The ship docked in Juneau in the early morning.  We were surprised to learn that we would be leaving port  by mid afternoon.  We bit the bullet and set the alarm for 6:30am so we’d have time to squeeze everything in. 

The main attraction in town is the Mendenhall Glacier.  There’s an express bus from the cruise terminal to the glacier, but it doesn’t start until later in the morning.  We take the city bus instead.  It’s longer, cheaper, and let us off about one mile from the visitor center.  As we’re walking towards the visitor center, the express bus passes us.   Oh well, at least we’ve been moving and got a tour of Juneau.  On the walk, an older guy walked with us and told us about his journeys to all the counties in the U.S. and how he has less than twenty to go.

From the visitor center, we can see the Mendenhall Glacier.  It’s neat and there are icebergs floating around in the water in front of the glacier.  We don’t see it calve like we did in Glacier Bay, but it was neat anyway.  With limited time, we go on the 3.5 mile loop trail.  This doesn’t get us on the glacier, but we have some views, get some exercise, and hunt for bears (didn’t see any)

We’re back at the visitor center around noon and catch the express bus back to town.  Since we do have to rush, we just get a snack at McDonald’s (man, their fries are good) and then press on to the sights of Juneau. 

Juneau is the state capital.  We see various government buildings- the capitol, governor’s mansion (former home of Sarah Palin), and the Assembly.  We also walk to the old octagonal shaped Russian Orthodox church.  All of these sights are unspectacular.  The city hall building, like many buildings. are drab and uninteresting.   Alaska is not memorable for its architecture.

Our time is running out so we get back on the ship before the mid-afternoon departure.   After showers and naps, we get dressed for the final formal night on the ship.  Dinner is good and we swing by to hear our favorite onboard crooner.  After a few songs, some of which we’ve already heard, we retire to our stateroom.
 

I also need to mention that L’ lived up to her other nickname (trouble) at dinner.  She reminded our waiters that my birthday was approaching.  To honor the occasion, they returned to sing me a song  and to sing both of us a song to celebrate our honeymoon.  It was, uh, cute.