Cruising Alaska

We had a day at sea and then stops in Juneau on Monday and Skagway on Tuesday. Juneau was rainy and foggy. We decided not to bother with the tram ride since there would be no views at the top. We made a stop at the public library located on the top level of the municipal parking garage. The views of the bay with frequent sea plane landings was quite lovely. We got caught up with email and other internet stuff and headed back to the ship.  Photo below is downtown Juneau. Click to view the larger version. 

In Skagway the weather was good and I took a long walk around town. I stopped at the post office, the library (more wi-fi), the yarn store and the super market. Tuesday evening we dined in the Pinnacle Grille courtesy of our travel agent, Paula. Dick had filet mignon and I had lamb chops. Service was excellent and I had creme brûlée for dessert. Couldn't get any better than that. For lunch and dinner in the main dining room we've asked to be seated at tables for six and have had interesting conversations with people from all over. The largest group on the ship is from Australia followed by Canada and then the U.S.  

As I type, the ship is stopped near the Marjerie Glacier.  I'm thinking the Captain is waiting for it to calve. It would be amazing to see a piece fall off. We're told this glacier extends five miles back. The time in Glacier Bay was the most scenic.  

Thursday was Ketchikan. All three towns seemed to be oriented to the cruise trip tourists with many souvenir shops. Since it is the end of the season there seemed to be an air of desperation to unload as much ticky tacky merchandise as possible.