We woke up this morning to the good news that we had arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. Over the years there have been rumblings to move the capital to Fairbanks as well as moves to build a new capital at least 30 miles (48 km) from Anchorage and Fairbanks, to prevent either city from having undue influence. In the 1970s, voters passed a plan to move the capital to Willow, a town 70 miles (110 km) north of Anchorage, but the voters also approved a measure requiring voter approval of construction costs before building could begin. Alaskans later voted against spending the estimated $900 million. A 1984 “ultimate” capital-move vote also failed, as did a 1996 vote, so Juneau remains the capital.
It was touch and go whether we would even be able get into port here as the weather turned bad again. With an expected high temperature of 9 degrees and a howling wind, our flight over the Mendenhall Glacier was of course cancelled. Although disappointing, it gave us a chance to take a more leisurely approach to exploring the town of Juneau.
The ship docks right in town and like most of the towns we’ve visited there are many jewelry, fur and souvenir shops. Juneau has a few galleries of local and indigenous artists, so we took some time to look some of these. There are also a couple of iconic buildings – the Red Dog Saloon and Tracy’s Crab shack.
After a good wander and we went to Tracy’s Crab Shack for some early lunch before the crowds came. Some years ago, we’d been lured into watching ‘The Deadliest Catch’ by Deb’s uncle, and it did become a little addictive. The memories of Sig Hansen, Wild Bill Wichrowski, Phil Harris and Andy Hillstrand as the fishing boat captains came back to us. These guys work in some really rough conditions and the show is actually a good leadership case study. We had a couple of Red King Crab legs which was delicious. The King Crab meat is so moist and sweet and big enough not to be fiddly.
With our early departure time of 3 PM we went back to the ship for a quiet afternoon. Deb caught a snooze as she continues to recover. We met up with our new found Canadian friends and a few others, firstly for coffee and then for cocktails and trivia before we all split up for our various dinner plans.
For us, this meant we were back at Compass Rose with our favourite server Felymar. She has served us a number of meals across many of the restaurants. Tonight I had a Halibut Chowder while Deb had some Jamon Iberico for a starter. Then I had veal while Deb had ‘Jumbo Shrimp’ which was like our King Prawns. For dessert we both had Baked Alaska, which seemed appropriate… Baked Alaska in Alaska!
We are expecting a little more rough weather later, but intend to be asleep by then.
Until tomorrow!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 