Juneau, Alaska

In the summer of 2003 it seemed like we drove every paved road in Alaska. We always wanted to return to Alaska and explore some of the state not accessed by road. On July 12, we started an adventure into the inside passage flying from Seattle to Juneau. We spent four days in Juneau, followed by a seven day wilderness cruise ending with two days in Sitka.

 

While in Juneau, we stayed at a quaint boutique hotel called the Silverbow Inn. This 11 room hotel was right in the heart of downtown Juneau. We were so happy to find our room was ready when we arrived at 9:00 a.m.  This left us the entire day free to take a walking tour around town.

 

Downtown District

View from the historic House of Wickersham

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church
Built in 1894

We really enjoy visiting state capitol buildings. We were disappointed that the Alaska State Capitol Building was under a major reconstruction since 2013 and is closed until later this year. We guess it will be nice when it is finished.

Alaska State Capitol

Alaska's Most Accessible Glacier 

 We made a whole day of visiting Mendenhall Glacier. The visitor center is 13 miles from our hotel. We researched how to get there, a taxi was $70 each way, a Glacier Transport bus was $30 round trip per person and only gave you one hour at the glacier. After talking to some locals we found we could take the city bus which dropped us off just one and a half miles from the visitor center. We opted for the $2 bus ride which included good exercise on a nice trail.

 

At the glacier we stopped at the visitor center, enjoyed a film and walked down to the glacier and water fall. We took the Trail of Time and the Nugget Falls Trail.

Mendenhall Glacier

 

 

Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway

The 1800 foot ascent to the top offers great views
of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel.

The statue of the bull terrier, Patsy Ann, sits on the
Juneau docks. She was a deaf, blind "official greeter"
 who in the 1930's met every ship
as it came into the docks.

Newly Renovated Alaska State Museum

Alaska State Governor's House

Bonsais, Cars and Locks

On July 1 we moved 60 miles south to a new "Base Camp" in Gig Harbor. This quaint town is only a couple miles from the Narrows Bridge which connects us to downtown Tacoma and from Gig Harbor RV Resort it is only a short walk to downtown Gig Harbor. We can board the trolley at the corner and from that we are able to connect with the entire Seattle/Tacoma transit network consisting of bus, light rail and train service. On the 4th of July, Pierce Transit was providing free service, network wide, so we hopped on a couple buses for a "tour" of Tacoma.

Home on Site 44

Gig Harbor is a picturesque small town with
easy access to lots of things to see and do.

Outside of the Gig Harbor History Museum

PACIFIC BONSAI MUSEUM

After our Saturday shopping trip to the Tacoma Sam's Club and Walmart, we visited the free outdoor Pacific Bonsai Museum.

Weyerhaeuser Company opened the Collection in 1989.

Some of these trees are over 500 years old.

Many beautiful examples are showcased throughout
this one acre garden.

LEMAY CAR MUSEUM

We spent Tuesday in downtown Tacoma at the World Famous Lemay America's Car Museum. This modern 165,000 square foot car Museum kept us occupied all day.

1957 BMW Isetta
Top speed is 53 mph, 300 cc, 1 cylinder
1 door (the front opens), emergency hatch in roof.
Kurt remembered riding in his Uncle's Isetta

1959 BMW 507 Roadster

1961 Chrysler 300
followed by a '69 Corvette, 427 L88

View from Kerry Park overlooking Seattle
on our way to the Lake Washington Ship Canal

LAKE WASHINGTON SHIP CANAL

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks first opened July 4, 1917 connecting the fresh water Lake Washington to Puget Sound. This engineering marvel is still in operation today 99 years later. In fact, this is the number two tourist destination in Seattle. We were just in time to catch a guided tour starting in the visitor center of the locks and 21 step fish ladder viewing area.

This is the only Army Corps of Engineer
Botanical Garden.
This 7 acre garden contains trees and plants
from around the world.

There are two locks, operating in parallel.
One for large vessels and one for small.

On busy days up to 100 pleasure craft are passed
through the lock in a single operation.

