Here's Some Stuff I Bet You Didn't Know about Ketchikan

As you may have been able to tell from my previous blog posts, Ketchikan is a pretty quirky place. I'd like to share some of the quirkier bits about Ketchikan- some things that I love and some that I find to be pretty strange.

1. Our staircases are streets

The "street" leading up to and past our apartment

      Because of the way the houses are stacked up on top of each other on the mountainside, the city built a series of staircases connecting all of the houses to each other and to the road. These staircases are technically streets. They each have their own street sign, get snow service in the winter and get mail delivery as well.

2. All of our restaurants specialize in two cuisines or more

The sign doesn't say but they also have a large selection of Greek food

We suspect that most restaurants in Ketchikan have the philosophy that if they can't excel at cooking one cuisine, they can just adequately cook several cuisines, giving the customer more options and thus distracting him from the mediocrity of the food he's eating. Chico's, pictured above, is just one example, specializing in Mexican, Italian and Greek food. We have yet to eat at a place that is just one of anything. Even the Filipino restaurant that actually cooks delicious Filipino food also serves sub sandwiches, pizza, soups and salads.

3. Whales, not Goldfish

This is how it's done in the West and beyond

I had never heard of Whales before I came out to Alaska, but they're a pretty big deal here- often preferred over goldfish, which I thought was blasphemy until I tried one. THEY. ARE. SO. CHEESY. Their cheesiness goes beyond that of a goldfish cracker. I can't even explain what tasting one is like. It's like cramming an entire wheel of cheese into a tiny whale shaped cracker, basically. I can't get more eloquent than that because just thinking about them is distracting me and making me hungry. What I'm trying to say is, if you've never tried a Whale cracker you've never really lived.

4. You can smoke cigarettes in bars

What is this, the 80's? Almost every bar here gives you full license to smoke butts in bars. It's pretty gross, in my opinion, but I legitimately believe the bars here would be out of business if you weren't allowed to smoke in them.

Oh, Jack, seeing your beautiful face as I walk home from work every day truly makes me happy

 The Asylum, pictured above, is one of the many puff-friendly bars here and just so happens to be about 100 feet away from our apartment.

5. We sell furry undies to tourists

It's unfortunate you can't see the back, which sports a tail

   We sell some pretty weird souvenirs in Ketchikan, among which are furry underwear. If they weren't made out of real fur and were actually within a price range of a gag gift I would probably by them because they are hilarious. But, alas, they are actually a real gift and cost real money, and I would love to meet the person that actually drops a couple hundred bucks for them one day. I know it's just a pipe dream, but I too would like to be rich enough to buy my friends real fur underwear as a souvenir from Alaska. One day.

Miss everyone down south, but I'll be coming home in a little over a month!

See you soon,

Bridget