Juneau

Whelp, I made a mistake this morning. Dad said we needed to be up by 7 to eat breakfast so we could get on shore. So I got up at 6:45....or what my phone said was 6:45 (really it was 5:45). Oops!

So we got breakfast at the Horizon buffet before heading into town.  When we got off the boat we hiked along the highway to another dock to get our rental car.  Once we got our rental car we headed to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We could not go up to the glacier, but I took many pictures.  There was also an amazing waterfall. You could walk out on the sandy beach below it and get really close to it. You could see the strong power of it.

We then went to a Shrine for St. Therese because we were told there was great whale watching happening there. Unfortunately we didn't see a whale. They had a nice trail up to the chapel.  The main purpose of the shrine is as a retreat house, so they had a chapel up at the top. It was a beautiful stone chapel.

After that we headed to the salmon hatchery.  It was very interesting. There were THOUSANDS of salmons. We found it interesting that after the salmons make their way up the salmon ladder, they cannot be used for food. They rot from the inside out so they cannot be eaten.  The ladder is approximately 450 feet and the salmon need to swim upstream it. As they go it prepares their bodies for spawning. It can take hours to weeks for the fish to reach the top. Once they reach the top they are sorted by what kind they are.  Then their eggs or milk are harvested and used.

We grabbed a quick lunch at Red Dog Saloon. They had sawdust floors! The food was good. Drew had the reindeer sausage pizza and Thom and I shared a delicious barbeque beef sandwich.

Thom and I are now at a coffee shop using their wifi. We don't have internet, so I'm sorry for all the late posts.  The internet isn't strong enough for the pictures to load so hopefully I'll find a stronger connection in Skagway.  We are all having fun! More to come later!

Update: After the coffee shop we were able to walk around the town of Juneau. We are doing a little scavenger hunt thing at each of the ports because if we answer all the questions right, we are able to put our name in for a drawing back on the cruise ship for an Alaskan themed treasure trove.

Drew went for a looong run on the port. Approximately 11 miles he said.  Then we headed to the hot tub before dinner. For last night's dinner we went to Sabatini's, an Italian restaurant on the ship.  For appetizers they brought amazing bread with olive oil and vinegar, proscuitto with a foccia (spelling is wrong) bread, and olives.  Then we could order our own appetizers. Drew got a tomato soup with seafood, Dad got calamari, Mom got a salad, and Thom and I got the chef's pasta. The chef's pasta was spaghetti with calamari, shrimp, oysters, and mussels.  Very delicious.  For dinner, Dad, Drew and I got lobster 3 ways, Thom got the veal, and Mom got a steak. Again, all were wonderful. For dessert, we got an espresso creme brulee, an almond, hazelnut, piscaccio creme dessert, and a white chocolate mousse.

After dinner we were exhausted so Mom and Dad went to bed. Thom, Drew, and I went to the Explorer's lounge to watch the band Solutions. They were having a 50s and 60s dance party.  Then I went to bed.  Thom and Drew met up with some new friends that they have made on the boat.  On to Skagway!