West Point Lighthouse at Discovery Park was
a nice place to walk while we waited for
Seattle rush hour to pass.

Another Day in Seattle

Monday morning we returned to Seattle for another day of adventure via the Bainbridge Island Ferry.

The Seattle Glassblowing Studio has some
very unusual artwork.

We had lunch at the 5 Point Café which was named
"Most Iconic Bar in Washington State". 
This "colorful" edgy café was established in 1929.
It was ok for lunch but we wouldn't bring our
Grandchildren here.

We spent the afternoon at the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum in Seattle Center. This 140,000 square foot building is anything but square. Frank O. Gehry designed this museum to resemble a smashed guitar. We couldn't see it, but this IS Washington. I guess you need to be high in the Space Needle to see it. Featured displays include Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, since both Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain were born in the Seattle area. Other "Experiences" we enjoyed: Guitar Gallery, Horror Films, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Star Trek Gallery.

View of the EMP Museum

Borg Assimilation: Resistance is Futile

IF VI WAS IX
Guitar Sculpture Consisting of More Than 500 Musical Instruments

After the EMP Museum, we took the Monorail a mile and returned to the waterfront district. Pike Place Market is a massive farmers market/mall, open seven days a week. You can purchase anything from bouquets of fresh flowers, glass ornaments, and pretty much anything you want in this multi block, four story waterfront market. We stopped at Piroshky Russian Bakery which always has a long line. We had to try some of their famous rolls to go. We purchased an apple cinnamon roll, cinnamon cardamom braid, fresh rhubarb Piroshky and a cherry white chocolate for breakfast the next day. They were amazingly good.

Pike Place Market

Fish Markets Abound at Pike Place

Another Day in Seattle

Lake Cresent and Soleduck Valley

On a beautiful Saturday we headed west along the north coast of the "Peninsula" to hike to  some waterfalls in Olympic National Park.

Storm King Ranger Station at Lake Crescent

Crossing a rustic log bridge on a 1.8 mile
hike to Marymere Falls.

Beautiful day for a walk in the rain forest.

Marymere Falls drops 90 feet

Another one of the many entry points into
Olympic National Park

Quiet hike along the Ancient Groves Trail

Sol Duc Falls, one of the most photographed spots on
the Peninsula, is a .8 mile walk from the end of the
Sol Duc Hot Springs Road.

The afternoon sun complimented this
beautiful setting.

A Day in Seattle

The best way to visit downtown Seattle from our "home" in Chimacum, on the Olympic Peninsula, is to take the ferry. On Tuesday, we drove 38 miles southeast over two bridges to Bainbridge Island. From here we caught a 35 minute ride on the Washington State Ferry to the heart of the downtown district. Parking and driving can be very difficult in Seattle, so we chose to leave the car behind and walk onto the ferry. A boat ride was a lot more fun than driving anyway.

 

While downtown, we went to Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, Seattle Waterfront, Pike Place Market, Seattle Center, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle Public Library and Sky View Observatory at Columbia Center.

Washington State Ferry

Bill Speidel's Underground Tour

Seattle burned down in 1889. This gave the city planners the opportunity to rebuild the city properly. Prior to 1889 the city was tormented by flooding problems due to high tides. When the city was rebuilt it was also raised, which left the first floor of the older structures entombed below the new street grade. We took a 75 minute Underground Tour of this historic district and Pioneer Square.

Underground Seattle reminded us of an old basement.

After our Underground Tour we walked about five miles around the city taking in the sites and wearing out our feet.

Seattle Great Wheel

Space Needle

The Public Library looked like a piece of modern art.

View from the 73rd floor of Sky View Observatory
at the Columbia Center

Tall building in center is the Columbia Center.
At 967 feet, one of the tallest buildings on the west coast.

Our lunch spot at Ivar's Acres of Clams on Pier 54

We boarded the ferry at 8:00 a.m. and returned
to Bainbridge Island at 8:00 p.m.

After a long day in Seattle, we are making
plans to return for another day of fun.
Too much to do and not enough time.