My First Night in Ketchikan

Visiting: Joey, Ryan, and Jason -- friends of my bff's hubby

My flight landed in Ketchikan at about 2:52pm. Joey had just said, “One of us will be there to get you. :)” – so I had no idea whose face to expect first. And I’m thinking, “If it’s Ryan, I might cry.” Definitely texted those exact words to Molly and Sarah. Nevertheless, I messaged the boys to let them know that my plane was arriving at its gate, and sure enough – Ryan’s the one who answered, saying “If you make it on the 3:00 ferry, let me know!” Um, we just landed. It’s 2:54. There’s no way in hell I’m making the 3:00 ferry. Wasn’t taking into consideration, however, just how small of an airport Ketchikan International is. Within four minutes, we were shuffled out the back door of the plane, walked 20 steps across the runway to baggage claim, walked 20 steps ACROSS baggage claim, out the front door of the airport, and down the ramp to the ferry. Paid the lady my $6 and boarded the boat! Long story short, I made the 3:00 ferry. Super proud of myself, I messaged the boys saying “I made the 3:00! .. Guys! … Guys! … Guys I’m almost there!” Finally, Ryan answers with an “Ah! Ok, see you soon!” I’m trying not to freak out.

Our ride across the water lasted less than five minutes, and though it was drizzling a bit (I mean, duh. It’s Ketchikan.), I was able to find cover under the ceiling of a ticket booth on the other side. A few other travelers awaiting their own rides kept me company. As the minutes passed, I started thinking to myself, “How am I gonna know what kind of car to look for?” I had absolutely no idea and had never seen Ryan’s car before in my life. (Well, except for maybe at the wedding. But I didn’t know who he was at the time.) Just as I was contemplating sending another message to ask, I saw a red Grand Am with Ohio plates pull into the parking lot. Oh yeah, that’s gotta be him. Them, actually – as I soon saw Jason getting out of the back seat. God is he tall. And that beard. Dear Lord. I grabbed my bags and ran to meet them – bad idea, as I was sporting flip-flops. Definitely lost one of them along the way, and Ryan’s yelling “FLIP-FLOP! You crazy girl, don’t you know that flip-flops and rain don’t go well together?” Yeah, well…it wasn’t raining when I left L.A. this morning. I was surprised to find that being with them was not as weird as I thought it could be, considering that I had only ever met them once before and that Ryan had been the recipient of many drunk texts over previous months. Thankfully, at this point, the wine buzz I had going on in the Seattle airport had worn off and left me feeling relaxed and just happy to be there. Nervous, sure…but not awkward, at least – which was my biggest fear. Both boys gave me big hugs (Jay actually lifted me off the ground – just as I had imagined!) and we got in the car – Jay taking the back seat so that I could sit up front.

We drove up to Joey’s apartment to drop off my stuff. Ryan also went in looking for medicine to help soothe an upset stomach. Jay and I drove out to his shack for a few minutes – one, to

grab his camera, and two, to give me a quick tour of the place. Um, yeah. No way was I staying there. Love you, man, but no. Literally the boat house to their work (at least he’s close by, and pretty sure he doesn’t pay rent of any sorts), which houses everything from tools to life jackets, boat equipment to rain gear. There’s a ladder in the middle of the shack that leads to the upstairs attic – which is where Jay sleeps. I climbed up and was instantly overcome with the question of how-on-Earth a 6’5” man lives in such a tiny space. Apparently the view is great, especially in the morning. He probably has a point there.

We drove back to Joey’s and picked up Ryan. Had dinner at Fat Stan’s – BBQ chicken pizza and beer. Jay bought the pizza, Ryan bought the beer. Since his stomach wasn’t feeling well, Ry didn’t eat much of anything apart from the crusts that Jay and I fed him. After the food, we headed across town to the Arctic Bar where we sat outside, took a selfie to send to Sarah & Molly, and drank beer until Joey met up with us. Went across the street to Asylum, the bar where Joey works. He bought a round of tequila shots, and we drank beer while playing pool upstairs. I met lots of people, and got a little sloppy. Damn tequila. At one point of the night, I was half-way out the door and down the back steps with Jay, obviously thinking that I would just spend the night with him. But no -- I couldn’t do that. I just had to know if there was any possibility of being with Ryan. In my drunk state, I thought that I would be brave enough to cuddle up next to him in front of the entire bar. (Including his girlfriend, who I didn’t know at the time – whoops.) Walked over, put my arms around him, and definitely got a little too close. He kind of laughed and pushed me away a bit, saying that he couldn’t. And then there were tears. Don’t know where they came from, but there sure were a lot of them. I ended up bawling over Ryan. Like, literally – all over his shoulder. He was so good about it though. Hugged me, told me I was beautiful and how happy he was that I was there. Said that if he wasn’t seeing someone else, he’d be all over me. Well, that’s a bit of a confidence booster, I suppose. (Looking back at pictures now, I’m so happy to see that the entire population of young Ketchys were there to witness this mess. Like people that I would sporadically run into or see later on throughout the week. Good first impression, Brittany.) Ryan took my hand and walked me downstairs, where we stood at the bar next to the others. Joey turned to me and went, “Hey, how are you?” – and it was fucking waterworks all over again before I could manage to get a single word out. Being the good man that he is, he took me outside, hugged me, said “You’re okay”, and got us a cab. I don’t necessarily remember everything from that evening – but I do remember having my arms wrapped around him and my face buried in his chest the whole ride home. We got back to the apartment and payed our cabbie. I was slightly confused about the sleeping arrangements. I mean, they only have 1 bed, and no couch. (Love Actually, anyone?) “So, I’m sleeping here?” “Yes.”

“With you?” “Absolutely.” Well, alright then.