happy wanderer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2017
Day 6 (Friday, May 25th, 2018) Juneau:
I had read (on our amazing FB cruise board) that there was a chance to see the Aurora Borealis near our location at around 1:00 am. So, I set my FitBit to wake me around that time (sparing Kev and S the early wake up!) and crept out of the room. I hoped that, if they were out, I could go back and wake everyone to catch the viewing party. The halls were empty, and the ship felt like I had it all to myself. I took the elevator to Deck 10, exiting right outside of Palo. Upon opening the door I was hit in the face with wind and rain! The skies were socked in with dark, heavy clouds, and I knew that our dream of seeing the Northern Lights was not to be on this trip. I crept back in to the room and settled back in to bed. I slept deeply until 5:00 am, when the thrusters woke us all up. We laid around until Kev left for the gym at 6:00 am. I got ready, and went to breakfast in Cabanas with S around 7:00 am. Kev soon made it to our table, and ate quickly. Our plan was to disembark at 7:45 am, and make our way to Juneau Car Rental, which opened at 8:00 am. We had booked a mid size rental in February, via email, and wanted to pick it up as soon as possible to make our way to Mendenhall Glacier before the crowds arrived.
We disembarked easily, though Juneau was the only place that we had to show our passports after being cleared. We made a right and walked by the covered area that found many people waiting for their excursion departures. On the right we could see the Juneau Car Rental shack, which we were told would be staffed until around 11:00 am. We knocked on the door, gave our info, signed a form, and were given the keys to a 2002 PT Cruiser (with a ton of faux-chrome). It was clean and it great shape for its age (and having 120k miles!). We were on our way by 8:05, armed with a great map and tips from the JCR rep. We loved seeing Juneau as it woke up (downtown) and the shops opening up as we drove by. We pulled in to the (lovely) visitors center area by 8:30 am, and quickly made our way down to the shore to gaze at this beauty:
We took a bunch of photos, and then made our way back up to start on Nugget Fall trail. What a gorgeous walk!! About 2.2 miles round trip, and it took us through lovely paths to the shore line. It allowed us to walk right up to Nugget Falls, and to see Mendenhall Glacier from a new angle. If I lived here, I would try to spend time here every day. Just lovely.
Soon after we decided to walk back to the visitors center to explore the exhibits and watch the movie (we are NPS/NFS fans). Both were beautifully done, with great rangers around to answer questions and help out.
At this point we wanted to go to Auke Bay and explore a bit. So much to see! We hiked around and soaked in the scenery. On the way back in to Juneau we decided to eat at a local place we had read good things about:
I had researched and planned on hitting Tracy's King Crab Shack, but when we looked at the menu there wasn't a ton that S would want to eat. We all love fish and chips, and Yelp gave positive reviews of Alaska Fish and Chips. So, after a bit of maneuvering to find parking we found this spot in the back of an indoor shopping area on the waterfront. In a word, delicious! We sat out by the water and watched the planes take off and land on the water. The service was quick and the food AMAZING! We paid our bill (around $50.00 for three meals and drinks) and decided to take advantage of the two hour free parking in the downtown area to shop.
We first hit the Taku Harley Davidson store, as my parents are enthusiasts who own two bikes. The staff in the store were so kind, and we ended up with some fun shirts and a bag for my parents. We then walked to an Alaskan owned store (I cannot remember the name right now!) that had gorgeous knives and other local artisan items. We purchased some gifts for friends/family, and a pocket knife for S. After hitting a local bookstore for more reading material for S, we decided to make our way back to the car rental shack and turn in the car. As per the sign on the door, we locked it up and dropped the keys in the drop slot on the door. We had ice cream on Deck 9 and relaxed in our cabin watching the first Avengers movie until it was time to leave for dinner at Tiana's Place! We were super excited to return to this restaurant, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at dinner.
I had read (on our amazing FB cruise board) that there was a chance to see the Aurora Borealis near our location at around 1:00 am. So, I set my FitBit to wake me around that time (sparing Kev and S the early wake up!) and crept out of the room. I hoped that, if they were out, I could go back and wake everyone to catch the viewing party. The halls were empty, and the ship felt like I had it all to myself. I took the elevator to Deck 10, exiting right outside of Palo. Upon opening the door I was hit in the face with wind and rain! The skies were socked in with dark, heavy clouds, and I knew that our dream of seeing the Northern Lights was not to be on this trip. I crept back in to the room and settled back in to bed. I slept deeply until 5:00 am, when the thrusters woke us all up. We laid around until Kev left for the gym at 6:00 am. I got ready, and went to breakfast in Cabanas with S around 7:00 am. Kev soon made it to our table, and ate quickly. Our plan was to disembark at 7:45 am, and make our way to Juneau Car Rental, which opened at 8:00 am. We had booked a mid size rental in February, via email, and wanted to pick it up as soon as possible to make our way to Mendenhall Glacier before the crowds arrived.
We disembarked easily, though Juneau was the only place that we had to show our passports after being cleared. We made a right and walked by the covered area that found many people waiting for their excursion departures. On the right we could see the Juneau Car Rental shack, which we were told would be staffed until around 11:00 am. We knocked on the door, gave our info, signed a form, and were given the keys to a 2002 PT Cruiser (with a ton of faux-chrome). It was clean and it great shape for its age (and having 120k miles!). We were on our way by 8:05, armed with a great map and tips from the JCR rep. We loved seeing Juneau as it woke up (downtown) and the shops opening up as we drove by. We pulled in to the (lovely) visitors center area by 8:30 am, and quickly made our way down to the shore to gaze at this beauty:
We took a bunch of photos, and then made our way back up to start on Nugget Fall trail. What a gorgeous walk!! About 2.2 miles round trip, and it took us through lovely paths to the shore line. It allowed us to walk right up to Nugget Falls, and to see Mendenhall Glacier from a new angle. If I lived here, I would try to spend time here every day. Just lovely.
Soon after we decided to walk back to the visitors center to explore the exhibits and watch the movie (we are NPS/NFS fans). Both were beautifully done, with great rangers around to answer questions and help out.
At this point we wanted to go to Auke Bay and explore a bit. So much to see! We hiked around and soaked in the scenery. On the way back in to Juneau we decided to eat at a local place we had read good things about:
I had researched and planned on hitting Tracy's King Crab Shack, but when we looked at the menu there wasn't a ton that S would want to eat. We all love fish and chips, and Yelp gave positive reviews of Alaska Fish and Chips. So, after a bit of maneuvering to find parking we found this spot in the back of an indoor shopping area on the waterfront. In a word, delicious! We sat out by the water and watched the planes take off and land on the water. The service was quick and the food AMAZING! We paid our bill (around $50.00 for three meals and drinks) and decided to take advantage of the two hour free parking in the downtown area to shop.
We first hit the Taku Harley Davidson store, as my parents are enthusiasts who own two bikes. The staff in the store were so kind, and we ended up with some fun shirts and a bag for my parents. We then walked to an Alaskan owned store (I cannot remember the name right now!) that had gorgeous knives and other local artisan items. We purchased some gifts for friends/family, and a pocket knife for S. After hitting a local bookstore for more reading material for S, we decided to make our way back to the car rental shack and turn in the car. As per the sign on the door, we locked it up and dropped the keys in the drop slot on the door. We had ice cream on Deck 9 and relaxed in our cabin watching the first Avengers movie until it was time to leave for dinner at Tiana's Place! We were super excited to return to this restaurant, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at dinner.