Ketchikan

I recently returned from an Alaskan cruise and managed to play pickup basketball in four different places, a cruise ship, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. 

This is the final part 4 of 4. 

For those curious about my day trip in Ketchikan, minus the basketball obsession, scroll down to the bottom!

With the success of pickup basketball in Skagway, I had high hopes for Ketchikan. When searching for basketball courts in Ketchikan, there did not seem to be many outdoor options, but there was a Ketchikan Gateway Recreation Center with not one but two basketball courts! 

Note: The only other basketball court I could find was the Ketchikan High Basketball Court, but I am always skeptical of using school courts because of school activities and availability. If someone else has other information, let me know. 

Similar to my time in Skagway, I had purchased a cruise excursion for the majority of the day, which left me two chances to play, before and after the excursion. Fortunately, the Gateway Recreation Center was within walking distance from the cruise port, so I could easily walk run to the court without having to figure out public transportation. There was very limited Uber or Lyft in the area, and the prices were astronomical for such a short ride.

Once the cruise docked just before 11am, I had an hour to make my way to the Recreation Center for my first chance at some pickup basketball. Along the way, there were plenty of salmon to check out

When I arrived at the center, I registered for a single day pass ($8) and made my way into the facility. I would assume this is the main place where most physical activity takes place in Ketchikan, as it includes workout gyms, a swimming pool, an indoor track, and of course two basketball courts that could be used for various activities. 

From what I learned in Skagway, I knew to ask for the gym schedule. I saw that one gym would be open all day, while the other would be used for various drop in activities. Unfortunately, the only drop in activities were volleyball, soccer, and the ever so popular pickleball. No basketball was in sight.

That morning, there were kids activities on both courts, so there was no chance to even shoot around. Though, I was not deterred, as I figured most ballers would show up in the afternoon. I couldn’t stay too long before heading back for my excursion.

To save you some time, I spent the next four hours on the Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast, sailing on a small boat and stuffing myself with an unlimited number of Dungeness crabs. To read more about the excursion (without basketball), feel free to scroll down for more info.

The excursion ended right at 4pm, giving me three hours to make my way to the Ketchikan Gateway Recreation Center for my last chance at pickup basketball in Alaska. I wasn’t too worried about playing basketball, but I was a little unsure how my body would react to basketball after eating what felt like 72 crabs

After a brisk walk back to the Ketchikan Gateway Recreation Center, I was hoping for the gym to be bouncing with basketballs, but luck was not on my side this time. There were four people shooting around, a couple who looked like they had never played basketball before, and a dad and son who were probably just enjoying some time together.

Hoping that others would join us soon, I picked up a basketball and started to shoot around with the dad and his son. I struck up a conversation and learned that the dad was visiting, while the son was in Ketchikan for a seasonal summer fishing job. Before I could ask them to do a shooting drill or contest similar to what I did in New Orleans, the staff came out and told us the gym was reserved for a camp and we had to leave. I did ask the son when the best time to play was, and he mentioned that noon was usually the best time for pickup basketball since he came often to play.

Conclusion

Welp. I didn’t get the chance to play basketball in Ketchikan, but I did manage to shoot around for about 30 minutes. From what I could tell, the only real place to play basketball in Ketchikan is at the Ketchikan Gateway Recreation Center, though it didn’t seem like there was a big basketball scene, or maybe just a matter of bad timing. Looking at the gym schedules, basketball did not seem very popular since it didn’t get any dedicated drop in court time. From my brief chat with the only other people shooting hoops, they confirmed that noon is the best time to find pickup basketball in the Ketchikan Gateway Recreation Center.

Holland America Koningsdam Alaskan Cruise 7-day Roundtrip from Vancouver in August 

Ketchikan - Day 6 - Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I am somewhat becoming a pretty big deal in the travel blogger world (editor’s note: nope), and many people have started asking me how they can make the most of their time in Ketchikan. Similar to Skagway, the city of Ketchikan is pretty small, and you’ll definitely want to sign up for an excursion since there’s just too much time to fill in downtown Ketchikan alone.

Once again, I actually had a hard time writing about this day because most of it was either the excursion or playing basketball, which you can read about above. As I was writing this part, I realized it will really only be useful for people taking the cruise and booking the same excursion. So all in all, the section below is basically my “Tripadvisor” style review of the Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast

Let me start by sharing the excursion description as it was advertised, so you can judge how it matches up with what I experienced.

We started the excursion by getting on a bus that took us about 20 minutes to the George Inlet Lodge, where we would board a small boat to explore the waters and national forests in the area. The bus ride itself was fine, and like I mentioned in my Skagway post, bus rides really depend on the quality of the tour guide. This guide put me to sleep.

After a nice short nap, we arrived at George Inlet Lodge, where we walked down what felt like a million steps (though there was a van available for anyone who needed a ride) to reach the boat. From there, we set off on our tour of the area. We were greeted by a new tour guide on the boat who was much more energetic and gave us a great overview of the historical sites, natural scenery, and other important things to notice along the way. She even brought out a fish to try and lure a bald eagle, but no eagle fell for the trick.

One of the main highlights was visiting the crab traps where they catch Dungeness crabs. That part was pretty cool because we even got to hold the crabs ourselves. They were much bigger than I expected and a little intimidating at first, but if you held them the right way, there was little chance of being pinched. While I thought these were the crabs we would be feasting on later, we ended up putting them back in the water, probably just so they could be caught again for the next excursion.

Making our way back to the George Inlet Lodge, our stomachs were growling. I had patiently waited for this moment by starving myself all day, knowing I would be feasting on an unlimited crab buffet. At first, I thought it would be one of those places where they slow roll you so you’d have to wait between servings, but I was fortunately wrong. They brought out the crabs upon request, and in generous portions. I had never eaten so much crab in my life. I’m not sure how healthy it was, but I probably bumped up my daily sodium and cholesterol by a couple of percentage points.

While eating, the lodge even had a mini game where you could compete to see who could build the tallest crab shell fortress, with a small prize for the winner. I was too focused on eating crab, so I half heartedly participated by stacking my shells up to around 17 inches. I think the winning table managed to stack a mix of shells and other items to over 40 inches.

The only thing stopping me from eating more was the time limit. We only had about 60 minutes to eat crab, which was probably a good thing, otherwise I might still be stuffing myself with crabs today. But I guess all good things must come to an end.

After climbing back up Mount Kilimanjaro to reach the bus, we took another 20 minute ride back to the cruise port. Supposedly we passed by many totem poles and learned about their history, but once again, the tour guide put me to sleep.

Back at the cruise port area, we had about two to three hours to explore on our own. Definitely take this time to check out the salmon walk and Creek Street. And don’t forget to stop by the jewelry stores for free items. Jewelers hate us.

That wraps up all the land stops in Alaska from this cruise. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and maybe picked up a tip or two for your own future Alaskan trip!