Arctic Bar & Liquor Store

Mere steps away from your cruise ship is a little place that will remind you so much of home....if your home is in the north woods.  Sit down have a beer and fire up your laptop, because the arctic bar offers free wi-fi.  Do not leave without buying a t-shirt.

Home of the Happy Bears!

We were recommended this bar by our fishing guide.  We were cold, wet, and hadn't caught a thing and the only thing we wanted was beer, so we hauled butt up the road till be came across the sign that definitely catches your eye (humping bears!).  We walked into the warm, cozy bar with a view of the water and people coming and going from the cruise ships.  There were some locals on one end of the bar and some cruise ship employees on the other so we plopped down in between.  The bartender/owner (can't remember her name) was super welcoming and friendly.  She just referred to us as Texas.  They had a few Alaskan beers on tap and there is nothing like drinking an Alaskan white on a cold dreary day at a cozy bar in Alaska.  We struck up a conversation with the locals and time flew by.  You can order food from the place next door, but we stuck with the liquid goodness.  Supposedly, they have great bloody Marys (the recipe is on the back of their business card) but again we stuck with the beer.  We were sad to have to leave and head back to our ship, we could've and would've stayed there all evening!  The owner sent us a away with some Arctic Bar survival keychains (there is a condom inside) and I made sure to get a couple of t's as souvenirs.  

Definitely give this place a try whenever in Ketchikan!

Where else can you get a hoodie with two humping bears on it that says, "Arctic Bar: Home of the Happy Bears"? That's right, nowhere. (Okay, so maybe you can on their Web site, <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Farcticbar.com&s=12badc6c9cfb91c7db070e654dee3d2ef93d4131c9f70dee0ab1943f789252f6" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://arcticbar.com</a>.) That hoodie is by far the best thing I brought home from Alaska.

They have a few Alaskan beers on tap... if I remember correctly, they had the Amber and the Summer. My dad and I were thirsty before the Duck Tour, but we only had ten minutes to spare, so we had to put our Summer ales back pretty quickly. We didn't have much trouble, considering how deliciously fresh the beer was. They had the other typical crappy American taps, but I can't fathom why, if you had Alaskan Brewing beer available to you at all times, you would drink Budweiser or, dare I say, even Guinness? Who knows.

Make sure you bring cash with you, since they don't take cards, but they also have an ATM just in case.