We had a quick breakfast at the Lido buffet before taking a tender to Sitka.
We didn't have an excursion here, so we decided to walk along the shore to the National Park.
Here is a view of our ship from Sitka
I am standing in front of the harbor.
Along the way to the park, we stopped at a beach.
This is the entrance to Sitka's National(?) Park. The native people of this area, the Tlingits, are especially know for their totem poles. Many copies of old poles are on display in this park. Each pole and even each part of a pole has a different meaning. A raven on top for example might indicate the pole is a death marker. Some were story poles that relate an old legend, while other poles were designed to protect or commemorate a particular family.
On our walk through the forest, we saw a juvenile golden eagle. He was backlit so my iPhone just couldn't get very good picture.
The most spectacular part of our day was seeing spawning salmon swimming up a stream. We saw them first in a secluded area of the park and I practically ran off the path and then jumped rock to rock just to get to the stream to watch. Here is a video I took of some of the salmon.
Later we found many people gathered at a bridge that had been set up especially for viewing the salmon. Ross is standing on it in the picture below.
There was a path beside the bridge that had the best view to watch the salmon so I took another video. There were so many salmon. It was spectacular.
We continued our walk around the park and saw the the beach site of the last battle between Russia and battle the Tlingit people which happened around 1800. I expected there to be more artifacts, but it was just an empty beach which was commemorative in it's own way.
The well-kept path made for an easy and peaceful walk back through the woods.
We took a tender back to the ship so we could eat lunch in the main dining room.
Ross had a a variety of smoked fish which was beautifully plated.
He also had a pan-fried fish, which was good.
I had a chopped salad and a salmon patty melt. The patty melt was not much to look at, but it tasted especially fabulous. It was creamy and savory with a deep salmon flavor. Ross described it as "legendary".
After lunch we hurried back over to Sitka because we wanted to buy hats for our glacier excursion tomorrow. Sitka was a cute little town with quite a few touristy type shops.
The Symphony was scheduled to leave Sitka at 5pm so we headed back to the ship and were able to have our usual afternoon tea. Ross had Darjeeling again and I had Celebration tea. We were also served scones with whipped cream and strawberries. I thought the scones were very tasty, moist and buttery.
After tea, we went on an really interesting tour of the galley. I was really impressed, but not surprised, by how much of the food is prepared a la minute(sp?). The galley was immaculate and the kitchen staff showed impeccable discipline. It is no accident that food on board is usually so wonderful.
H. Joseph Ehrmann was at the bar again so we thought we'd try some of his cocktail specials again tonight.
Ross had a Peach Cobblestone made with gin and and peach brandy, which he didn't like very much and didn't finish. Ross thought it had a strong and slightly unpleasant peach flavor. When Ross complained, H. said that Crystal didn't stock the peach brandy he had requested so he had been forced to make the drink with some inferior peach schnapps instead, so it didn't taste as he'd intended.
Since Ross didnt like his first drink, H. created a new one for him named a "Kansas City" with 2.5 ounces of Hendricks, St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur), muddled mint, lime and a dash of celery bitters. Ross liked this one much better. Yummy!
I got a Countrytime, which was a play on lemonaid made with Square One, muddled blueberries and thyme, lemon juice and simple syrup. It was very good.
After drinks we went to talk to the reception desk to reschedule our transfer off the ship and to the airport when we disembark next week since our flight number had changed since we originally booked the cruise.
We also sat by the windows in the Starlite lounge for a bit and chatted. One thing I love about this ship is how it never feels crowded. We can always find an empty spot to sit and stare at the ocean without a bazillion other people around.
At 8:30pm, we had reservations at Prego, the Italian restaurant. We both really liked the quiets atmosphere of this specialty restaurant.
I had an herb crusted scallop to start, which was good.
Ross had a crab salad with avocado wedges. Ross enjoyed it very much, especially the avocado.
We both got bread bowls of Prego's famous cream of mushroom soup. The soup was creamy and excellent.
I had gnocchi with a veal bolognaise sauce. I usually love gnocchi and the actual dumplings had a pillowy soft texture, but the sauce was far too sweet and I found then whole thing inedible.
Someone posted a comment suggesting that I should ask for something else when I don't like one of my courses. I never do this because there are usually more courses coming and believe me, I have always had plenty of food by the time we are done eating. Now, if I disliked my entrée and was still hungry, I would probably request a different dish. However, with the gnocchi for example, I had already had an appetizer and soup. My entrée and dessert were still coming. Having only one bite of the pasta was just fine. I am certainly not going to starve while I'm on this ship.
Ross's pasta course was a spinach and 3 cheese dish that was truly excellent.
Both of us got the rack of baby lamb, which was tender and meaty. I should mention that while we both loved the lamb, the woman who was dining next to us thought her lamb was a little tough. My only complaint was that the sides were not quite hot enough.
Ross ordered a glass of Italian wine that was recommended by the sommelier to go with the lamb. It was so delicious, that I wanted my own glass. Since our sommelier said she would save our bottle of wine from night to night, we decided to go ahead and order an entire bottle. I had my glass and we will have the rest of the bottle to drink at our next dinner.
For dessert, I had A trio of desserts. An average canolli, a very good panna cotta and a fantastic tirimisu.
Ross had some mediocre gellato on the recommendation of the waiter.
We ended up talking quite a bit with our neighbors at Prego. They were very interesting and we talked for at least half an hour after we had finished our meal. I love how sometimes you just hit it off with someone.
We went to bed early again in anticipation of our excursion the next morning in Juneau, Alaska.
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