Juneau where we are???
Juneau, Alaska, just down the street from Skagway, Alaska’s first gold rush city. Juneau came into fame when two gold prospectors, Richard Harris (not the actor), and Joe Juneau found gold in the river. They had a bit of help from the local native tribe in locating the shiny stuff but soon enough, lots of it was found and the rush was on. That was back in 1897 when the camp was known as Rockwell after Lt. Com. Rockwell, so of course when it became a town, it needed a new name. Why not name it after one of the founding prospectors! So, the town was named… wait for it…Harrisburg! That’s right, good old Harrisburg. It wasn’t until 1906 when the state capitol was established and moved from Sitka to the newly named, “Juneau” that the District of Alaska had it’s new capitol. (Alaska became an official “state” in 1959)
Beautiful downtown Juneau
Lots of good street signs on this trip…
One on every corner, or just about
Some interesting facts about Juneau, the capitol building was voted the 49th best looking state capitol building beating out North Dakota. That Scottish restaurant, McDonalds, opened here with a record-breaking day of selling hamburgers, over 15,000 in one day. Not bad for a town that only had 20,000 people at the time. It is one of two state capitols that cannot be reached from the lower 48 by road. (Honolulu, Hawaii is the other) And, Juneau is the second largest city, by area, in the United States coming in at 2,704sq.mi. (Sitka is the largest, by area, with 2,870.1sq.mi)
Cruise lines make the stop here on almost all Alaskan journeys. This can be a challenge during the summer months when as many a 5 cruise ships can visit in a single day, increasing the population by as much as 12,000 people! Can get a wee bit crowded. Fortunately, ours is the only ship in port this morning but the Norwegian cruise line ship “Jewel” will arrive later today.
Enough background, today we’re off to do a little whale watching. The company we’re with has a guarantee that we will see a whale, or they will refund our money. In 30 years, they have never had to refund a dime! Loaded on our bus for the 30 minute ride to the harbor and a quick drive through the city. Scott, our driver who is all of 25 years old, gave a bit of commentary as we saw the site (not sites) of Juneau. It wasn’t until we arrived at the pier that Scott shared with us this was his first driving experience with passengers. He had been in training in Iowa (?) since January and was now “certified” to drive with people on the bus. How nice. It wasn’t that far to walk back to the ship.
Capt. Neal took us out right on time and low and behold, a whale was sighted within 20 minutes. No refunds today! These were humpback whales migrating down to, or up from Mexico or Hawaii depending on who you spoke with. They didn’t seem to mind us watching them, we did stay pretty far away. We had a naturalist on board, I thought that meant a nudist but Collette quickly corrected me, that spotted whales and gave some interesting background about whales and other wildlife.
About all you can get from these whales. They don’t stay on the surface long.
Thar she blows…
Total sighting for the day was 6 whales, a bunch of sea lions and a couple of otters. Not bad for early spring in Alaska. Tomorrow we’re off to Skagway, Sarah Palin’s hometown. WooHoo!
Sea lions taking 5
But before we leave, gotta stop at the Red Dog Saloon for a drink. This saloon has been serving libation to the thirsty since the late 1800’s. In almost original condition, the inside of the current saloon is covered with taxidermy, old signs, clothing for the mining era, and sawdust, about 8inches of the stuff all over the floor.
The Red Dog Saloon
An Alaskan ladder
Although the building was moved to this location back in the 1980’s, everything inside is original, except the piano player. Ragtime Hattie was the first pianist to woo the miners in the early years. Today, it’s some old coot that doesn’t sing well, play well or have a good sense of humor. He’s just crusty. The beer, about the same as elsewhere, good if you like beer, not good if you don’t like beer. They do serve lunch but we were fine with a drink and checking out the patrons. Til tomorrow…
Leaving you with some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.
