Continued from Juneau Part 1 (Mendenhall Glacier)
After our Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour excursion during our Alaskan cruise on Ruby Princess last summer, we had the rest of the day in Juneau on our own. Across the street from where our ship was docked is Mount Roberts Tramway, an aerial cable tram that takes passengers to an 1,800 ft overlook. So up we went! Despite the rain, we had a perfect view of the port and city of Juneau.
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After our tram ride, we walked into downtown Juneau to Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot, a store where we could buy souvenirs and arrange for a shuttle to the brewery 6 miles north of town. We were planning to take a taxi to the brewery, but this worked out even better since it was a brewery shuttle with round trip service.
We had a short guided tour of the brewery including a brief explanation of their history and beer production process. We tasted four beers during the tour: Alaskan Amber, Alaskan White, Alaskan Icy Bay IPA, and Alaskan Smoked Porter.
As if that wasn’t enough, we were able to taste even more beers, which was more than I could possibly ingest (but Jerome gave it a hell of a try). I did a bit more shopping while we waited for the shuttle to take us back to town.
Back in town with plenty of time to kill, we hunted down a nice place to eat and have a glass of wine (me, duh) and we found Salt. My kind of place!
We tried some bistro favorites like beets and brussel sprouts, and tried some local bites like salmon cakes. Everything was divine!
Back at the dock, we walked around a bit before returning to our ship. We spotted some bald eagles, so many in fact, that it was commonplace that they were just hanging out all over the area.
We also became acquainted with and paid tribute to Patsy Ann, the “Official Greeter of Juneau, Alaska” whose touching story was written on a display nearby her bronze statue. Patsy Ann unofficially greeted ships coming into port from 1929 to until her death in 1942. In 1992, 50 years after her death, she was sculpted by a New Mexican artist and included hair clippings from dogs all over the world in the bronze casting, symbolizing a united spirit of dogs everywhere. You can read her full story here and here.
Being a dog lover myself and missing my fur kiddos tremendously (every time we travel), I gave Patsy Ann a chin scratch and a kiss on her snoot. If you’re ever in Juneau, give Patsy Ann a boop from the rest of us.
Up next: Ketchikan
In some of the photos above, you might notice me wearing a trench coat. That’s my travel cold/chilly/wet weather staple, SCOTTeVEST Women’s Trench Coat – 18 Pockets – Travel Clothing BLK M, that I always take abroad. My trench(es) have been all over the United States, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. I have it in black, mist (light grey), and my mother has it in sage. We LOVE them. For more information on these trench coats, visit SCOTTeVest’s website.