Juneau is the capital – a town that hugs the shore below steep mountains. Tuesday there were four huge cruise ships in dock. When we disembarked, we were met with a line of kiosks with barkers leaning out of them, calling us to try their tours, sign up for their adventures, come look at their special trips. We moved past them and bought a bus ride on the much cheaper “Blue Bus” and headed off to the Mendenhall Glacier.
The trip was about 10 miles out of town and our bus driver pointed out the relevant tourist highlights: “On your right you’ll see our new Walmart. We also now have two international food chains in town: MacDonalds and a Starbucks.” As we passed the governor’s house his comment was: “At least now the governor lives in it, Sarah spent all her time on her boat.” He apologized for the sound of the brakes which howled for half a block each time we had to stop. He said that while Alaska has been a state for 50 years, the bus is much older.
We piled off the bus at the Mendenhall Glacier and joined tour buses and hundreds of other people looking over to the Glacier –a massive turquoise and dust-covered body of ice moving its way down the valley. After a quick look in the crowded information centre, Bill and I hiked for an hour up a forest trail to get a closer look at the Glacier and leave the crowds behind. The trail took us through wonderful coastal rainforest with trees and rocks dripping with thick green moss and pathways decorated with dinner plate-sized, caramel-coloured mushrooms. The glacier kept appearing as we rounded corners but the forest was as much an attraction as the view.
We returned by bus and wandered around downtown Juneau. The streets were crowded with hundreds of people and the store fronts screamed “Season Closing Sale!” Four out of five stores on the main street sell jewelry – mostly diamonds and tanzanite (northern lights-coloured!). The remainder of stores feature Alaska souvenirs including fur of all descriptions, and carved bone and antlers. The majority of items for sale, of course, are made in China. We didn’t last long before coming back on board for relatively quiet evening. Bill went to magic show, Eileen decided to give it a miss.
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