Today we toured Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau. We didn’t book a shore excursion through the ship because we wanted to have time to explore on our own. After tendering to shore we booked a ride on a shuttle up to the glacier ($80 each). The shuttle driver was entertaining with information and jokes. We had hoped we’d be able to shuttle up then back whenever we wanted, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. We had 2 hours to explore the glacier area then we had to catch our shuttle back. We assume this is to keep the area from getting overrun with cruise ship passengers. It worked out fine and although we probably would have taken a longer hike, we had plenty of time to explore the glacier. It was beautiful. Next to the glacier is Nugget Falls. The two natural elements next to each other are spectacular.
After touring the glacier we shared fish and chips at a spot on the pier. The sea planes were landing right in front of us, taking tourists up to get a birds eye view of the glacier and Juneau ice field. We walked around Juneau checking out the shops. We wandered through the state capital and found the governor’s house. We really enjoyed the Sealaska cultural center. There was a wonderful reconstruction of a Tlingit lodge and lots of information. We purchased a small Tlingit art print of salmon. We also enjoyed the waterfront park and the Tahku humpback whale sculpture. Tahku was erected to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood in 2009.
Needing a break from fancy multiple course meals, we ordered pizza and pasta to our room for dinner, but we should have made the effort to go to dinner, the room service pizza wasn’t any better than the pizza at the restaurant. We rested up and headed out for a show at the Panorama Lounge.
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