Juneau, Alaska
First bear sighting at the Juneau International Airport.
Why we were there: I went to spend time with my niece and nephew!
When we were there: August 2025
Where did we go:
This trip was just me this time. I went to visit my nephew, Ben, who had a seasonal job leading canoe and hiking tours up to the Mendenhall Glacier. My niece, Emily, who is a cruise line Production Manager stationed in Miami came with and the three of us had a fantastic week! After a very long day of traveling Emily and I emerged from the airport and felt we were transported to another country or land. Huge snow topped mountains, majestic skies - almost surreal in their scope. Breathtaking.
Juneau is more of a hippie town than realized. The little stores, victorian houses, mountains and nature - even the local health food store reminded a little of my home town near Woodstock, NY. The landscape was all about the stair cases. Roads on the maps we actually narrow staircases that cut through peoples backyards - very European in that sense. Though it rains 90% of the time (Juneau is a temperate rain forest located in the Tongass National Forest - the largest national forest in the United States) the weather was beautiful while we were there the last week of August. In fact, coming from Houston, I was hoping for a like more chilly, frankly.
We stayed at the oldest, and cheapest, hotel in Juneau - The Alaskan Hotel. Established in 1913, this hotel was built during the Alaska Gold Rush and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located smack in the middle of the Downtown Historic District and has a storied past, including serving as a speakeasy and a brothel - it was once shut down and even condemned. As I mentioned it is the cheapest place we found to stay in Juneau, not including the Hostel, and there are some quirks because of that. Lots of stairs, no elevators. I see this being a problem for many people. Dated accommodations - this is a historic hotel and the furniture and finishes are not up to date (i.e. shag rug from the early1980s) But lots of character and rumors of hauntings made our stay great. #wedidnotseeaghost
Liquid Alaksa is the company that my nephew works for. He is a Canoe and hiking guide on the Mendenhall Glacier. His tour was fantastic! They are not affiliated with the cruise lines (Juneau has about 3 to 7 cruise ship docks at any given time) so it is a little off the beaten path as far as tours go. We canoes about 5 miles to and from the glacier and then hiked about a mile in the desolation zone, which has been uncovered in recent years by melting ice. There we found remnants of an ancient rain forest and rocks with sparkles of garnets and amethysts. Stunning views of the blue ice glaciers are known for, and I learned about “berger bites”, which are little pieces of glaciers that break off and float in the lake - not quite big enough to be an ice berg.
Alaska Tales ran a whale watching tour that we were lucky to catch one morning. A few hours of spotting whale tails and blow spouts, running from side to side on the boat. We saw about 5 different Humpback whales. They are identified by markings on their tail fins.
Royal Caribbean Cruiser Private Tour: Due to my niece’s job working at Royal Caribbean as Production Manager in the home office, we were able to get on board a docked ship and wander around with some friendly staff while the cruisers were in port. This is the way I like to see a cruise ship, when it is empty and I can marvel at its bigness. It was fun and fantastic. The artwork and food on this boat were amazing. My niece and nephew took good care of me on this trip with all their connections in the vacation industry!
Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc. is a salmon hatchery in Juneau. We scored an insiders tour and got to learn about the behaviour and life cycle of salmon. Then we were able to see how scientists “tag” salmon in their ear drums (crazy process!) so they can date them when they come back home to the hatchery to lay eggs and pass on.
The House of Wickersham, also known as the Wickersham State Historic Site, is a historic house that was the home of Alaska's Pioneer Judge, James Wickersham. Built in 1898 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there is a very modest first floor only visit you can do at the house. I have always loved house tours, so it is natural I went there. The walk to get there was up through the backyard staircases I mentioned earlier and the view from the house was phenomenal!
Sealaksa: This is what google says about Sealaska. We visited the retail store, that sells works by native peoples and the exhibits that features stunning works by Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian artists: Sealaska is the Alaska Native regional corporation for Southeast Alaska, representing the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. Established in 1972 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), this for-profit corporation generates profits for its more than 25,000 shareholders through various businesses, provides dividends, and invests in cultural and educational initiatives to benefit its people and communities. Sealaska also owns Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI), a non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures, languages, and arts.
The Pottery Jungle: is a wonderful pottery shop and plant shop. The owner runs a pottery studio with classes and has a plant services. A wonderful shop/studio with little dinosaurs everywhere!
The Road: Glacier Highway runs the length of Juneau. We took the road to its end and were met with locked gates and bullet casings. Apparently it is private property, so we turned around. On the way home, we went slow and were treated to a black bear sighting. We were not able to photograph them but they were pretty cute as they desperately ran across the road to get away from us.
Rock Beaches: Lena Beach in Juneau and False Outer Point Beach in Douglas Island these are great rock beaches. If we had more time I am sure that list would be a lot longer. I shipped 20 pounds of pebbles back to myself, always use the USPS one-rate mail when shipping rocks - there is a 70 pound max weight.
Eateries we ate lots at:
Tracy’s Crab Shack: All you can eat Dungie Crab Legs during the season!
Deck Hand Dave’s: Halibut Tacos and drinks!
The Sandbar: The best halibut fish and chips in town.
Amalga Distillery: Gin distillery that uses juniper and spruce tips to brew divine gin.
Things to do when we return
If I had at least one more day on Douglas Island I would spend it hunting rocks on more of the beaches and touring the Treadwell gold mine. Composed of four sub-sites, Treadwell was in its time the largest hard rock gold mine in the world, employing over 2,000 people and extracting over 3 million troy ounces of gold. Not much remains today except for a few crumbling buildings and they have self guided walking tours to visit the ruins. The ghost mines. Also right near Lena Beach there is a church National Shrine of St. Thérèse. Made of thousand of stones, it is a beautiful building with a Labyrinth to boot.
Snapshots:
