Juneau and Mendenhall Glacier

Juneau, Alaska, August 2019

Here is the first edition of the blog.  I won’t be posting these in any particular order or importance.  As I start getting the feel for a certain place I enjoyed visiting, I will write a post.

We didn’t really take in much of the actual city of Juneau since this was mainly our excursion heavy port on the cruise.   With only ten hours, many at night, we were able to fit in two of their major attractions which were purchased through the Princess Cruise and the vendor booths at the cruise slips.  As you will see, the focus was the Mendenhall Glacier.

Soon after disembarking, we boarded the van to the Temsco Heliport for our trip to the Mendenhall Glacier.  This was a Princess excursion which we paid for months in advance (approx $350 each).   Many excursions didn’t interest us so we put most of our eggs in this one basket.  

Our van driver got us to the heliport quickly and also shared some information about Juneau, especially the challenges that residents face as a city only accessible by sea or air.  The Temsco staff gave us a safety briefing and set us up with spiked boots so we could walk safely on the glacier. 

The 10 to 15 minute ride was absolutely exhilarating and the pilot also provided information which we heard on the headsets. We had a clear and sunny day which made for excellent photos.  The landing was soft as you can expect from a helicopter and were warmly greeted by glacier staff. We were fortunate to have a very engaging and fun college- aged guide.   We had a chance to sample the glacier steam water and I opted to do the glacier push up to drink it. With my best push up form, I dropped my face in the stream a swallowed a clean and cold mouthful of glacier water. Be careful if trying this, as the ice is sharp and can cut your hands if you don’t wear gloves or some other protection. The thirty minutes on the glacier seemed like five minutes, the helicopter ride seemed even shorter!

After a short walk Franklin Street, we purchased a round trip, for $40 each, to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The tardiness of the bus caused us to rush once we got there, but we were able to get a nice view of the glacier from below this time, as well as Nugget Falls.  We walked the two mile round trip to the base of the falls, which was magnificent, but had to miss the view from the visitor center since we needed to catch the last bus back to downtown.  Tip: give yourself enough time and arrange your own ride. 

Although we were in port until 10 pm, we got back on the ship around 7pm since the evening hours in the downtown area didn’t offer much more than restaurants and shops aimed at tourists.

First Blogpost!

We are not big time travelers like Rick Steves or Arthur Frommer, but we do take a trip from time to time.  Before we go, we thoroughly research the location such as where to eat, how to get around and what to see.  Of course, plans change as we often try to get tips from locals while we are there!  

This first edition will focus on the port city of Ketchikan, Alaska.  We arrived in Ketchikan via a large commercial cruise ship, the Star Princess.  A future blogpost will be about our first cruising experience. Ketchikan’s waterfront is really no different than many others such as Skagway and Juneau, all of which I will be writing about. Numerous tour companies are there to greet you to take you on excursions ranging from boat tours to guided van tours to lumberjack shows. There are plenty of shops ranging from a few operated by locals to the regular cruise line owned Alaska souvenir shops and jewelry stores, all trying to get a piece of your tourism dollar.

None of the cruise excursions appealed to us and we opted to just walk around Ketchikan and take it all in.  Most of the most interesting sites were free or a nominal cost.  Let me start with the nominal cost activities.  The Totem Heritage Center was small and only a $6 admission charge.  Overall the museum was pretty basic and focused on educating about the meaning and history of the totems.  What really made the $6 a steal was the young docent who was making baskets out of thin strips of cedar. She enthusiastically answered all our questions about her craft, the region and life in Alaska. 

The other low cost activity we enjoyed was the quick funicular trip for Creek Street up to the Cape Fox Lodge.  I think it was $6 round trip for two. It was almost like a large elevator which travelled on an angle instead of vertical. We walked around the grounds at the top for a few minutes, but mostly enjoyed the view of the port area from this elevated location.  The lodge area was a nice place to rest for a few minutes.

Ketchikan is best known for Creek Street.  The former red light district of the Gold Rush era is now full of souvenir and craft shops. It is essentially a shopping area on a small scale boardwalk. Creek Street offers a great view of seals as they chase down salmon trying to get upstream. As you travel further up Creek Street, you can see a salmon ladder in use. Different views of this Creek proved that Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world as it was jammed with this prized fish.  We also spent some time just walking around the town streets, just getting a look at regular Alaska suburban life, petted a few dogs and met a few of the local residents who were more than happy to chat with us.

For those who enjoy a good craft beer, the Bowden Street Brewing Company had a good assortment of draft beers, all at reasonable prices.  They had everything from IPAs to Saisons to Porters.   This was our last stop before heading back on board.