We here at the ICTA always get excited to learn about any new business that features Checkers. We just recently learned of new venture operated by Jeff Budd in Sitka, Alaska. Called Sitka Checkered Tours, yes, passengers tour in a Checker!
According to the website you can tour Sitka in style in a 1973 classic Checker Marathon car!
Exclusive tours available for 1 to 4 guests or 1.5 -2 hours long tour – $60 per hour for up to two people, $90 per hour for three or four people (Cash or credit accepted).
The tour features Sitka from end-to-end, all 15 miles of paved road. You’ll learn about the Tlingit people and their 10,000 years of history in Sitka, what drew the Russians to the Southeast and how Americans came to purchase Alaska. The tour will take guests along the beautiful coast east of town, stopping at Whale Park. After the whale search, passengers will travel across the John O’Connell Bridge and observe Sitka’s role in the Pacific theater of World War II. The tail end of the tour will take passengers to Castle Hill and see why it’s at the center of things in Sitka. Guest will tour the north of town to Old Sitka, the site of the first Russian fort in Sitka. Along the way you will discover why Sitka is the Paris of the Pacific!
A little about Jeff, in a recent blog Mr. Budd wrote, “I spent 25 years working in social services in drug and alcohol education, prevention, and treatment programs. I lived in Ohio, Oregon and for the past 33 years in Ketchikan and Sitka, Alaska.
While in Alaska I became a tour operator: kayaking, biking, hiking, birding and photography. A friend in Ketchikan runs a tour with a 1955 Chevy. Why couldn’t I do one in Sitka with a Checker car?”
Jeff went on to say “it turns out that in the late 1950’s and early 60’s there was a cab company in Sitka (Anchor Cab) with 5 Checkers.”
According to Jeff, “I started my tour business, Sitka Checkered Tours, midsummer 2017 and am looking forward to a full 2018 season and beyond”. First thing Jeff needed was a Checker. According to Jeff he found ” a 73 Checker for sale in San Jose. I flew down and purchased the car”. It had always been in private ownership in California, starting in Weed, to Grass Valley, to San Jose and now Sitka, Alaska.
More information can be found on Jeff’s website, just click on https://sitkacheckeredtours.com/
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