Shopping

The Ketchikan art scene is one of Alaska's liveliest, thanks in part to the Ketchikan Arts and Humanities Council, whose helpful staff operates the Mainstay Gallery, near Creek Street at 716 Totem Way (www.ketchikanarts.org). Shows change monthly.

Ray Troll is Alaska's leading fish-obsessed artist. His small gallery, Soho Coho, at 5 Creek St., is worth a visit even if you aren't a shopper. It shows Troll's own work and that of other Ketchikan artists from the same school of surreal rainforest humor. In Troll's art, subtle ironies and silly puns coexist in a solidly decorated interior world. T-shirts are his most popular canvas; "Spawn Till You Die" is a classic. Troll's incredible work-of-art website delves far into his strange mind (and sells shirts), at www.trollart.com. The gallery is open summer daily from 9am to 6pm, winter Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5:30pm, or order at tel. 800/888-4070.

Adjacent to Soho Coho, Alaska Eagle Arts is a serious gallery featuring the bold yet traditional work of Native artist Marvin Oliver. Upstairs, Parnassus Books is a pleasing little cubbyhole with Alaskana, art, cooking, and popular fiction. Down the boardwalk at 18 Creek St., craftspeople carve and interact with visitors at Hide-A-Way Gifts. At 123 Stedman St., across the creek, Blue Heron Gallery and Gifts carries Alaska arts and crafts that appeal to locals as well as visitors: jewelry, stained glass, clothing, jam, prints, and so on. At the same address, 123 Steadman, check out the Forget-Me-Not Sweater Shop, which carries imported woolens from around the world and locally made furs by Haida Roger Alexander (www.softgoldfurs.com), who makes gloves, hats, teddy bears, and custom pieces.

Near the Steadman Street Bridge, Chinook and Company, at 207 Steadman, is the place to stop for gourmet foods that fit or go beyond the region's specialties, including wonderful smoked salmon, tapenades, marinated veggies, dips, flavored oils, and the like, plus clothing made by small, socially responsibly Northwest companies. Nearby, at 219 Steadman, Ketchikan Dry Goods (www.ketchikandrygoods.com) is built around the inspired silver and beadwork jewelry of Janine Gibbons, but also sells candles, soaps, stationary, handmade purses, baby blankets -- and much made by local people and shown with great style.

Stop for kettle corn popcorn on your shopping trip at Orca Corn, at 602 Dock St., an addictive local favorite that you can get in the usual movie theater style or with such flavors as blueberry or maple.

Back toward the town's center, at 633 Mission St., Exploration Gallery is owned by local artist Diane Naab and framer Anna Annicelli and shows original work from all over the region. Moving farther toward the waterfront, Eagle Spirit Gallery of Ketchikan, at 310 Mission St., shows some very impressive Alaska Native art, including large carved pieces from this region.

Note: Ketchikan is a shopping and art destination, but if you want something authentically Alaskan, you have to be careful.