From the pier, you can see Fort Seward which was built in 1904 so the Army could impose order on the mob of gold seekers heading to Alaska. Most of the buildings are now privately owned. There are a few signs explaining some of the history, but that's about it.
There was a totem pole building, but no one was around and there was no explanation as to why it was there.
A few blocks further is the small town of Haines. We found the local IGA grocery store and headed to the cold medicine aisle. It was obvious there were many sick people on the ship as the aisle was quite crowded. We were finally able to make our selection and hopefully get some relief.
Haines has a nice marina.
We had a nice view of our ship when we got to the end of the dock.
In Wisconsin we've seen an eagle fly over a few times, but we have never seen an eagle up close in the wild. I had been searching at all of our Alaska stops, and finally saw one in a tree in Haines. Little did I know, that I would be seeing many more!
As at all of our stops, the scenery was again gorgeous, although it was overcast most of the day.
Our second port of call was Juneau. Included in our tour package was a whale watching excursion. Our group boarded two boats and set out on a beautiful, sunny morning to see some whales. It didn't take long before we had success. All of the whales we saw were humpbacks. On rare occasions, Orcas are seen, but we did not have such luck.
This is the other boat that was with our group. If a whale surfaces within 100 feet of a boat, the captain must turn off the engine and wait for the whale to go back down. We were able to spend several minutes watching this whale at a very close distance. The captain said this was the closest they'd been this season.
As you can see, the scenery was again amazing. On the way back to shore, we went past the Mendenhall Glacier.
It was an incredible day on the water in Juneau. In the next post, I'll tell you about the rest of our day in Juneau.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!
