Alaska 2024 - Day 2 Juneau

Saturday, 10 August 2024

On the second day of our cruise, we got to see Juneau, Alaska. Although Juneau is the Capital of Alaska and the third largest city in Alaska with an estimated population of 31,337 as of 2024, Juneau has no highways connecting it to the rest of Alaska or to Canada. The only ways in are by boat or aircraft.

Situated on the East bank of Gastineau Channel, Juneau hugs the coast. Many of the "streets" in Juneau are actually stairs leading up the hills away from the waterfront with vivid blue, red, and yellow houses built along them.

We were pier side very close to the center of the town. We stepped off the ship and into Juneau!

The weather, since our gloomy day at Hubbard Glacier, took a turn for the better, and it was bright, sunny, and quite warm. When we left the ship in the late morning, we needed light jackets, but by afternoon, we were carrying them, wearing just our regular shirts.

Juneau is a colorful, tourist oriented city with many jewelers, clothiers, art and souvenir shops, and restaurants crammed into a small area. I found a certain class and style I liked to the place, while Galina found it to be a bit too much of a tourist trap vibe for her. We both understand that pretty much the whole town makes a living for the year on the few months tourists are in town, so a tourist trap vibe's kind of expected.

A Juneau staple we had to visit was Tracy's King Crab Shack, right on the pier by the ship. The line seemed a little long when we got off the ship, and we weren't hungry yet, so we walked around and saw the sights, and came back in the early afternoon. The line was much longer than before! It moved quickly though and we had our order in in less than 20 minutes.

We opted not to go for the king crab bucket because it was $122.00 a person! We had the Crab Shack Combo. 1 King Crab leg, 8 oz. of crab bisque, and 4 mini crab cakes for $36.95 each. Galina had a beer and I went with water.

Lunch was tasty and Stacy's Crab Shack moves customers through pretty efficiently. We enjoyed the nautical decor and the meal.

We headed up behind town on some of the stair "streets" to have a look around. The view was fantastic and it was fun getting a closer look at some of the colorful residences.

Galina saw some ripe looking berries we thought were raspberries. She plucked two and ate them, only to discover that they weren't raspberries. Out in the wilds, eating unknown berries. What could go wrong?

Galina found them lacking sweetness, but having kind of a fresh taste. Thankfully, a resident appeared on the stairs and Galina asked if the berries were edible. She told us they are. They're thimble berries. Whew!

The only thing we bought in Juneau besides the lunch was a small eagle sculpture made of ironwood. Ironwood can refer to several species of hardwood trees characterized by wood that is dense enough that it does not float in water.

After a bit more sight seeing and shopping, we headed back to the ship to rest up, get supper, and prepare for our next port, Haines.