Our First Day Onboard & Our Visit to Alaska’s Capital City: Juneau

Our ship set sail for Alaska on Sunday at 4:00 pm.  The cruise line celebrated with a huge outdoor BBQ, which was a little less than enjoyable for me due to the 57 degree temperature on deck.  Everyone always says that my mom and I aren’t “warm” unless it is 80 degrees or higher.   But I toughed it out and watched as we sailed out of the port of Seattle.  We were able to enjoy some more great views of the Seattle skyline.  

Setting sail!

After setting sail, we had an entire day to spend at sea.   We had lots of fun on the ship because there were several ways to entertain yourself.  Lee took advantage of the rock climbing wall.  He scaled the “difficult” side like a pro (after we watched another cruiser attempt the same feat and fail miserably…. what a show off)!  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me to document his accomplishment, but it was pretty impressive.  We also visited the casino on-board, where I lost $3 on a 1 cent slot machine in 2 minutes.  I did the math:  that means that out of 300 attempts to hit “BAR-BAR-BAR,” I succeeded ZERO times!   0 out of 300?!  Anyone want to take me to Vegas?  Didn’t think so….
After losing all confidence in my chances of hitting it big in the casino, we left to get ready for dinner, which happened to be “dress up night.”   Here we are looking snazzy for dinner: 

 Mom and Dad looked pretty sharp, too! 

 After dinner, we went to see some comedy on board in the theater and then went to bed to rest up for our arrival in Juneau.  Our ship reached the port at 2:00 pm, and we were pretty excited to see land again!

Enjoying the view of land!

View of Juneau's port from sea

However, we were not excited about the weather that greeted us in Alaska.  This Southern girl was missing her hot, sunny days pretty bad at this point.  It was about 48 degrees with strong winds and it was POURING rain.  To make matters worse, the minute we stepped off the gangway, I stepped right into a puddle.  Such a lovely welcome to Alaska!!!  We hadn’t planned a way to spend our day in Juneau, but at the ship dock, we found a small local company that was offering tours of the town.  They had a van and offered to drive our group around for a few hours to show us the sights.  We were 100% ready for any way to get out of the dreary weather, so we took them up on their offer.  10 minutes later, our tour guide arrived.  He was an Alaskan local with an interesting personality and an Indian Jones hat, who felt no need to keep his political opinions to himself.  It was pretty funny to say the least.  Those Alaskans are rogue when it comes to political correctness.  He took us on a quick tour of downtown Juneau, which was not that grand for a capital city. 

Juneau's downtown

He then drove us out an area where we could see the Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.  Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that the visibility was very low.  But we saw some small icebergs and pretty scenery.

Mendenhall Glacier in the distance

Icebergs

Our next stop was the Shrine of St. Therese, a small isolated church built in 1938.  It was a really beautiful area, but the winds on the island were 30-40 mph and were icy cold.   We still spent a good bit of time outside, roaming around and appreciating the scenery around us. 

Our tour guide then drove us to Salmon Creek in Juneau so that we could see some of the salmon swimming upstream to spawn.   Our trip fell near the end of the spawning season, so the activity had slowed a good bit, but we were still able to see several salmon fighting to swim upstream. 

Each dark spot beneath the water is a salmon

Our last stop was a visit to an overlook of the port of Juneau, where once again, our view was impaired by the bad weather.  Our tour guide attempted to reassure us about our luck of weather by explaining that Juneau gets an average of 150 inches of rain a year.  He also said that this summer had been unseasonably wet, and that the last day of full sun was in APRIL.   I can’t imagine!  So Juneau was definitely a beautiful place to visit, but quickly got crossed off my list of places to live in the future. 

 Once we parted ways with our Alaskan tour guide, we headed back to downtown to do a little souvenir shopping.  My favorite find was a $400 fur bikini.  They even had a matching fur Speedo for the fella's.   Lee and I decided, however, to leave those beauties in Alaska, figuring they wouldn’t look as fashionable on Myrtle Beach’s sunny shores.  We were pretty tired after our tour, and I was past the point of over the wind and rain, so we headed back to the ship, leaving Juneau behind.   Despite the weather, I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit Juneau! 

If you are interested, check back later for a recap of our visits to Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria!
Thanks for reading! (if anyone still is at this point)   :)

-Gina