Yesterday morning (Saturday) I walked out of the Hostel and instead of walking down the road, turning right and heading for town, I walked further up the hill to see what was there.
As soon as I reached the top I was glad that I had decided to explore a different part of town, because I found this place.
It is Sitka Memorial Park, a quiet and respectful place first and foremost for veterans (going back to World War I) to rest easy.............
It was a place that was as it should be.
Clean, orderly, respectful, well taken care of.
I have not seen such a place in my travels in Juneau, and I have occasionally wondered why.
In Juneau I have seen a number of burial grounds that looked unkept and uncared for.
Where the ground and the stones are uneven, and where movement has obviously taken place as a result of the soft moving earth that inevitably comes with continual rain.
This place was built into hillsides. Maybe that it why the stones remain erect and orderly. I am not sure.
But somehow this place just felt..........right............
I walked up to the flag pole and looked around me.
The place was surrounded by hills and mountains.
Off to my right I could see a very large bell tower, and then a granite monument.
After visiting here for a few minutes I walked down to the tower...........
Located up beside the flagpole............
There were only a few names on the granite stones, and they indicated to me that the names belonged to civilians..........
You cannot tell from the picture, but there were also ground plaques and flowers covering the hillside...........
I do not think that I have ever seen a sign such as this, both making a declaration of and providing a reminder that this was sacred ground.
I was deeply touched by the respect this place was shown and I am glad that I found this place..........
A couple of pictures of downtown store fronts.
I will have to take some more pictures of downtown before I leave because it is a very pretty place.
There are no box stores in Sitka.
Nearest I can tell they are all owned and operated by local residents, and unlike Juneau half the town does not close down when the last cruise ship leaves for the season.
They DO close early (as I have found out a couple of times when I have gone searching unsuccessfully for something to eat), and stores do not seem to list hours of operation on the doors.
I went into a restaurant at 2:15pm yesterday and was told that they had stopped cooking at 2pm.
But these stores are all owned by Sitka residents, not primarily cruise ship lines that blow into town in May and blow out of town in September.
Prices are not as bad as I thought they would be.
I have been into one grocery store since I arrived though and was shocked at the very high prices.
I was told that there was a bigger grocery store up the road but have not had a chance to check it out yet.
Regardless, I finally found something for my colleague so I don't need to go into stores again unless I get the unremitting urge to shop.
Which likely will not be the case...........
Not far from the "Park Underneath the Bridge" (I don't know the real name of the place so PUB will have to work as an adequate descriptive) I came across a long set of steep steps and this sign...........
One of three large boards providing information on the history of the site.............
Before I even read the boards I made the correct assumption that the elevation and scope of vision of the site was used for ensuring watchful and continued security of the new city when it was first taken over by the Russians.
When I finally climbed to the top of the steps I found this...........
In addition to historical information boards, cannons, flag poles and benches, this place provides a 360 panoramic view of the entire area.
The bridge crossing over to Japonski Island.
The water and mountains and endless small islands.
A full view of the entire city of Sitka..................
After spending a lot of time here, I walked down the very long ramp at the back of the site and back down to street level.
I then proceeded to walk over the bridge.
This bridge was completed only in the late 1960's. Up until that time vehicles wanting to cross over the short waterway travelled by ferry...............
Views from the sidewalk side of the bridge as I crossed over to the other side...........
An historical building immediately greeted me at the end of the bridge.
When I crossed over the bridge I looked to both my left and right to see what there was to explore.
On the left was a very pretty little park and yet one more boat harbor and marina.
On my right was the Coast Guard base, and signs for a high school and UAS Sitka Campus.
I decided to check out both places.
UAS side first since I was already there, and I turned right and walked along the shore bordering the river? canal? I am not certain how to term this body of water but walked alongside it anyway
There was nobody around, the large parking lot leading to UAS was empty and I greatly enjoyed the quiet and solitude..............
Pictures as I was slowly making my way to the UAS campus.
Scenes looking back across the water towards the town of Sitka............
At first I was not certain, but as I walked closer I realized that I was indeed looking at the same fish plant that I had photographed the other day.
The ugly building with the surprisingly beautiful and colorful painting on the outside............
Yup.
The painting on the left side of the building was the one I photographed originally.............
I took this picture because it was yet one more surprisingly beautiful and colorful painting found on the outside of an unknown and unsigned building.
These kinds of externally decorated buildings are not something that I saw down in Tennessee, but have seen often since arriving in Alaska.
I have seen them in Juneau, in Haines, in Ketchikan and now in Sitka.
Color, iconic, large and powerful.
And I suspect that it is Alaskans way of adding a wonderful touch of bright color to what is often a grey day.............
I called the pet daycare place in Juneau today so see how Jamie was doing.
She is doing fine, has bonded with one of the girls who works there, and I was told that she is a sweetie who obviously loves people.
I told the girl on the phone all of the changes that Jamie has gone through over the past six months - the move to Alaska, LC (who she spent all of her time with when they were together alone in Tennessee) who is now gone, her spending more time than she is used to alone at the house while I am at work, and now me leaving for a week.
Thankfully my sweet dog (who apparently was not so sweet to another lovely dog on the first day I was gone) is doing OK.
I will check on her again in another day or so............
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