July 9-10, 2008 -- Juneau

We left Sitka on a large catamaran through the ferry system to Juneau.  Took about 1/2 the time of the regular ferry and quite exquisite inside.  They didn't have any lodging, but the seating was quite comfortable.  Of course, there was beautiful scenery along the way.

Juneau was an experience within itself.  From staying in the oldest still-operating hotel to having five luxury cruise ships in port.  It was quite a range of experience.  We opted to have a room with a shared bath, but sharing it with the local residents caused us to upgrade to a private room the next night.  The hotel was quite quaint, located in the central historic portion of downtown Juneau.  There was a bar downstairs, but we were lucky that the noise didn't travel upward.  Parking in historic Juneau is "everyone fends for themselves".  One of the residents in the hotel drove a Harley, so he waited until a parking space became available and then we parked with 3 Harleys for the night.  Otherwise, Ed could park the motorcycle on the hill behind the hotel -- it would only take 83 stairs one way to access it  We were able to leave it in covered parking the next night.  There is a lot of history in this area.  We had a beer and hamburger at the Red Dog Saloon.  http://www.reddogsaloon.com/ 

Raining as usual -- we got up early the second day and drove out to the Mendenhal Glacier.  One doesn't realize how large the glaciers are until you get up close.  We were early enough that the first tour bus hadn't arrived.  Quite serene, and you could hear the sound of the waterfall.  There are a total of 47 driving miles in the Juneau area.  We managed to drive 70 with some backtracking from the glacier.  The town of Douglas is across the bridge, so we were also able to see Juneau from the other side of the bay.  That evening we had dinner at the Hangar Bar -- here we sat at the bar and watched the sea planes land.

Can you see the small plane!


 We actually had a reasonable boarding time for the ferry, so we took the Alaskan Brewing Co. tour. Quite interesting! They had expanded on a brew that had been brought over from Czech back during the gold rush days. The Czech had brought his own ingredients and the beer was stored in caves. Today, this is the fastest growing micro-brewery. They started delivery in Colorado recently -- might want to try the Amber, Summer Ale, or Smoked Porter if you get the chance. Because of their volume in sales, they are no longer considered a micro-brewery. http://www.alaskanbeer.com/