Anchorage & Juneau

Previous: Backroads Hiking Trip (Talkeetna to Girdwood to Chugach)

Anchorage

July 5

Upon arriving in downtown Anchorage via the Backroads van we said goodbye to John, Anne, Charlie, Julia, Deborah, Scott #1, Jodi, Scott #2, Jack, Lea, and trip leader Alex.
From the drop-off point we needed to walk just one block to get to our B&B, the Copper Whale Inn,  which itself was just one block from Cook Inlet.

It was too early to check-in so we dropped our luggage and proceeded to explore downtown Anchorage. The B&B owner gave us a map with suggested places to check out. Anchorage is a very walkable downtown with an easy grid layout. We headed to the Anchorage Museum about seven blocks away. Along the way, I got a truly awesome iced mocha at Midnight Sun Café. This was easily one of the best iced mochas I ever had. Then on to the Anchorage Museum which was another block from the café. Anchorage is definitely more substantial and thriving than Fairbanks, with lots of restaurants, cafes, shops and people. But as with Fairbanks, there are a lot of wandering, destitute looking locals, though harmless. Just unfortunate to see. Downtown was beautifully decorated with some of the most unusual and colorful array of flowers. It was very impressive.

As with the Museum of the North in Fairbanks, the Anchorage Museum is an excellent museum with great collections of old and ancient fossils and artifacts. The displays and rooms are very professionally arranged. Top-notch museums…both of them.

After about 1.5 hours the B&B host texted me that our room was ready for us. So, we headed back to the room to check-in and settle.

The room, and B&B were adequate but nothing special, except that it was in a great location for discovering Anchorage and walking along the inlet.
We took a short nap until 6:00 p.m. when the laundry facilities became available to us. We threw a load in and went to Eldeberry Park, which is next door to the B&B for a stroll along the bike/walking path by the inlet. There were mud flats for about a hundred yards out. We could see mountains across the inlet. We didn’t walk for too long. Then we got back to the B&B and put a second load of laundry in, then went out for dinner. We ate at Crush Wine and Bistro. It was funny because usually after days of hiking we look forward to a nice, fancy meal, but after a week of hiking with Backroads we were looking forward to a dinner of comfort food! The dinners with Backroads were all quite nice: lamb chops, ribeye steak, duck, etc. I ordered mac and cheese at Crush Wine and Bistro on this night. After a decent dinner we went to the bar at the top of the Captain Cook Hotel for a nightcap with a view. We ran into John from our Backroads group, and he joined us. Then back to the B&B where we finished the night with a walk to the inlet. We got a beautiful almost-sunset over the inlet. We sat on a bench in the small park next to the B&B and enjoyed the colors and what we believe was the “golden glow”, which is when there appears to be a volcano shaped upward glow rising from the low sun. Very cool.

Off to bed at 11:00 p.m.

Juneau

July 6

Once at the Juneau airport at around 12:30 p.m. we needed to make our way to the hotel downtown. At the information desk there was a woman speaking to the man at the desk about cabs to the same hotel as we were staying. I offered that we could share the cab and the expense, so we shared the cab ride to the Westmark Baranof Hotel in downtown Juneau. It was just a $10 cab fare for us due to sharing, plus tip. The airport is about 15minutes away. It was 1:15 p.m., and check-in was 3:00 p.m. so we dumped our luggage and tooled around town. But first, asked the front desk about the package containing our boots and a few other things needed for the cruise that we mailed from Michigan the week before we left for Alaska. It was there in the luggage storage room.

The hotel is centrally located downtown Juneau, but town is small, so all hotels downtown are centrally located. We had a map and headed first to the state capitol building, which is an old, unimpressive building with 4 marble pillars in front. The marble is from Alaska. We went in for a self-guided tour. Nothing overly impressive or noteworthy but it is a nifty old building with some cool history to see and read throughout. Then we headed toward the prime part of downtown, which is shared by kitschy shops for the luxury cruise ships that dock right there at the wharf, and local stores and pubs.

The town buzzes with tourist activity, including the sights and sounds of floatplanes landing and taking off, and tour outfits everywhere including in booths on the dock. There was only one cruise ship in town so it was not too busy. Juneau was the most active and lively of the 3 main cities we visited, due largely to the bustling cruise business.

We had lunch at Heritage Cafe downtown.  At first we didn’t realize there were several Heritage Cafes around town.  It appeared unique and eclectic, and so it drew us in.  The food and coffee drinks were excellent, as was the cozy seating and lively local atmosphere.  We then tried checking into our room at 3:00 p.m., but again the room was not ready. When I asked when it would be ready, the surly, dour young woman at the front desk said she didn’t know and she was waiting to hear from housekeeping. I reminded her that it was 3:00, check-in time, but she ignored me, turned her back to me and went to the back office. Far from the level of service one expects from a $250 per night hotel. After my standing there for about a minute waiting for her to come back, the other woman at the front desk told me that that check-in only BEGINS at 3:00 and they were dependent on housekeeping for when rooms are ready.  Disgusted, we just left to continue exploring the town, though we really did need to rest a bit after the morning travel. We walked the Sea Walk, a 1/2-mile walkway along the Gastineau Strait (the body of water abutting Juneau). This was easy to walk to and easy to walk along. We saw a few bald eagles on the walk. The Sea Walk ends at a very impressive life-sized fountain statue of a whale. This was worth the short walk. The fountain statue commemorates the 50th anniversary of Alaskan statehood, and it simulates the breaching of a whale, water spouting and flowing all over it in intervals.

We got back to the hotel around 5:00 pm., and behold, our room was ready. We got a 15% discount voucher for dinner at the hotel restaurant for the inconvenience. Although the guy who checked us in was professional with us, there was no warmth from anybody so far at this place. I think they all need a career change….out of hospitality. Of course, now, the premium room we paid for on the top floor was not facing the water, and our “mountain view” consisted of the ell of the hotel (meaning other rooms looked into ours), a parking lot, a power generator, and some old houses and trees on the hillside. We were just too tired to complain and get another room, and we really had no desire to interact with anybody at the front desk.

After relaxing a bit in the room, we headed for dinner. We ended up eating Russian dumplings at Pel’ Meni, a counter service “restaurant” on the wharf that serves ONLY Russian dumplings with a hot sauce and butter, and in Styrofoam containers. You help yourself to sour cream in containers in the soda fridge near the shelf of LP records. So, of course, the food was terrific (though I liked it a lot more than Emilie did). Ironically, we saw the flight attendants from our flight to Juneau there. After eating and walking around town a bit, we waited up for Em’s mom and sister, whose plane was scheduled to arrive in Juneau around 9:30 p.m. They were taking the Uncruise with us the day after next.

When they arrived, Em went out for a drink with her sister while I went to bed. We have a big day ahead as Em and I go on a bear watching excursion.

 

Next: Juneau Excursions (Bear Viewing & Glacier Trekking)