Petersburg, the town that fish built, is an important town located on Mitkof Island in Southeast Alaska. Its proximity to LeConte Glacier made it the perfect location for the oldest operating seafood plant in the state. The plant opened in 1965 and used glacial ice for packing seafood.
We arrived in the quaint town with a population of 3,000 people around 6:30 a.m. Our day in Petersburg began with overcast skies and the scent of rain in the distance. With some luck, we avoided a damp day, and our guests explored the town that fish built in a plethora of ways. Some guests departed by Zodiac to the adjacent island of Kupreanof for a muskeg hike. Others stayed close and wandered the downtown district to take in the sights of the town with its beautiful convergence of native Tlingit and historic Norwegian artwork. Some more adventurous guests took to bikes to see the coastline zip by. As residential roads turned to beachfront access, they stopped to look out across Frederick Sound to the mainland coastal mountains, which help form the border between Southeast Alaska and British Columbia. Upon our return to the ship, guests were delighted to spy Sitka black-tailed deer in the muskeg that caresses the southern edges of the town. To top off our day spent in this fine little hamlet, our guests had the afternoon to enjoy themselves. Many went ashore to eat and took their time returning to the ship before we departed to make our way north.
