Freeway Free in Alaska: Stopping Along the Inland Passage – Sitka
Sitka is the launch point for many voyages up the inland passage. But don’t be in a hurry to leave. In addition to the compact and diverse shopping street , Sitka offers
- The Sitka Sound Science Center.located in a former hydroplant on the historic campus of Sheldon Jackson College, formerly a vocational training school for Alaskan natives, now a science center and working fish hatchery.
the Sheldon Jackson Museum,located in an historic building crammed full of over 6000 Alaskan native carvings, textiles, and other artifacts, collected by an early Presbyterian missionary with a genuine appreciation for Alaskan native culture.
- St. Michael’s Cathedral, a small but amazingly ornate monument to the courage and faith of early Russian Orthodox settlers, still operating as a working parish church.
- Totem Park – Sargass National Forest, a largely open air museum of giant totem pole carvings, and site of a battle between the native Tlingit and Russian traders. The Park includes a very complete visitors’ center and a team of friendly rangers.
So put on your parka and gloves and walk down Sitka’s Coastal Trail, making all the stops along the way before you board your cruise ship for points north!
Allyson Johnson 