Alaskan cruise: Day 3

On day 3 we arrived in Juneau, Alaska.   Because of the previous day's waves and bad weather the captain had altered the ship's course and our arrival time was estimated to be around 2 pm instead of noon.  However, overnight the captain put a little extra power to the ship's engines and we arrived on time to the relief of the people booked on excursions between noon and 2 pm.

If only the weather cooperated.  The sky was overcast and threatened rain.

Juneau harbor

Once we were in Juneau people could get cell phone service.  Here Tammy is too busy checking her phone to pose with Dan.  Doesn't she look cute in her hat?

The main excursion I wanted to do in Juneau was to take the tram to the top of Mt Roberts.  We decided to do some shopping first in hopes the weather would improve.  The opposite happened: it began to rain lightly.  Even when the rain quit later that afternoon it was wet and the sky very overcast.  So we skipped going up on the tram.  That makes two visits to Juneau via cruise ship for me and both times rain ruined my chance to take the tram.

Tammy and I did buy some fleece-lined rain coats for $20 each.  They came in handy the rest of our trip.


The Red Dog Saloon is a top tourist attraction.  However, with five cruise ships in town there was always a line of people waiting to get inside.  So we didn't go inside.  The saloon had two merchandize shops on each side of the saloon to get Red Dog souvenirs.  Having not gone inside the saloon we skipped buying any souvenirs.

Juneau is not a very level city.  Here is an example of the way to get up to the next street.  We have now moved away from the main shopping area and to the left of the photo were some down-and-out people loitering.   After I took this photo one spacy woman got upset thinking I was taking her photo.

I like "totem pole" art.  One shop was crammed with wonderful pieces.

This small St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox church is from 1894.  It wasn't open when we visited.

Whenever I go to Glacier Park I see a vehicle with a Minnesota license plate. Minnesotans are everywhere.  This car was parked in front of the church.

I had traveled through Juneau in 1980 on my bicycle. For the three or four days I spent in Juneau I camped at this park.  In 1980 this was just a grassy empty lot.  The city has made it a 'park' since then having developed it and getting rid of most of the grass.

In 1980, in the evening, a man would play violin in this house across from the 'park'.  He would sit by the window on the right on the first floor.  It was nice.

One of the small shops.

This Holland America cruise ship was suppose to visit Sitka, Alaska.  However due to the rough seas they altered their course and came to Juneau inside.  This made five cruise ships in the Juneau harbor.  As the fifth ship their passengers had to be tendered between ship and shore.