2017 - June 14th - Alaska - Juneau

Overnight, the Star Princess sailed south through the Upper Lynn Canal, around Douglas Island and then north via Gastineau Channel to Juneau, Alaska's capitol city. We were excited to see what our day would bring here in Juneau. We debarked the ship and started our stroll down the wharf.

As we started walking down the boardwalk towards town, we heard this series of high-pitched whistling or piping notes. Looking up at the towering trees next to our path, there perched in the branches was the white-feathered head gleaming in contrast to his chocolate-brown body and wings, an American Bald Eagle, a national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that.

On the wharf were plenty of gift shops and restaurants including the Juneau famous Tracy's King Crab Shack. The wharf was lined with colorful decorative banners to enhance the already awe-inspiring sights and the boats docked in the bay. We had a wonderful stroll into town walking this great boardwalk entrance to the city.

Before Fred and Pam parted with us to shop the establishments on the wharf and we continue to explore the city, the photo-opp came with Fred and this carved wooden bear at one of the gift stores.

We continued into the heart of downtown Juneau to explore all that the city had to offer. We passed many shops and restaurants as we walked up Franklin Street. Reaching the division to Front Street, we found this to be the entrance to Juneau's Historic Old Town sector. Here we see the Historic Old Town intersection clock and to the left, a still in-business Ben Franklin Store .... one of which neither of us had seen since our early childhoods.

We continued the short couple of blocks of the historic area Front Street until reaching Seward Street. The few blocks afforded great views of the shops, the beautiful flowers from the beginning of summer, and the hills surrounding Juneau with homes set way atop.

Narrow and steep staircases provide paths from the upper levels of Juneau to the downtown section. Like many of Alaska's coastal towns that butt up against the mountains, vertical staircases are necessary for residents who live on the upper streets.

The Governor's Mansion is a short walk from Historic Downtown Juneau sitting on a hill overlooking both Juneau and the water. On our walk, we passed Juneau City Hall with a great wall mural painting. The mural is by local artist Bill Ray, and depicts the Tlingit mythology of creation in which Raven discovers mankind in a clam shell. Juneau's Capitol Building on 4th Street between Main and Seward is outside of the shopping/tourist area, but very conveniently located in the walking area of Juneau. We passed this wonderful mural painted on the side of a building while in the wharf area. At home, I did an internet search and found that this mural was painted by a local artist, Dan DeRoux, in 1986. It went on to explain that this wall mural depicts a photograph of turn-of-the-century passengers arriving by the steamship Ancon. The faces are those of Juneau pioneer descendants. At the corner of Third and Seward Streets we found in passing this interesting small park which is dedicated in honor of the late Bishop Michael Kenny. In this Bishop Michael H Kenny Memorial Peace Park is a colorful, abstract sign, created by a local Juneau artist, Aaron Elmore, bearing the park’s name. Walking through Juneau, absorbing all of it's beauty and excitement, we couldn't help but take note of the homes built on the mountain sides.

We walked through Marine Park which attaches to the boardwalk on our way back to the Star Princess. Mount Juneau in front and Mount Roberts to the right can be seen from the park. Marine Parks includes a seawalk along the waterfront ... just a lovely walk. Juneau's wharf on Gastineau Channel including shops, restaurants, and ship and plane businesses. Both cruise ships and seaplanes are common sights.

Juneau was fun and interesting. We had a grand time strolling the streets and taking in as much as we could of this capitol city of Alaska. The locals like to tell you that Juneau is rather unusual among U.S. capitals in that there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of Alaska or to the rest of North America (although ferry service is available for cars). The absence of a road network is due to the extremely rugged terrain surrounding the city. This in turn makes Juneau a de-facto island city in terms of transportation, since all goods coming in and out must go by plane or boat, in spite of the city being located on the Alaskan mainland. They say that there are only three ways to get to Juneau ... by ship, by plane or by the birth canal!!! All of the captioned pictures are in the album at this link.