Juneau, Sitka, Day at Sea

Juneau, the (now) capital of Alaska is name for Joe Juneau and Richard Harris who were searching for gold in the 1880’s. They used Native Indian guides and climbed numerous mountains (Which are now named after them) and finally found nuggets “as large as beans”. Out of their discovery, the three largest gold minds of the world were created. Since then, the minds have closed and the gold was replaced by the business of government.

It was a cold, windy rainy day, but that didn’t stop Josh and Scott from taking a 9 mile bike trek to the Mendenhall Glacier. The ride was tough at times, but the views of Auke Bay, The University of Alaska, and Mendenhall Glacier were well worth the effort. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we were also rewarded with a tasting and tour of the Alaskan Brewery, Alaska’s most prominent distributor of beer.

Unfortunately, for Stacy and Bobby, the tour they wanted to take was cancelled at the last minute. They spent the day together enjoying the capital, scenery, and checking out artwork from local artists. There were four ships in port so they were very busy with a lot to see, do, and explore.

Sitka or “people on the outside of sea” translated from the Tingit Indian language was the original capital of Alaska until 1906. Sitka is located on the Baranof Island and is on the outer coast of Alaska’s inside passage. Sitka was originally occupied by the Tingit Indians for centuries until the Russians arrived in 1799. Once the Russians arrived, the Tingit Indians were forced into slavery to help monopolize the fur trade industry and allegiance to the Tzar. In 1802 the Tingit Indians attacked the Russian Outpost and killed nearly all the Russians. Their brief victory ended three years later when Russian explorer Alexander Baranof retaliated with warships and fought an intense six day battle that overtook the Tingit settlement creating a Russian Capital in North America. In 1867, the Russian flag was replaced by Stars and Stripes after the purchase of Alaska was completed.

Today was an exciting day for all of us. We split up in the morning for two different tours and met up in town for some Alaskan Crab Legs. Stacy and Bob went on an exciting hike to explore the rainforest with hopes of capturing more wonders of nature. It is one thing to look at these forest and glaciers from afar on the ship, but when you get the chance to see the wildlife up close and take a hike deep within the forest, it is a whole different experience.

The tour that Josh and Scott took involved snorkeling in the water! That’s right folks, we went snorkeling in Alaska. I’m not sure what we were thinking when we signed up for this tour, especially after the wet bike ride, but four others from the ship decided to do the same. It all started with us signing the infamous waiver incase of unexpected injury or death during the tour. After that, we were fitted into these one piece pajamas looking things and then we were fitted into dry suits, face masks and gloves. We looked like ninja ghost busters! After the dressing process, we were taken to a beautiful cove to snorkel. It was amazing, because it was low tide and we lucked out with a very nice sunny day. As you walked down to the water, you were able to see starfish or sea stars, and some small crabs. Once in the water, we were in a different world. You quickly forgot about the cold glacier water on you lips because you were seeing a vast array of colors while noticing little crabs, fish, coral, sea cucumbers and jelly fish. It was amazing to see so many different colors in such a cold climate. What another great experience in Alaska. Oh, and I almost forgot, we all ate Salmon Berries fresh off the plant! Yummy!

Today was our last full day at sea. All of us slept late, but it did not feel like it because we lost an hour overnight due to a time zone change. We had very little time to waste, we had to eat, go to trivia, play scategories, take a tour of the galley, play jackpot bingo, eat, enter the Sudoku competition, go to arts and crafts class, take a back stage tour of the stage, eat, free champagne art auction, eat, put on our formal wear, captains farewell party, eat dinner, go to an evening show, champagne waterfall, dance, casino and eat. What a full day of fun and excitement. Stacy won trivia, Scott won scategories and Josh, beat out some old folks in Sudoku.