Today Ben and I were up early enough to watch the ship dock in Juneau.
Me in my Alaska shirt I bought in the gift shop. I didn't bring enough warm clothes!
We decided to have breakfast at the buffet today since we wanted to get an early start. Along with everyone else on the ship apparently. It was a madhouse and we finally had to resort sitting at the one dirty table we could find. We totally lost Fran and Harvey in the fray and messaged them to say we would meet up with them later.
Me in my Alaska shirt I bought in the gift shop. I didn't bring enough warm clothes!
We decided to have breakfast at the buffet today since we wanted to get an early start. Along with everyone else on the ship apparently. It was a madhouse and we finally had to resort sitting at the one dirty table we could find. We totally lost Fran and Harvey in the fray and messaged them to say we would meet up with them later.
In
Juneau, we took a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and then took
the Taku Lodge Seaplane excursion booked through Princess.
This
was a great day. At Mendenhall, we stopped at the entrance in front of the visitor's center for our first views of the glacier.
A little ways down the trail, we had an even better view of Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls.
Then we hiked the .80 mile trail to Nugget
Falls. Fran and Harvey kept up with us the whole way!
Ben and I also walked the shorter Photo Trail for a different view of both the glacier and Nugget Falls while Fran and Harvey visited the vistor's center.
Afterwards,
we took the shuttle back to town and stopped in the famous Red Dog Saloon for a soda and Ben got some clam chowder to
tide him over until lunch. We were lucky
we were able to walk right in and get a table for four.
We
then met at 12:20 at the dock for our seaplane excursion. This was one of our favorite things we did on the trip. Taku Lodge is beautiful,
there is a huge glacier RIGHT THERE, the resident bear, Lois, came early and
just sat and posed for us while the salmon was cooking.
Pictures during the flight to Taku Lodge. We flew over several glaciers and the audio we heard through our headphones told us about each one.
Arriving at the lodge.
And there was Lois waiting to greet us!
We even took a bear selfie!
Once everyone was inside, she came and licked the grate they cook the salmon on.
The meal was delicious!
After lunch, one of the guys from the Lodge led us on a little nature walk to walk off our meal.
We then stopped by the gift shop. I wish I had gone earlier, because the planes arrived while I was looking around and I had to rush. They had some really nice handmade items.
Scenes from our flight back:
We absolutely loved this excursion and thoroughly enjoyed our day in Juneau!
Back
on the ship, Ben and I stopped for a drink at La Patisserie. He got his favorite and I got a hot drink
called a molten glacier, yum.
Back in the room, we took a soak in the tub and then Ben and I picked up some pizza slices and took them to the buffet where I made a salad to go with it—this became our go-to lunch or dinner when we wanted something easy.
We
went and had some cheesecake at the International Café before our nightly drink
at Crooners. I sat out on the balcony
awhile after we got to the room and watched the scenery.
Back in the room, we took a soak in the tub and then Ben and I picked up some pizza slices and took them to the buffet where I made a salad to go with it—this became our go-to lunch or dinner when we wanted something easy.
It was light until after 11:00 pm each night. I had to force myself off the balcony some nights to get some sleep! Up next, Skagway, AK and our journey to the Yukon!
