Juneau

Coming into Juneau...Beautiful right?  As I said before there are thousands of waterfalls in Alaska, even though most of our trip consisted of rain, fog and cold the undeniable beauty of Alaska was worth it.

A little Holland America in the fog.  haha

 Fun Juneau facts:

Juneau which is larger than the state of Delaware is the capital of Alaska.

December 21st is the shortest day of the year in Juneau where the sun is up for a measly 7 hours.

There are more than 250 miles of hiking trails.

There are less than 200 miles of roads.

They encounter 220 days per year of rain.

Wet months are September and October (figures I would go then right?)

Cruise Ships bring in 900,000 passengers per year.

Eagles were everywhere (and no unfortunately for me not the Philadelphia green Eagles).

The estimate is between 15,000 and 30,000.  Compare that to the population of Juneau which is approximately 31,000.






We didn't walk the town today like we usually do in port, as our tours were Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier we arrived in Juneau  at 1:30pm our tours were at 2:45pm and lasted for 5 hours.  We had to be back on board at 9:45pm. 
Although there are so many things to do and see, from the salmon spawning streams, to a downtown historical walk, hiking and walking trails, museums, Alaska Brewing Company.  The town is tight and quaint, reminiscent of the gold rush era with pubs 'a plenty. If you wanted to skip an excursion and just putz around you certainly can.

THAR SHE BLOWS........................................................

It's what the lookout on a whaler would shout when he saw the "blow" of a humpback whale.  The whales get as large as 52' in length.  Humpback whales only feed in the summer months in arctic waters.  Then they migrate to tropical waters to mate and give birth, all the while fasting. Their gestation period is 11.5 months, and baby humpbacks nurse for up to one year.   Can you imagine the strength the mom-whales have?  Pork up in the summer swim all the way to Hawaii, give birth and feed that baby until your swim all the way to Alaska to eat.   

When they surface to get a breath they "blow" the water to make sure no water gets in their lungs, these "blows" can range from 10 to 20 feet in the air, making it very easy to spot them.

We reserved our excursion thru Shore Trips (which can be found on my website www.mycruisegirl.com under the "Travel Resources" tab then click on Shore Excursions)  First a bus met us at the dock an took us to a marina where we boarded a vessel (there were no more than 20 people on our excursion which is one reason I love Shore Trips, they have small intimate excursions)  run by Dolphin Jet Boat.  Their two naturalists Caitlin and Ali were phenomenal.  They explained in detail about humpback whales and Caitlin the boat captain was in constant contact with other boats to find whales.

Yes there were people in kayaks looking for whales.

 There's the hump......

And there's the tail.  Ali told us all to watch in different directions, and to use the clock as direction so the front of the boat was 12, back was 6, etc.  Any time someone saw a blow they would shout out the direction for the rest of us.
So this nice lady says "6 o'clock" we all run to the back....no blow.  A while later "6 o'clock".....we look again...no blow.  Finally on her third "6 o'clock" I couldn't help myself and said "in what freakin' time zone".  Everyone had a laugh, she did not find it funny.

Every time someone saw a blow the entire boat would fixate on that blow, holding their breath,  because watching the dorsal fin show and then what felt like a lifetime waiting for that elusive "tail" was a true wonder.  Eruptions of applause and oohs and aahs certainly followed.

MENDENHALL GLACIER

                                                                                                  


This famous glacier is located in the Tongass National Forest which is huge, it covers 500 miles of Southeast Alaska.  It is said that Alaska natives have inhabited this forest for the past 10,000 years.

The glacier is approximately 12 miles long. 

Our tour bus picked us up from the whale watching boat and drove us here for 45 minutes of exploration.  There is an interesting museum and so many trails.  To truly appreciate the glacier you need more time than we had.




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Nugget Falls drops 377 feet onto a sandbar in Mendenhall Lake.  Dan took this photo showing just how tiny we humans are compared to the falls.

Although our day in Juneau was wet and cold as was each other port.  I have to say that this was a great scenic cruise.  For someone living in Florida and not getting to see any mountains I certainly got the experience of getting up close and personal with them.



We missed the Cooking demonstration in the Grand Foyer, Deck 3 of the ship at 10:30am because we were too busy trying to get that "perfect shot" of Tracy Arm Fjord....which in my personal opinion hubby did a great job even though I did run him ragged from our balcony (on deck 10) to the Solstice Deck (16) and back in a very short period of time.  He didn't complain though, never does.  The Executive chef shared his expert tips on cooking the perfect steak. And by the time we got back to the Celebrity Solstice we were truly hungry.

Since it was 8pm we just decided to hit the Oceanview Cafe and check out their mexican fare.  Delicious !  Fajitas, burritos, tamales, chips and salsa in abundance. 

After dinner we went to the Molecular Bar which was one of our nightly stops. 

This was a dragonfly, very delicious and super smoky.  The Molecular Bar serves handcrafted cocktails with all fresh ingredients.  These bartenders really work hard. 

My next treat, yes we were there a while, was 'Coming up Roses' and low and behold there were actual rose petals in my drink.  Fresh and delicious containing champagne.  I had not even looked at the menu, just asked for something pretty, the Liquid Chef created perfection.  He said I looked like a 'Champs Girl'.

Dan tried the Kentucky Derby (left) our first night.

Dan tried the Mr. B. our second night, he liked that one so that's what he ordered every time.  By the 3rd night of our cruise when we would walk by the bartenders would all yell in unison "HEY there goes Mr. B !"  The entire bar would look at us and he would just wave, the staff would wave back, they knew he'd be around for his 2nd or 3rd in good time.

Funny thing while we were waiting for our luggage to come off the ship I heard a lady behind me say to her husband "look, there's that Mr. B from the ship".  I'm sure the bartenders told her it was a drink, but she said it like she though he was "Mr.B".  15 minutes of fame !

Next stop............Skagway...............