If it’s possible to truly enjoy many nooks and crannies of a town in 48 hours, Juneau might be that town. I’m sure we missed plenty of little, interesting things, but the broad strokes were met. We even capitalized on a few recommendations for local food, finding some of those out of the way charming restaurants filled with locals.

Officially, we made our visit to see baby Bella baptized at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. As godparents Becky and I dressed cleanly, stood straight, and didn’t itch anything inappropriately while standing in front of the congregation. We did not embarrass the proud new parents and Bella sweetly did not fuss and sailed smoothly through the ceremony and mass (Henry got a little wiggly and needed to be plied with crackers).

Saturday was a dream Juneau day – sunny, mid 60’s, and blue skies. Off we sped to Mendenhall Glacier in the hopes of some hiking and great pictures. You may believe that our luck in finding wildlife can be explained by the fact that we live in Alaska, but I prefer to place my faith in Henry’s abilities. The elevated trail near the visitor center snakes alongside a stream that was filled with spawning sockeye salmon, bright red as they slowly drifting in and out of the current. We approached a group of 6 folks peering into the woods just beyond the stream and Becky and Cody quickly craned their necks to get a look. Cody quickly stated, “I can barely see a black bear on the ground.” The next moment 2 black bear cubs scurried up a tree and gifted us with a perfect photo op. Becky snapped away, the bear’s magnetism drew more folks each passing second, and Hank and I quickly were boxed out. We steered the stroller out of the way, content with our 10 yard close up of the beautiful little bears. We had our fun and yielded to the cruise ship folks hungry for their glimpse.

After meeting up with Randy and Kelly and viewing a large male black bear cross the road 100 yards away, we headed off for Nugget Falls. The sign said it was a 45 minute round trip, which aside from fitting into our schedule perfectly, was a time we gathered was estimated with the typical cruise ship passenger in mind. Henry in his jogging stroller would do just fine on this one. As we approached the misting, thundering falls Henry came alive, pointing and yelping at the spray. We could not get him out of the stroller fast enough.


More Juneau pictures here