Our big trip to Alaska started with a 4:30 am pickup by car service to get to the airport. Talk about groggy…I’d only gotten two hours of sleep. This was a tough trip to pack for, so I couldn’t do my usual slap-dash job (throw a bunch of stuff into a suitcase and buy whatever I forgot once I got there). There would be few places to buy anything I forgot; moreover, we had to pack everything from bathing suits and shorts to long underwear, hats and gloves. On top of those challenges, my husband Dave started in on me four or five days before we left: “Will you pack for me? I’m so busy.” My response: “HELL NO! You think I’m sitting around eating bon-bons?” Two days before liftoff: “Pleeease will you pack for me? Can you at least make me a list?” I was resolute. He’s a grown man. “Absolutely not, I’m swamped trying to get all my work done before taking 12 days out of the office.” The afternoon before: “My flight from Boston is delayed. I won’t get home until late. I’m begging you.”
OK, so I relented. It was 2 in the morning before I felt satisfied that my packing would not be a disaster. Dave was blissfully asleep well before then, while I packed for him. Clever guy. We both got up at 4.
So it my half-asleep state, it was no wonder that I fumbled with the bottle of baby aspirin in my purse and dumped it everywhere. Tiny little aspirin crept into every crevice of my purse (this would haunt me for the rest of the vacation), not to mention the back seat of the black sedan. I wondered whether to point this out to the driver and tell him that the pills were just baby aspirin, nothing nefarious, but I decided that he would think I was crazy.
My grand plans to get lots of work done on the plane were nixed by my sleeping all the way to Seattle. From Seattle to Juneau I peered out the window, trying to get a sense of the topography, but Juneau and the vicinity were a mystery from the air, as low and thick cloud cover prevented any view until we were just about on the ground. Once we landed, it was a relief to find that our luggage was there too — not a sure thing given that we had made an earlier connection in Seattle than originally scheduled and there was no guarantee that our luggage would get there as early as we did. But now that we were in Juneau, was it actually a good thing that we had gotten in early?
Juneau…not quite sure what to make of it.
What a strange little city. Juneau is squished onto a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea (well, the Gastineau Passage, but it’s salt water). The setting is spectacular, but man hasn’t done much to improve the scenery. Juneau…home of what might be the ugliest state office building ever (called the SOB by locals). Picture a drab concrete building that would have fit in well in Soviet-era Russia, which would be bad enough, but it’s gotten dirty and they can’t seem to clean it.
Our first meal in Alaska at the Hangar, with plenty of Alaskan beer. I was testing out a new fisheye lens for my phone.
Juneau…full of odd folk. We took three cabs while we were there and each of the cabbies was odder than the one before. It seems like everyone in Alaska comes from someplace else, and these guys might have been escaping from something, like a short prison term. And there are more than a few drunks on the street.
The Main Drag (Franklin St.)
And then there are the tourists. During our 2 ½ days in Juneau we witnessed a steady parade of huge cruise ships sliding into the docks. Each of them disgorged hundreds – possibly thousands – into town. Most of them embarked immediately on “excursions” to hike on glaciers or watch bears, but many were content to walk up and down Juneau’s main drag in the rain, buying souvenirs.
Have I mentioned the weather? Southeast Alaska is temperate rain forest, and it rains a lot in the rain forest. But as we heard many times during our trip, there is no such thing as bad weather – only insufficient rain gear. We would learn that the hard way, but more on that later.
Still, we found some things to like about Juneau over our couple of days there, including both the places we stayed; the hiking; some good sushi; and a cozy bar (the Alaskan).
I call this one “Woman Typing On Laptop In Front Of Nude.” The Alaskan was the kind of bar where you could hang out for a while to get out of the rain.
A nice thing about Juneau (and all of Alaska): They love their flowers in the summertime. Every house had flowers, as did many of the commercial buildings.
Juneau is a good jumping-off spot for other Alaska adventures, but all in all not a true destination itself.
Douglas Island
Our first lodging in Juneau wasn’t technically in Juneau at all, but across the Gastineau Passage on Douglas Island. The “Beachside Villa Luxury Inn” was named a bit misleadingly, as I can’t imagine anyone sunbathing on the beach here, but maybe that’s because it was raining or foggy the whole time we were there.
Even so, it was a pretty view from our room, especially because we had been upgraded (the proprietress having decided that Dave was too tall for a queen bed and needed a king – funny since (a) he’s not that tall and (b) I’ve been lobbying for a king-sized bed for our entire 30-year marriage). The “luxury” part of the name I’m not quarreling with, as it was quite nice for a bed-and-breakfast, with serious linens and an enormous bathroom.
It’s slightly awkward to stay on Douglas Island since one has to take a taxi to get into Juneau, but we ate dinner right on the island at the aptly named Island Pub (homemade pizzas and some decent wine) and walked back to our bed-and-breakfast. It was still light at 10 pm, when the photo above was taken – because after all, this was Alaska in the summertime. So ended the first, and very long, day of our trip.