Visiting Juneau


Advertisement
United States' flag
North America » United States » Alaska » Juneau
June 15th 2011
Published: June 28th 2011
Edit Blog Post

We arrived in Juneau at 2:00 PM on Wednesday. The city of 30,000 people is a small, compact town with a single bridge that connects Douglas Island. The downtown area is walking distance from the docks.

Our time in Juneau was split between two major sight-seeing destinations, a glacier and a bar.

Lani and I signed on to tour the Mendenhal Glacier and Juneau’s salmon hatchery. The Mendenhal Glacier is roughly 20 minutes down the road from downtown. We learned that Alaska’s great ice fields are constantly shifting with all glaciers either receding or expanding as the ice moves. Mendenhal is one of the receding glaciers. We saw photos of the glacier in the 80s as compared to today. The changes have been significant and you can see the results in the landscape of the hillsides. The park ranger grew up in Juneau and chose to talk about how much of the glacier has been lost over the past 30 years. She failed to mention the glaciers that are growing in other areas as a result of nature’s constant shift. I guess everyone has an agenda.

Back on the bus with a bunch of old people, we headed back to town and the hatchery. Since, it is too early in the year for the salmon run, we were provided with a short narrative on what we would see, if we stuck around another month. We did see a bunch of concrete holding tanks and the empty salmon ladder. Lani and I agreed that our visits to the Nimbus Hatchery were much more entertaining.

Back in town, it was time to eat and drink. As luck would have it, we were dropped off right across the street from the Red Dog Saloon.

Friends told us to visit the Red Dog before we left on the cruise. I was expecting to hunt for the bar, somewhere in town. I didn’t realize it was front and center in the heart of the downtown district. You can’t miss it. Our timing was perfect, as a table opened up as we entered the bar. It was a great hangout with a mix of locals and tourists; sawdust on the floor; and hanging objects all around the walls.

We were entertained by a local guitarist singing the typical tourist bar favorites by Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, and of course, John Denver. The crowd was encouraged to sing the chorus. You get the picture.

We enjoyed the food, drink and singing.



Additional photos below
Photos: 28, Displayed: 23


Advertisement

Fishing BuddiesFishing Buddies
Fishing Buddies

These two friends went fishing in Juneau. You Betcha.
Mendenhall GlacierMendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier

The information board at Mendenhall Glacier for June 15,2011.


Tot: 0.241s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0491s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb