A float plane skims past a cruise liner as it gets set to take off in the Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska..Ketchikan, Alaska's "first city," is 500 miles north of Seattle. Ketchikan is where many cruise ships dock and its historic downtown area, nestled between ocean and mountains, is crowded with tourists in the summer. The town sits atop steep hills and is supported on wooden pilings, with numerous boardwalks, staircases and totem poles. Dozens of canneries have made it the "salmon capital of the world." (wikipedia)