Hoonah, Alaska-Icy Strait Point And More

 Is Icy Strait Point in Hoonah, Alaska on your Alaskan cruise itinerary? Read this post before you go.

If you are still on the fence about whether you want to try cruising, read this post - Cruising - A Budget Friendly Vacation.

This was the first look we got of Chichagof Island as we pulled into port. It made us anxious to leave the ship to explore another beautiful part of Alaska.

We bundled up and headed out.

This life-sized statue of an orca was one of the first things we saw at Icy Strait Point and it got us excited for the Whale Watching Excursion we were doing this day. As we waited for the boat to take us to the whales, we watched two whales swim past the front of the cruise ship. 

It was so cold on the boat and it was drizzling. We were very glad we wore our raincoats.

Good To Know: If you are going to Alaska in May, we would highly recommend packing a raincoat big enough to wear over your winter coat. 

We saw a good number of whales. Mostly we just got a glimpse of a fin or back after we looked in the direction of a spout coming out of a blowhole.

But it was definitely fun and we did get treated to watching one whale closer up who stayed near the ship and came up a few times so that we could get a good look at him. JT got a great video of it. This was the best shot I got of a whale that day.

When we got back from our excursion we still had enough time to walk the 1.6 miles to downtown Hoonah. We ignored the BE BEAR AWARE sign and headed into town.

We enjoyed gorgeous views as we walked along the waters of Icy Strait.

One of the first things we saw as we reached the town of Hoonah was this very old cemetery just off the side of the road.

We passed a few totem poles as we walked through the very quiet town.

I had read that we could see Tlingit carvers at work carving totem poles in Hoonah. Sadly, they were not working on the day we were here.

But we did find this work in progress which is something we wouldn't see everyday so we were happy about that.

We found a few more totem poles and 2 small gift shops to take a quick look in but not much was happening in this town.

We decided to head back to the ship. I spotted this cute bench along the way.

And asked my brother-in-law JT to pose for a picture with these boats.

We found the brewery, Icy Strait Brewing, that sold tickets for the shuttle bus that would take us back to Icy Strait Point. We thought we would be able to buy a one way ticket for $3 but we were told they only sold round trip tickets so we had to pay $5 each for a 6 minute ride but we were all tired enough to pay the money.

Once we got back to the ship everyone was ready to relax after a long but fun day in Hoonah. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our comfortable seats in the Crown Lounge.

And we toasted to another great adventure in Alaska.

After drinking a drink or two it was time to head up to our staterooms to get some sleep before the ship would drop us off in Sitka the next day.

Read about our first stop in Alaska.

Juneau, Alaska

Have you been to Hoonah, Alaska? What did you do there? Please let us know in comments!

Juneau, Alaska Part 2

 Is Juneau, Alaska on your Alaskan cruise itinerary? Read this post before you go.

Is Mom traveling with you? Read this post - 10 Perfect Gifts For The Traveling Mom - to find the perfect gift to surprise her with before your trip. 

After we booked the Alaskan cruise we took with my sister, brother-in-law and two friends,

Soko saw that we could take a return cruise from the last stop of our first cruise, Seward, back to Vancouver where we started. The rest of the group we started the first half of the cruise with thought it would be too much cruising for them so me and Soko did Part 2 of our Alaskan cruise by ourselves.

Because this was our second time in Juneau we knew how to get to town. We took a short ride on the shuttle bus at the pier where our ship was docked.

It was Sunday and we had researched to find a Catholic church in Juneau that we could easily get to so that we could attend mass. We found one and used google maps to find directions to it from where the shuttle would drop us off in town. It was only a relatively short walk. We walked past this great mural, on our way, that depicted life in this area.

Google maps told us that it was not a long walk to church. It didn't tell us that the blocks we had to walk were very long and very steep. It was a strenuous trek but we finally made it to Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The church was so small that people noticed that we were not members of the congregation. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. One of the parishioners stopped to talk to us on our way out of church and mentioned a nice hike we might like if we had some time. We didn't have any plans besides walking around the city and downtown so we took his suggestion and headed to Mt. Roberts Trailhead.

It was going to be a walk up another 5 steep blocks but we took it slow and enjoyed walking through the quiet and colorful neighborhood.

I hesitated a little when I saw this sign. I had never seen an "Avalanche Area" sign before. We just crossed our fingers and continued on.

Before we got to the trail, we passed by this waterfall. I didn't know where the water came from or where it was going and although it was not a natural waterfall it still caught my eye.

When we got to the trail, we were happy to see a level, wooden trail as we were not really prepared to do a hike. We didn't have our hiking sticks with us and Soko wasn't wearing his hiking boots.

When we got higher up the mountain, there were railings on the trail which we also appreciated.

The view we had from up above was breathtaking. I have noticed that in Alaska the most beautiful views have the snow capped mountains in the background somewhere.

