Our Alaskan Cruise

Our next port of call was Juneau, the state capital. Oddly enough, Juneau is only accessible by boat or plane, there are no roadways coming in our out of it due to its location. The Borough of Juneau itself is the size of Delaware and Rhode Island put together, but is surrounded primarily by ice fields and mountains. Residents of Alaska have petitioned multiple times to have the capital moved, but as a new location could never be agreed upon, the government remains there.

Our travel agent arranged for one excursion compliments of her agency while we were on our cruise. The “Mendenhall Glacier & Alaskan Salmon Bake” was not an excursion we would have booked for ourselves as it sounded pretty tame, but we were both so grateful to get to experience both.

“Travel through Juneau’s picturesque downtown to the mighty Mendenhall Glacier, a moving river of ice with rugged crevasses. Stroll the many walkways or enjoy some time at the Visitor Center, then you’ll board your motor coach for your tour to the traditional Alaskan salmon bake at Salmon Creek. An Alaskan feast, this salmon bake features Alaskan-caught wild salmon grilled over an open alder wood fire. Also enjoy Cheechako baked chicken, Bonanza barbecued ribs; Chilkoot baked beans, wild-rice pilaf, a variety of fresh salads, corn bread and lemonade, coffee or tea. (Beer and wine are available for an additional charge.) Dine beside Salmon Creek in Southeast Alaska’s rain forest and listen to a local musician–a translucent roof protects you rain or shine. After dining, toast marshmallows over a crackling campfire and walk to view the beautiful Salmon Creek waterfall. Remnants of the historic Wagner Mine are evident here. Return to the ship by shuttle bus.”

The bus trip through town to Mendenhall Valley was about fifteen minutes and again our route was narrated by the driver. We arrived at the glacier and were immediately in awe. From the bus itself we could already see the vivid blue color of the ice. Glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum except blue, which it transmits. You have to see it to truly grasp the crisp clarity and beauty of the ice.

We did quite a bit of quick hiking around Mendenhall. Detoured by a sign warning us of bears in the area, the ground littered with half eaten salmon, we never quite made it to Nugget Falls. We did witness the salmon frantically swimming up stream in the river surrounding the Visitors Center however, so bizarre. We were also able to video some calving of the glacier while we were there.

We left Mendenhall in the same tour bus and soon found ourselves at the Salmon Bake. Wow… mmmm… The description of the menu above does do it justice and we couldn’t get enough to eat. We may have been joined by 100 other tourists, but really there was plenty to eat, the folk band was very entertaining and the hiking trails were beautiful.

We found ourselves alone by the abandoned mine and were able to forget that we were with a large tour group. After being awarded the ceremonial Salmon Bake baseball hat and herded back on the bus, we were on our way back to downtown Juneau for the part of the trip Ryan was most looking forward to; a glacier landing via helicopter.

My husband and I are travelers by nature. Not ones who like to follow the beaten path, but we like to set our own goals and timelines. We would never have guessed our travel plans could ever include a trip on a cruise line, but after several months of researching our desires, our financial limits and our time constraints through work, we determined a cruise would be the best way to experience Alaska.

We were interested in the culture of Alaska current, the history of the people, but mostly the sites and sounds of Alaska’s frontier. We both enjoy our visits to warm beaches, don’t misunderstand, but something about seeing a new great mountain range, calving glaciers, rainforests in the northern hemisphere, peaceful fiords really had us excited. We also couldn’t wait to try the fresh ocean-side cuisine. Alaska isn’t an easy land to travel via car. Getting to many cities can only be accomplished via boat or plane. We wanted to best orientate ourselves along but knew without an unlimited budget and over a month of time, we would never see everything on our list.

Once we started getting serious about our plans, we contacted a travel agent who had helped us with a few trips in the past, including our unbelievable honeymoon to South Africa Our travel agent works with executive clients out of Manhattan, helping to plan their dream vacations. She and her husband travel frequently themselves and we knew they would be best suited to help us put our ideal cruise together.

She suggested a few lines based on our desire to find a line without the masses of people or preplanned itineraries. We wanted to come and go as we pleased, eat what we pleased and enjoy a few quiet nights on the deck of the ship. We ultimately selected Holland America Lines and were very pleased with the results, as you’ll learn through the continuation of this blog. We also scheduled several on-shore excursions through the cruise line and ended our journey with two days on our own in Denali.