I spent my early childhood growing up in Juneau so it was special to return once again for a visit. The sailin up the channel was especially interesting as there was a genuine iceberg quite a ways from any glacier.
We arrived about 1/2 hour early and the departure went very smooth. The plan for the day was to meet up with some new friends (Mike & Pam) we met online on Cruise Critic and do a hike starting from the top of the Mt. Roberts tram. But first, we walked to our family's home out next to the Evergreen Cemetery. While it doesn't have the same exterior as when we left in 1953, it was readily recognizable. I have many good memories from that house including sledding down the hill, fishing in Gold Creek, walking to town past the Governor's mansion, becoming left handed after a fall onto some garbage cans broke my right collarbone, some loving landlords, and many more.
We made our way back to the port area and purchased Pilipino grilled pork sandwiches from a street vendor. They were quite good. Along the way we purchased tram tickets at a $2 discount ($31 each) from a vendor in a local hotel. This saved us waiting in line plus the discount.
At the tram entrance we met up with Pam and Mike and headed out on our hike which was steep in places but quite lovely. The clouds lifted which made for great sightseeing. We made it up past the large cross and enjoyed many vistas. We tried looking for bears and mountain goats, but didn't spot any. There was a scenic bald eagle in a tree near the upper tram station.
Back down in town, we wanted to eat king crab at the Crab Shack, but there was a long line and one leg was $22.95. So we had a terrific crab tostada appetizer at a Mexican Retaurant. We walked around a bit more and did some shopping before returning to the ship at 7pm which was well before the mandatory onboard time of 8:30pm.
Salmon was the main dinner item in the Lido, and it was good. I should comment that the food service lines are really slow and there are only two main course stations in addition to the pasta and 2 salad bar stations and two ice cream stations. Typically there are 20 people lined up for each of the stations at all meal times. It's also slow to get a server to provide water or iced tea or lemonade. But as I've said earlier, I do love the ambiance.
After dinner we watched part of the string quintet play classical music at the Lincoln Center stage . They were quite good and we'll return. The Main Stage entertainment was a very funny comedienne from Seattle, David Crowe .Afterwards we stayed for the Philipino crew show, and it was quite good once again.
I enjoyed a late BBQ chicken snack in the Lido and we checked out whether we could see the Northern Lights ( we couldn't due to the cloud cover). And so ended Day 3. The Hubbard Glacier is tomorrow along with scenic cruising.
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