Day 3: Free Day in Juneau

Today was a free day for each of us to spend as we wanted. Ironically, we all ended up deciding to do the same thing. We ate breakfast at the Silverbow Bakery and walked to the Alaska State Museum. We spent a couple of hours perusing the artifacts, written history, and hands-on replicas, and to say we learned a lot is a gross understatement!

We caught the bus to Auke Bay where boats unload the catch of the day. We walked from the DeHarts Store to the waterside just in time to see 2 immature and 1 mature bald eagles perched on the end of the dock. A mature bald eagle is the white-headed and tailed kind with which most people readily identify.

Immature balds are less than 5 years old and have brown feathers in place of white. They are often confused with golden eagles until their white feathers grow in.

We were able to walk within 15 feet of them to take photos, and they didn't get spooked.

Then we walked down the hill to the dock side and ate at The Hot Bite, a locals hot spot for fresh fish and mouth-watering milkshakes. We took an hour and walked among the boats, dreaming of what it would be like to live a summer on a boat in Alaskan waters.

We had kicked around the idea of whether or not to visit the Shrine of St. Therese. At The Hot Bite, we ran into Zach and Lisa, who we met yesterday on the bus. They spent the morning at the Shrine, and Lisa commented that it was the most spiritual place she's ever been. We were all won over, so we called a cab on Jen's cell phone.

We passed by the ferry dock and went about 9 miles further out of town to the Shrine, a hefty cab fare but well worth it. Within 20 minutes of arriving, we had spotted at least 4 harbor seals playing off the coast behind the Shrine and at least 2 humpback whales further out in the bay.

I could have spent hours just sitting and watching for whatever felt like swimming by, but our cab pick-up was only an hour-and-a-half away. We spent time in the chapel, that is still used for weekly services, weddings, etc. We walked down to the gardens, a popular spot for cremation ceremonies and sprinkling of ashes.

And just before we left, we all took a walk through the Merciful Love Labrynth, a series of intertwined concentric circles without any dead ends. The Labrynth is supposed to instill calmness and give people the opportunity to center themselves. Once a person reaches the inner rock, s/he leaves an offering (a flower, pine cone, rock, etc.), then retraces the path back to the "real world."

We caught our cab and bus back to downtown Juneau and then went our separate ways. Alex to watch sushi being made. Jen and Leigh to a kiosk to see about scheduling a kayak tour. Josh and Jake to another kiosk to see about dog-sledding ride for Jake. And I went to a bookstore to buy my dad a long-standing traditional Christmas gift--an Alaskan calendar. At least this time, the calendar would actually be FROM Alaska. Now we're all settling down for the night, or at least trying to decide what to do for dinner.

Tomorrow we'll hike the first 1.5 miles of the Mt. Roberts trail. Unfortunately, it's too early in the season to hike to the summit as I had hoped. Too much ice and snow that even skilled mountaineers are not permitted. So we'll hike up to the tram depot, watch a film of the area, and ride the tram back down.