Alaska Day Three--Juneau

Gunnalcheesh ~ “Thank you” in Tlingit 

Monday, Sept. 18th

After a night rolling on open ocean swells, we woke to calmer waters as the Eurodam turned inside to thread the needle through a wicket of boundary islands and headed for Alaska’s capital city. Juneau is one of only four US capitals not served by an interstate highway. (For you trivia lovers out there, see if you can name the others in the comments section!)

After breakfast in the MDR, (I had the Asian breakfast again!) we all went our separate ways. Mike and Joy took a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier where they did some hiking. Mike saw a bear and Joy got turned around on the trail once, but they both came back in the same configuration in which they left! The DH and I hoofed it over to the Mt. Roberts tram and rode it to the top. It was rainy and a bit foggy, in other words, perfect Alaska weather. The whole port was quickly swallowed up by the mist, but we were thrilled with up close and personal views of towering Sitka pines, hemlocks fringed with lichen, and stately alder trees as we rose up the steep face of the mountain.

My DH, God bless the man, took Herkimer on his back under his rain gear, which meant he had me on a 7 ft. tether (the length my O2 cannula will reach) but that’s okay. We like sticking together and he doesn’t even mind when I lovingly refer to him as my “sherpa.”
Once we reached the visitors’ center at the top of the mountain, we were treated to a talk and dance demonstration by a couple of members of the Tlingit (pronounced like “Clinket”) nation. It is a matrilinear society which means a person’s ancestry is figured through their mother’s bloodline and everyone belongs to either the Eagle or Raven moieties—something I’ll be blogging more about tomorrow.

Then the Alaskan String Band performed. I’m normally not a fan of country music, but this was authentic in a way you don’t often find coming out of Nashville. The band, which we were told was missing a few members, consisted of Dad (on guitar), Daughter (on banjo), Daughter-in-law (playing mandolin & penny whistle flute) and Son (on String Bass). The vocals (something I’m pretty picky about since I majored in vocal music) were haunting and ethereal. I was seriously impressed, which anyone who knows me would tell you, is really saying something.

From there, we visited Lady Liberty, a bald eagle who’d been shot. She lost the sight in one eye and the use of a wing, so there’s no returning her to the wild. However, she looked perfectly happy on her perch and her lifespan will likely top 40 years, much longer than birds in the wild.


Speaking of spans, we were able to measure the DH’s wingspan. Turns out, he could pass for a Canada goose!   

A native artisan was carving a totem pole inside the gift shop. When Christian missionaries first came to Alaska, they misunderstood the purposed of totem poles and thought the Tlingit were worshiping them. They are actually a record of one’s ancestors and important events in the life of the village. In the intolerant spirit that still lives on in sects like the Taliban who destroyed those ancient Buddhas, the first missionaries burned the poles to ashes. I was glad to see the art of the Tlingit being preserved through this modern day artist.


Doesn’t the expression on this totem’s face remind you of someone in a dental chair?

After our time out in the brisk and soggy Juneau weather, we headed back to the Eurodam for lunch, and then to our go-to activity when we want to relax and unwind—the Thermal Suite. A day on a cruise just isn’t complete unless the DH gets his nap on one of those heated stone loungers. Alas, the Pacific Princess—the ship we’ll board for our World Cruise next January—is not equipped with them.

By then it was time for supper in the MDR. I had soft shell crabs for an appetizer, something I might not do again. It sort of resembled a deep fried spider on my plate, but it tasted okay.

After supper, the DH and I made the mistake of returning to our cabin to brush our teeth before the show (a Latin Dance troop!). We’d even intended to stay up for 11:30 Indonesian Crew show. But a little known force we like to call cabin gravity grabbed us and when the DH started saying “Would it be terrible if…”

“…we got in to our jammies and called it a day?” I finished for him. 

He smiled in gratitude.

The man and I are so bonded. Anybody else might be annoyed by our preference for quiet and solitude, but we’re perfectly happy with it. We’ve learned that sometimes you can run yourself ragged trying to do everything on a cruise. It’s okay to do nothing.

Really.

I highly recommend it.   

~~~

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