Sitka Questions

[cruzingduo]

Can Sitka be done on our own? Or should we book a tour? We'd like to see the Raptor Center and the National Park which appear to be too far to walk from the port. It appears that we would need transportation there. How would we get there?

 

Is the Bishop's House within walking distance from the port?

 

Has anyone one seen the native dancers? Which one? The new Archangels or Skeetka Kwaan Naa Kahidi?

 

Thanks

[TeeBuccs]

DH and I did Sitka last summer ourselves for 4 hours before taking a deep sea fishing excursion for the second half of the day. Many folks walk from town through the totem park along a trail to the road leading to the Raptor center. DH and I opted to save time from the walk and actually hailed a cab for $4.

 

The Raptor center was very informative and fun. Getting up close to eagles is majestic and amazing. If you have time hike down the center's trails a bit and you can find some additional wild eagles that hang out and live around the center. We didn't hit the totem park ourselves other than the outskirts and a few quick pictures.

 

There are some great Russian churches along with some quaint stores along the main street. We loved Sitka and are looking forward to returning next summer. Enjoy!

[erudite]

I concur with TeeBuccs and can amplify a bit. I have lived in Sitka for seven years and in the summers conduct tours for Sitka Tours--which I am neither recommending nor discoringing you from using. With a little advance planning, you can see and "do" Sitka very well and easily by yourself . . . and cheaper than if you used a tour service. You'll miss my jokes and erudition, but, heh! you are on holiday, not a study trip abroad.

 

The Sitka National Historical Park, of which the Russian Bishop's House is a part, is at the eastern end (opposite end from the original waterfront) of Lincoln Street, Sitka's main street, and is easily walked to from either of the docks where you will come in. It's approx 3/4 mile from Crescent Harbor and slightly more than a mile from The O'Connell Bridge Dock. The Park Service usually has a representative on hand at both docks to explain Park Service things to cruise folks.

 

To walk to the Raptor Center, go to the Park and at the top of the pedestrian ramp down from the bus parking lot, you'll see a 52 foot gray totem pole. Follow the trail past that pole into the forest, stay straight on this trail, about 1/4 mile, until you deadend at a street. This is Sawmill Creek Road. Turn left and the Center is across the street, on your right, about 200 yards. Be careful. Sawmill Creek can be a busy road, mostly locals, for whom picking off a tourist or two as they crossed the road would be a notch of honor in their belts.

 

There is a visitor's transit bus that runs around town, the Park, the Raptor Center, and the docks and for a very small sum will let you ride all day, getting off and on at will at its stops. There is also a free Shuttle Bus that'll take you up to Lincoln Street (and the Russian Bishop's House) from the O"Connell Bridge Dock. The very best place for abundant info on Sitka is the city's visitor's center in the lobby of the (Harrigan Hall) Centennial Building right at Crescent Harbor and three blocks away from the O'Connell Bridge Dock. This building also houses the Russian Dance show.

 

The Russian Bishop's House is located at the end of the Crescent Harbor Parking lot. Two doors down from the RBH toward the traffic light, is the Bayview Building. Upstairs is a restaurant (the Bayview), one of the very best spots for lunch in town and the only place to serve borscht. Directly next door is the Russian-American Shop with wonderful and authentic Russian memorabilia, samovars (easy to drop many hundreds of dollars on a genuine Russian samovar with their Soviet-era electrics), icons, ceramics, pottery, paintings, etc. Two blocks down Lincoln Street is the gift shop for St. Michael's Church (the Orthodox Cathedral). Things are just as authentic here, and quite a bit cheaper, if not as abundant a choice.

 

There are two dance troupes: The New Archangel Dancers, which do genuine Russian, Ukraine, etc., folk dancing with authentic costumes. They've been at it for forty years and do an outstanding job. The "Native" dancers are genuine Tlingit dancers, whose ancestors have been on Baranof Island for 8-10,000 years. Their costumes are authentic, as are their dances and their drumming. Each group represents a cultural tradition that made Sitka (or New Archangel as it was called before the US bought Alaska). The Russian Dancers will be more "entertaining," as we in the cultural west understand this. The Native dancers will provide more intense insights into their tradition, in a more anthropological and socio-cultural sort of way. The best thing to do is to take in both performances and you will leave Sitka greatly enriched. Their venues are about 1/2 mile apart.

 

Enjoy Sitka! Stay away from the tourist trapping kinds of places and you'll love it.

 

JAM

[cruzingduo]

I can't thank both of you enough for all the wonderful information!

erudite, I am sorry that I'll miss your jokes, I enjoyed your response about the tourists. But going on our own gives us the freedom to stay as long as we want at each attraction. I am so excited about the Raptor Center. I so wanted to see a puffin and we understand that they are gone when we're coming to Alaska. Perhaps there will be one at the center for some reason.

 

I have saved your reply and I'll print it to bring with us in September.

 

Thanks again!

[lambs2]

We thoroughly enjoyed the Russian Dance show on our visit to Sitka a couple years ago. It was one of the highlights of our day! Don't miss the walk through the Totem Park either!

[agabbymama]

There is a small hop on/hop off bus right at the pier, that does like 7 stops around town. We rode it up to the Raptor Center, then walked down through the rainforest to the National Park and Museum. Saw lots of totems and canoes and a Russian Memorial. Carving demonstration going on at the Museum. Then caught the bus back to town and walked around the town center. When we were there in '99 it was $7, others have posted it's up to $10 now. The Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the center of town is a must see. Also, across the street from the pier (I think) is Baranhof Hill (quite a climb up it), but it's where the Russian Baranhof Castle was, and the site where they raised the first U.S. flag when we purchased Alaska. As you are tendering in, you will see a large building, wasn't sure if it was a hospital or condos or what it was. Once on land, walked over to it. It's a home for penniless Alaskans. It was started in the Pioneer Days for the folks that didn't strike gold and had no money and nowhere to live. It's still in operation today. I find that amazing, when we have such a problem in the lower 48 with homeless.

 

You'll love Sitka no matter what you do. It's a lovely little quaint town. It was my favorite of all the ports.

[wickedwitch1]

Thank you all for the itinerary for Sitka. I knew that we wanted to go to the Raptor Center and your directions will come in handy. You have helped plan our day in beautiful Sitka!

[JohnQ]

Sitka is probably one of the easiest ports to see on your own. As others said, the all day trolley for about $7 or $8 allows you to get on and off at all the major spots and get back on when you are ready. We took a russian bus tour and a native culture bus tour last time and both went to many of the same spots. One included the russian dancers which are worth seeing once. The other had the native dancers which was interesting but you can find similar in several of the ports. They both went to the park but only gave us 10 or 15 min which is not enough time to go out and walk around. And we had to wait for stragglers at each stop----very frustrating!!! This time it will be the trolley.

[OldCodger73]

The hop on and off bus in Sitka is $10 this year, well worth the money. If you only want to go to one stop, say the Raptor Center, you can buy a roundtrip ticket for $5.