Juneau, Alaska

We pulled into Juneau and it was overcast, but very nice out. Once off the ship, we walked across the street to the offices of Orca Enterprises to check in for the whale watching tour we had booked. This is a small office just across the street from the Mount Roberts tramway. In the office, we got our tickets for our bus and were ready to go. The buses took us on about a half hour ride north to Auke Bay. On the way, we did get a glimpse of Mendenhall Glacier. Once we got to the dock, we walked down to our purple jetboat. I had heard about this company through CruiseOne and that Captain Larry was the only one to tour with. It was a pretty amazing tour. About 25 of us loaded onto the jetboat and we headed out to the water. There was a naturalist on board who was telling us about the area and the whales we were likely to see. This naturalist was working one of his last shifts before going to Hawaii for the winter to guide whale watching trips there. Since these are some of the same whales, it make sense for him to hop back and forth between the two places. We were told that the whales we may see that day would be humpbacks and possibly minke or orcas. The sun was poking through the clouds as we made our way out and was beautiful on the glaciers in the distance.

We slowly passed a small island to get a look at two bald eagles who were hanging out there. On the next small island we saw a group of harbor seals. Then, someone spotted the first spout from a whale. We pulled up in an area near a smaller jetboat and Capt. Larry killed the engines. As we sat there, at least eight different humpbacks showed themselves. The naturalist was telling us the names of some that he recognized. We saw quite a few terminal dives so got a good look at the tails of these huge animals. The best was yet to come, though. Very close to the small jetboat, one of the whales arched up to a full breech, then followed with a headslap. The naturalist on board was as excited as we were to see this. He had been recording all season and said he had only see this happen about a dozen times. The whales eventually moved on and so did we. As we rounded an island on the way back to Auke Bay, a bald eagle was spotted in a tree. Capt. Larry pulled in fairly close and the naturalist went out on the back deck of the boat. He called the eagle with a very convincing sound and then threw a frozen fish out in the water. The eagle glided out of the tree, swooped down with talons bared and plucked the fish from the water. It was quite a sight to see.

Once back in Juneau, we were quickly reminded that this is the state capital by the protestors with signs near the dock. We decided to get a bite to eat at a place recommended by our guides on the boat called "The Twisted Fish." It was also right at the dock area by the ship. The menu had a lot of fresh fish items and I ordered the halibut tacos. They were very good, but the pico de gallo was very hot! A bottle of Alaska Amber Ale helped out. My friend Danielle spoke with a couple who had gone over to Mendenhall Glacier for the morning and they said they were able to see a brown bear there on the trail. It was quite exciting for them.

We walked up from the downtown area to St Nicholas Church. This is another example of the Russian influence. It sits just outside the business district of town on 5th street. As we came back toward the dock, we popped into the Red Dog Saloon. It was pretty crowded and a piano player had everyone singing. It looked like a good time.

One thing about going to Alaska at this time of year, everything is on sale. Many of the shops were having end of the season sales and prices were pretty good.

By the end of the day, it had begun to rain again and we got back on the ship. Next we were headed to Sitka.