Ketchikan

Here in SE Alaska, spring sometimes forgets to behave as the season it is and moves back and forth between late winter and early summer. Actually, that’s pretty typical any time of year. This is a place where the weather really can change dramatically in five minutes. We’ve had sun/rain/sun/rain/sun today. At the moment we’re back to sun, but it probably won’t last.

But it was clear enough for a lunch-time walk down to Burger Queen, a little local dive of a place that has great food, milkshakes, and a tiny dining space. I think there are a total of five tables in the whole place. For anyone who knows Ketchikan, it’s located next to the tunnel on Tongass, before you pass through and enter the “downtown” part of the community.

Burger Queen makes a “Seattle Burger” and a Polish sausage sandwich “Solidarity” that is our standard order when we eat there. We order one of each and split them. Sometimes we add onion rings for a perfect Saturday lunch. This is the kind of place that’s been open for decades and multiple generations have experienced. Nothing fancy about it, but when you eat there, you know you’re getting authentic food…no chain menu, no fancy dining area, no waiters coming to your table to introduce themselves. No, you just sort out what you want from the big menu on the wall, then give your order to the kid at the cash register; you can see into the small kitchen just beyond the counter.

We’ve taken our kids and other guests to eat here. It’s a small experience, but the kind of place that I know we’ll talk about years from now, as in, “do you remember the little burger joint in Ketchikan?”

I’ll remember it, for the burger and the atmosphere, but mostly, because it was a place we experienced together. And whether it’s a big event or a simple lunch, sharing is the charm that adds the magic, even to a little lunch dive in Alaska.

Happy Saturday!