Cruising Alaska ~ Juneau: September 13, 2016



We arrived in Juneau, our first port, after two days at sea.  I think I was expecting a larger city, since it is the capital of Alaska.  I remember Anchorage as having much more of a city feel, and Juneau is a small town.  

The main street has colorful, quaint buildings that house shops definitely geared to the cruise ship crowd.  We met several young people who live in Seattle, but come north to Juneau for the cruise ship season to work in the shops.  Shopkeepers say that they could not keep their businesses open without bringing in help from the lower 48.



We signed up to take the Mount Roberts tram, which was a great way to get an aerial view of the area.   The Mount Roberts Tramway opened in 1996 and has cars that climb about 1800 feet from the cruise ship dock.  It passes through a rain forest up to the Mountain House where we had awesome views of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel.  

We saw several pairs of eagles along the way.  What amazing and majestic birds they are!  We talked with a number of folks who live in the area, and for them seeing bald eagles "up close" is a normal occurrence.

Later in the afternoon, Jeff went for a saunter through town, while I rested my aching knees and plantar fasciitis.  As I sat, Kindle in hand, an eagle swooped down right over my head.  I barely had time to get out my phone, but I aimed and pointed and captured this lucky shot as he flew off again.  Just magnificent!  I highlight of the trip for me so far.  I could hear the sound of the wind against his wings as he flew just barely above my head, and I felt as though I could have reached up and touched him - he was that close!  






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