Soko was ahead of me and stopped to take a picture. He quietly pointed in the direction of one of the trees and I caught a glimpse of an animal on one of the trees. It seemed to be looking at us as intently as we were looking at it. Neither of us could tell what kind of animal we were looking at and it didn't give us enough time to get a good shot of it.

Any idea of what this animal is? I cropped the photo but can you even see anything lol?

I didn't notice until we were heading back to the start of the trail that we the wooden trail was missing and we were walking over the sight of an avalanche. I guess that's why that sign was posted. I'm so glad we weren't in the area when this was happening!

After the fun hike, we headed back towards downtown. The steep walk down was a little easier than the walk up.

We took a different route on the way down and passed a few office buildings and spotted the Alaska flag here.

We were excited and surprised to see the Alaska State Capitol building as we were not looking for it. It should have been on our list of things to do as we were in Juneau, the states capital, and very easy to get to from the cruise port.

This William Seward statue was erected in 2017 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Cession. Seward negotiated with Russia for the transfer of Alaska to the USA.

When we got downtown we headed straight for the Red Dog Saloon. We didn't get a chance to go inside on our first visit to Juneau.

One of the reasons Red Dog Saloon is famous is that Wyatt Earp's gun is among their huge collection of animal heads and memorabilia on display at the saloon. But it is questionable by some as to whether or not the gun on display was ever owned by Wyatt Earp. It doesn't change the fact that the saloon is a very popular and fun place to spend some time in when in Juneau.

We ordered nachos along with a couple of drinks to be able to extend our time in the packed saloon. We definitely weren't encouraged to linger after eating and drinking as there were an endless number of people waiting to have their turn to visit.

Part of the fun of the Red Dog Saloon is the entertainment. On the day we were here one of the regular performers played his piano, sang some old classics and told jokes in between each song. 

After doing some souvenir shopping downtown, it was time for us to head back to the ship. 

We had a fantastic time in Juneau and were happy we got a chance to visit for a second time.

Read Part 1 of our stop in Juneau here.

Juneau, Alaska - First Stop Of Our Alaskan Cruise

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Scratch Made Food!

Have you ever been to Juneau, Alaska? Was it part of your cruise itinerary? Let us know what you enjoyed most when you were there.

Juneau, Alaska - First Stop Of Our Alaskan Cruise

Are you planning an Alaskan cruise? It is as amazing as people say it is.

Read this post - Packing For Our 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise - for some ideas of what to pack before you leave for your cruise.

We left for our 7 day Alaskan cruise from the Vancouver cruise port. We toasted to a fun and safe journey!

The views we enjoyed on this cruise were a lot different from the usual Caribbean cruises we are used to going on. We knew this cruise would be very special.

And we knew we were not going to be using this pool. Even the hot tub would not be hot enough to use this trip.

We arrived at our first cruise port, Juneau, on the third day of our 7 day cruise.

The first thing we had to find when we got off the ship was the shuttle to bring us downtown. All we had to do was follow the crowd. If you didn't book an excursion you were heading downtown.

My sister, Sandie, knew she wanted to see the Mendenhall Glacier when we were in Juneau. We found out that we could save a lot of money by taking "The Blue Bus" Glacier Express downtown rather than book an excursion. We booked a couple of months in advance.

Our tour guide pointed out the most picturesque view on the route to the glacier. He slowed down so that we could all snap a picture.

From the moment we got off the tour bus, we were mesmerized by the beauty of our first views of Alaska.

After a quick look around the Visitor's Center, we headed toward the trail that would bring us to Nugget Falls.

The trail was an easy low-grade 1 mile path that led to the falls.

We were very excited to see the first of many ice flows we would see this trip.

We could hear Nugget Falls crashing into Mendenhall Lake before we saw it. It was powerful and exciting.

After spending some time near the falls taking lots of pictures, we headed to Photo Point to take pictures of the Mendenhall Glacier.

I couldn't capture the stunning blue color of the glacier with my phone.

We posed with the small sign our daughter, Lisa, made us to commemorate our retirement goal of visiting all 50 states!

After our self-guided tour of the glacier and falls we found our shuttle. We were brought back to where we started at one end of downtown Juneau. We had time to walk around the town before we needed to get back to the ship. 

The guys did a great job holding our packages while the girls tried to get into as many shops as we could before we ran out of time.

After our shopping spree, we headed back. It felt really good to take a warm shower and enjoy a hot coffee at the end of a long and fun but cold and wet first day in Alaska.

Stay tuned for:

Juneau Part 2 (Coming soon!)

(Me and Soko got back to Vancouver via a second Alaskan cruise and visited a few of our first cruise stops again.)

Read this post if your ship is leaving from Vancouver.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Vancouver, Canada

Have you been to Juneau on an Alaskan Cruise? What did you do there? We would love to hear all about your time there!