Juneau

Friday, May 3, 2024 

The Zaandam wasn't scheduled to reach Juneau until 1:30 pm so it was almost like having a sea day AND a port day rolled up into one. We skipped the lecture on the Iditarod at 10:00 am in favor of some scenic viewing from "our private deck". Multiple whales were spotted, but none very close to the ship. I managed to only get one tail photo and it isn't the greatest.

We could see both sides of the ship from our vantage point.

We had a great view of the wake from our back deck.

I love the snow cover on the mountains that you see early in the season!

Today we were sharing "our private deck" with a few other passengers and one gal showed Bob how to take iPhone photos through his binoculars which he thought was the greatest idea ever!

A reflection selfie in our cabin window.

Bob's binocular zoom photo.

An express lunch of fish & chips was offered in the dining room between 11:30 and 12:30 which we took advantage of. Usually a sit-down meal in the dining room takes more time than we are willing to spend but the express lunches have a very limited menu and end up being as quick and much easier than fighting the crowds in the buffet.

After having good luck with our Turo rental in Honolulu in February, we booked through the app again for Juneau. The owner of the car we had reserved had it parked right next to where the Zaandam was docked...literally a two minute walk from the ship. After Bob took the required photos and uploaded them to the Turo app we were on our way. (The owner could unlock the car remotely and the keys were in the center console.)

The Zaandam wasn't scheduled to leave Juneau until 10 pm, but it just made sense to start with our furthest destination first and then work our way back towards town. Our journey began by heading along the coast to Eagle Beach...about 30 miles away. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the snow capped mountains...but no eagles.

Bob building a cairn.

As we started back on the Glacier Highway towards Juneau, we made a stop at the Shrine of St. Therese. We parked the car and then walked across the causeway to the stone chapel located on the island. Bob and Jon climbed down the rocky shoreline while Michelle and I were content to take in the view from the church grounds.

One of the main advantages to having a rental car was the ability to visit Mendenhall Glacier without booking a tour. In the past it was easy to book a shuttle to the glacier at the cruise ship dock, but the number of permits has been limited now which means advance reservations are needed (and somewhat difficult to get.)

Bob, Michelle and Jon made the two-mile out and back hike to get to Nugget Falls, but I knew it would be too painful (and slow) for me to even try. With the beautiful weather I didn't mind a bit just waiting while they were gone. I did meander through the visitor center, but mostly just enjoyed sitting on a bench people watching and taking in the beautiful view of the glacier.

My view of the glacier and Nugget Falls.

Mendenhall Glacier has shrunk drastically since our first visit ten years ago.

Nugget Falls

On our 2017 visit to Juneau we had discovered the Treadwell Gold Mine and had spent a gray, misty afternoon walking the trails of the abandoned mine on Douglas Island. Since then I found that there are now augmented reality tours where visitors can use iPad devices to visualize what the mine looked like in the early 1900's and also online walking tour maps available for those that want a DIY experience. For us, we didn't do either, but just spent a short time wandering around the property.

The remains of some of the old mine buildings.

Skunk cabbage was in bloom.

Ruins from the old gold mine.

The old Treadwell Mine pump house.

See the two eagles sitting on the roof?

One of the eagles in flight.

The sun was getting lower in the sky which made for great lighting on my photos, but also meant our time in Juneau was running out. Our last stop was a quick one and was on our way back from Douglas Island. I wanted to see the Alaska Whale Sculpture located on the waterfront near the bridge leading to the island. I took quite a few photos trying to get the perfect angle so it looked as if a real whale was breaching right in front of me! 

Look real? 

Bob was more interested in the totem pole next to the sculpture and he took a variety of photos from all angles. I won't be surprised if someday he begins working on a totem pole in our yard!

Back at the ship, we parked our Turo car at the same parking lot next to the dock where we had picked it up earlier in the day. Bob repeated the process of taking and texting multiple photos through the Turo app to show that the condition of the car hadn't changed and then he locked the keys in the car for the owner to retrieve. The $106 we paid for the car rental was such a great bargain compared to the cost of all four of us booking tours that would have only covered a fraction of what we saw. Here is a map where I marked our route for the day.

We had long missed our 5:00 dinner time in the main dining room so we ate in the buffet and didn't even attempt to go to comedian Bill Boronkay's performance in the theater.  Before hitting our bed, we went out on deck to watch as the Zaandam sailed away from Juneau in the twilight. Tomorrow would be an even fuller day in Skagway!

Good bye, Juneau!