Juneau, AK

September 6, 2012

Next stop Juneau, the State capital.

We pulled into port at 8:00am the following morning and were set to depart at 9:00pm that evening. 

leaving the port in Ketchikan

It was amusing leaving Ketchikan - but not really funny. We left behind some people.

As you enter on, and get off the ship, they scan your room key in order to keep account for all of the voyagers. 

While waiting to pull away from port in Ketchikan there were 3 announcements of 3 different couples being requested to report to the check in station. The first announcement revealed 3 couples that had not checked back in. The second announcement mentioned 2 of the three previous couples. The last announcement was just one of the three previously announced? Then we pulled away. 

AK Marine Hwy

Here's the 'not funny' part. As we were pulling away, running down the dock was a couple waving their arms, wailing in the air - WAIT!!! STOP!!!! WAIT!!!! Funny, but not funny, for them. The captain left them behind. Their only options were to either hire a bush pilot and meet us at the next port or change their plans altogether and go home. Either way, it was to cost them a lot of money, just for doing what ever it was that they were doing in Ketchikan. 

Ketchikan is believed to come from the tribe of the Tlingit. (Pronounced kling-it). Its meaning is 'thundering wings of an eagle." And estimated 19% of residents in Ketchikan are of Tlingit native Indian descent.  

Once at sea we saw a pod of Orcas blowing bubbles as they swam in circles, getting constricted and tighter as they progressed. It seemed as if they were dancing together. This was to entrap smaller fish for dinner. (Similar to the way purpose catch fish.) When the fish were in the position near the surface they all - all 9 of them jumped out of the water in unison. They were not more than 100 feet from the vessel. The choreographing was perfect. Standing on my balcony at that perfect moment was superlative.

 

whale puffing

Regrettably I did not have the camera in position to seize the photo, but trust me, it was AMAZING!!! Several other times there would be an additional whale or two blowing water through its spout. The water was very quiet. You could hear the air and water being puffed out from the whales far off the in the distance. It was carried a long way.  

There is one level of balconies beneath my cabin and 2 more overhead. It’s a lot of enjoyment when there are numerous people out at the identical time. Frequently, just about happy hour people have a tendency to to come outside enveloped in a blanket with a drink and naturally relax on a lounge chair.

When the 9 orcas  rocketed out of the water to consume what they labored so hard to acquire, there were gasps and applause and OMG’s from all who were witness. It was truly extraordinary! The whales made the journey over to Juneau memorable for an a great deal of people.

The town of Juneau is very hilly. Equivalent to San Francisco, CA with small willowy streets, multitudes of shops and bars. The governor’s mansion sits atop a hill overlooking the town. (And NO, you cannot see Russia from there!)

Back down in town there is a very well notorious bar called the Red Dog Saloon. It was a great deal of fun. Placed on the floor  is sawdust with masses of memorabilia on the walls and ceiling. Their motto is: if our standards do not meet yours, please lower your standards. They present live, old time music, lots and lots of beer, and of course food. Its a entertaining time for all and is the main stop in the town. 

There are plenty of choices of things to do while visiting Juneau. They offer tours for just about everything you can imagine, including whale watching, hiking, shopping, tram rides, zip lining, fishing, museums, etc. 

One very popular thing to do was to visit Mendenhall Glacier. It was named after Thomas Mendenhall who surveyed the international border between Canada and Southeast Alaska. You can hike several different trails to access the glacier, or take a tram ride, or even hop on a helicopter for better viewing.  

menu at red dog saloon

During our stay we again selected to walk on our own. We visited the State Capital Building, the governor’s mansion, and the Wickersham State Historical Site. The site was built in 1898. It was the home of judge James Wickersham who served as the voice of the law in over half of the state. He is the person who introduced Alaska to Congress and requested statehood.  He did this way back in 1916. It was not up until the 1950's that it came to fruition. 

Governors Mansion

The city name, Juneau, came about one evening when a vote was being held by its citizens for the naming rights. There was a man named Joe Juneau who had become wealthy from panning gold and on the evening of the vote he visited several bars. He bought all who entered a drink. He made a lot of friends that evening and in return they voted the city be named after him. He went on to be an affluent resident of the town and when the capital city was repositioned from Sitka to Juneau in 1900 it was said it was because of all the gold mining that Joe Juneau did.

Following an additional day of exploration and walking 5 miles...(maybe not 5...), we proceeded back to the ship. Once again we would navigate through the night to arrive at Skagway the next morning. 

Thanks a lot for reading - and please click the pictures so they enlarge.