Juneau, Alaska and the Mendenhall Glacier

Last May, our family went on a cruise to Alaska. You can read all about it here.

Our first stop of the cruise was Juneau, the Capital of Alaska. It was quite hard imagining the place we visited as the Capital, since it seemed like you could easily walk through the entire downtown.

When we woke up we were already docked.

It was the first time we saw land after 3 days and it was funny
because when we looked closely, the store said Russian Souvenirs.

We all agreed to meet up after breakfast so we could explore the place
together.

This was the view of the city from the boat before we went down.

When we got off, there was a bear to welcome us to Juneau.
I wasn't willing to buy the official photos so I pirated them.

I almost did not believe Juneau was Alaska's Capital.
It's a good thing this sign (and google) confirms it.

The stores are right in front of where the ship docks, and the whole street leading to the center of town was lined with shops as well. 

There are a lot of jewelry stores in Juneau.
Sofia in front of Sophia.

Our favorite shop was called TROVE. It had all sorts of cute knick-knacks,
not necessarily souvenirs of Alaska.

This is my first investment for my blog.
US$17 for this sign that now sits on my desk at work. 

Our other favorite store was DEL SOL, all their products change color
under the sun. They have UV light to show you how it works.

Even the Main Shopping Street is quiet. You can imagine
what it's like without the tourists from the ship.

In front of the Oosterdam. Our room is one of those
near the front.

We just walked through the town trying to get the lay of the land, and to find a place with free internet so we could all catch up on our mail or social media (but that just might be me). The Filipino crew were very helpful in pointing us to the direction of free wifi.

Photo op while walking. Husband Day Care Center at the back.

This is the clock the in the city center.
The snow capped mountains behind are beautiful.

Sofia stopped in almost every store to get her picture taken with the
animal mascot or figures.

The further away from the ship, the more interesting the shops.
We picked up some used kids books about Alaska for Fif,
and the aunts also browsed through some second hand stores.

Russian Souvenirs were everywhere.

There is quite a big Filipino community in Alaska.
We got free wifi from Lola's Cafe.
We also saw a Manila Bay Cafe and Bernadette's Filipino BBQ Stand.

We had to take a picture in front of Red Dog Saloon.
Photo Credit for the Group Picture: Sofia (thus the framing)

Sofia wanted us to ride the tram, but we opted to visit the Glacier instead.

Cruise Tip: While all the food and basic drinks are free on the ship, they make money on the extras such as the Tours and Excursions that you book on board. Once you get down from the ship there are so many tour operators (at around half the Cruise Rate) that you just need to choose what you want to do and who offers you the best rate. It's a buyer's market, so you can even bargain, especially if you're a big group. Just make sure that you choose a tour that gives you plenty of time to get back and board the ship because the one big advantage of booking an overpriced tour with on the Cruise is you can be fairly certain that the ship will never leave you.

Since we just wanted to see the Glacier, we opted for the most
economical way (time and money wise). We took the Glacier Shuttle.
If I remember correctly it's around US$8 per person 1 way.

It takes around 20-25 minutes to get there, and the shuttle is available
every 30 mins with the driver acting as tour guide along the way.

You get dropped off right in front of this.

We aimed to look around and take pics within 30 minutes so we could
jump on the next shuttle back into town.

It was a really nice sight, and we didn't even go up to the visitor's center or the look out point.

Sofia and Ady heading back.
That's the Visitor's Center we never visited.

My parents lagging behind because they love taking selfies.

Last Family Picture by the Glacier before heading back to the shuttle.

We didn't see any bears.

Sofia had to touch the snow in the ground.
They said if we arrived a week earlier, it would have been snowing.

Right on time. Heading back to town because we were starving.

We all went back to eat a late lunch on the ship, then Sofia and I went back out to shop. We entered all the Jewelry Shops that caught my attention and all the stores with Soft Toys that caught her attention.

Our first stop was the huge souvenir store across the ship with
(Raindeer, Husky, Moose) Poop Candy and other cool stuff.

Sofia started her Penny Collection.

She was allowed to buy one stuffed animal, but we sure checked out a lot.

And I tried so hard to buy something from the jewelry stores,
but I only ended up with a handful of freebies that you get when you enter.
Whenever something caught my attention, the price was always
ridiculously high to mark up for the free tourist gifts.

I really enjoyed the few hours we spent in Alaska's Capital City. The free gifts from the jewelry stores remind me of Myeongdong in a seemingly higher-end but I bet everything is made in China and definitely more quiet way, but I don't think I could ever go back to stay more than a few days even if they do have a WalMart and a Starbucks. just saying.