For the past few years, I've been looking at ways to travel to Alaska, including many cruise options that go to and from Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria into Alaska on multi-day trips. Sadly, the timing never quite seemed to work. Instead, I ended up planning a trip by plane to Sitka, Alaska, for a 5-night relaxing exploration of what the town offered.

Day 1: Flying In

Alaska Airlines provided rather inexpensive flights between Seattle and Sitka, and so on this somewhat cloudy but warm Thursday morning, we're off! The SEA airport was absolutely jam-packed, and the TSA lines were long. If you have TSA Precheck or a reservation (which is easy to pick up 5 days before your flight), you basically skip the entire line.

Normally I'd go to the Amex Lounge to chill before the flight, but today there was a 45-minute wait for lounge access, and we weren't in the mood to wait around.…