Chapter 42
Local Flavor

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We had read that one of the best excursions to do solo in Juneau was to take the Mount Roberts Tramway because it was supposed to offer great views of the city from above. Unfortunately, we’d also read that it was pointless to take a ride on the tramway on overcast days because the clouds obstruct those great views. After lunch, the view of the surrounding mountains looked like this.

So we decided the tram probably wasn’t going to happen on this trip.

Instead, we started to wander around the city a little.

We stopped into the Red Dog Saloon—known as the oldest manmade tourist attraction in Juneau.

We were glad we hadn’t gone there for lunch because it seemed pretty overpriced. Still, it was awesome to take a look at the walls.

Behind the bar, they have Wyatt Earp’s gun hanging on the wall.

Apparently he stopped into the saloon on his way to Nome and checked the gun, but he never picked it up again when he left.

In high school, my friends and I started a theatre company called Turkey in the Straw Productions, so I liked seeing the sheet music for the song papering the wall.

Since the Mount Roberts Tramway had been the only other attraction on our list for Juneau, we were left with a pretty open afternoon.

We continued to walk around the city, but we soon realized that Juneau is probably the least walkable port you visit on an Alaska cruise. Even though the state’s capital isn’t accessible by car, it is still a relatively big city for Alaska (the population is a “whopping” 32,000). The network of streets is just big enough that tourists can’t really get around incredibly easily without a car, so cruisers are confined to a certain area close to the docks.

Many of the shops here were the flashy jewelry stores that have unfortunately tried to overtake many of the Alaskan ports. We had no interest in poking around stores that had next to no connection with Alaska—though we did successfully find a few small businesses with unique items for sale.

At one point, we decided to get a hot beverage, and we stumbled upon a local coffee shop called the Heritage Coffee Roasting Co.

 We ordered a latte to split, and it was really delicious.

We actually liked the coffee so much that we got a bag to take home with us.

Now we were really out of ideas for things to do with our remaining time here in Juneau. The weather was still a little iffy, and we had no idea if it would start pouring on us at any minute. There was another section of downtown that was relatively accessible, so we walked over there.

Since it was by the water, we actually had a great view of the Wonder docked a little ways away. I snapped a few pictures of our ship.

I’m proud of the framing of this selfie. Without being able to see what I was photographing, I still managed to get the Wonder in the picture behind us.

And here’s some of the surrounding water.

The tramway was teasing us, but we knew it was too expensive to splurge on when the views would be pretty dismal.

We passed this sign that told us the distances to other major cities around the world.

And I took a picture with this lovely stuffed bear.

At this point, we decided we’d gotten as much out of Juneau as we were likely to today, so we decided to head back toward the ship.

We were able to easily catch a shuttle to the dock. And before we knew it, we had made our way back to our stateroom.

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