We arrived in Ketchikan around 1630. The harbourmaster assigned the Merry Fortune to Bar Harbor, the northernmost of Ketchikan's three harbours. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, because it led to the most memorable meal of our trip.

I used Yelp to find recommended restaurants nearby, and up popped Bar Harbor [sic] Restaurant. We arrived on time for our 1930 reservation. As our server, Cammy, handed us our menus and described the daily special, The Captain, who is a clever sort, asked two questions:

Which item on your menu is the most popular with the customers whose tastes you most respect?
Of which dish is the cook the proudest?

Cammy's answers named two different dishes, and the daily special was also appealing. It was a dilemma that Cammy solved by volunteering to serve us a meal that combined all three dishes.

"We don't want to cause problems for the kitchen," we protested.

"There won't be any problem," said Cammy with a wink. "I'm the owner!" This drew a laugh from the cook, who was in earshot. (Later, we would learn that the cook, whose name is Martin, is Cammy's business partner, and her husband.)

Our dishes arrived, and they were superb. So was the wine Cammy recommended (a Meomi pinot noir from 2012). So was the dessert. But as exceptional as the meal was, the most memorable part of the evening was the conversation that developed between Cammy, Martin, and us. As the hour grew late and the restaurant emptied, they spent more time at our table, sharing their story with us.

Cammy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer several months ago. She has full confidence that she's going to beat it. She says she can't help but feel positive with so much support behind her. In her words (as I recall them): "Ketchikan's a town of eight thousand people. Half of them are native, and they kind of keep to themselves. So that leaves you four thousand people. Half of them are senor-citizens, and they're kind of withdrawn. So that leaves just two thousand people. From that group, three hundred participated in a fundraiser for me. They raised sixty-five thousand dollars for my treatments."

I regret very much that I didn't ask Cammy if I could take her picture. I've asked The Captain, if he returns south by that route, to take her picture for me. If you're on Facebook and you want to throw her some love, become one of the Friends of Cammy Smith.