Sitka, located halfway between Seattle and Anchorage. Today Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan of The Open Road take us there, as they conclude their ten-day journey up the Inside Passage, the 950 miles of fjords and islands that shelter Alaska's panhandle from the wild Pacific. Visit this page on Tuesday, August 24 to listen with RealAudio. I can't believe our trip is nearly over. We have just landed on the ferry dock at Sitka.
Waves lap against the bobbing sailboats.
Many of them fly the state flag, the gold stars of the big dipper against a field of blue, and it's easy to understand why these two colors were chosen to stand for Alaska. Blue for the sky, the sea, the mountains in the distance and gold for the riches that brought people here. There's a glint of gold in the distance - gold crosses that top the onion dome and spire of an ancient church. This is St. Michael's, the first Russian Orthodox cathedral in the new world, one of the most popular tourist spots in the city. He wears the traditional black robe and looks studious in his wire-rimmed glasses.