurous enough to order one, I'm sure they are delicious.
After lunch, we left Lincoln Street and walked along Sitka's marina. At the end of the marina was a salmon hatchery. It's prime salmon spawning season and there had to have been over a thousand salmon swimming around!
Next I continued walking along the waterfront path, which led to the Sitka National Historic Park. The park had beautiful trails, although the amount of bear warning signs made me pretty cautious! There were also hundreds of salmon in the river at the park.
My last stop for the day was the Alaska Raptor Center, a rehabilitation center for eagles, owls, and other birds of prey. This non-profit organization rescues injured birds and helps the birds reach a point where they can return to the wild.
Admission to the Alaska Raptor Center was $15, which I found well worth the cost as it goes to a great cause.
After a brief introduction, a staff member introduced a rescued eagle and we were able to learn more about how they improve the health of these birds. We made a stop by the center's Flight Training Center, where eagles practice improving their flight skills after injury.
Located outside the center are various habitats for rescued birds of prey. Here visitors can get more close up views of the birds and read about each bird at the center. The outdoor area was definitely my favorite part of my visit.
I walked back to the shuttle bus area in downtown Sitka from the Alaska Raptor Center, which probably took me around 25 minutes.
The line to catch a shuttle bus back to port was pretty long and I waited another 20 minutes or so in the rain before getting on a bus. Be sure to bring a rain jacket or umbrella!
I was back onboard around 3:30PM and took a much needed rest in my stateroom before watching sailaway from the Viking Crown Lounge at 5. I enjoyed a glass of wine for sailaway and Reeham ordered a blueberry mojito frozen mocktail.
Unfortunately I do not have photos from sailaway today due to issues with the internet on Radiance of the Seas... but rest assured, it was beautiful!
We hung out there for a while before heading to dinner around 7. We've been terrible about showing up to our Main Dining Room reservations this week, and have only showed up to our 5:15 reservation once. Luckily we've had no issue being assigned a table right away, and we enjoyed a nice meal before heading back to our stateroom for the night.
Overall, I loved my time in Sitka today! Next time I'm here I'd like to make a trip to the Fortress of the Bear to see rescued bears in their natural habitat and do more hiking in the surrounding areas.
Tomorrow we are in our last port of call: Skagway, Alaska.
