We had another early start for our second excursion to Juneau today. We disembarked the Disney Wonder and met our bus driver, Jae. He was easy-going and told us different tidbits and stories about the town of Juneau and his experience being a bus driver. Our first stop was to the Mendenhall Glacier. We exited the bus and hiked a short mile down the Nugget Falls Trail. The trail led us to a pretty large waterfall and closer view of the glacier. We gazed at the giant ice mass and neighboring waterfall for a bit and then started back to the visitor center. We took a few branching trails to get various views of the Mendenhall glacier. The visitor center was small but had some information about the history of the glacier and the surrounding ecosystem. Twenty minutes later, it was back on the bus for our next stop: the Salmon Hatchery.
The Macaulay Salmon Hatchery raises millions of salmon of year to be released into the ocean. There were salmon in different stages of life and a lot of them. Salmon always come back to where they were hatched to lay their own eggs, so we were able to see some adult salmon return to the hatchery via a fish ladder they swim up. We even witness some workers moving some of the adult salmon from one tank to another using nets. However, one salmon flapped around enough to escape momentarily on the ground until another work returned it to the nearby tank. Inside the hatchery, they had other sea life on display including crabs, starfish, and an octopus who would not turn around for a nice photo. Overall, it was a educational experience, but the glacier was cooler.
Our third and final stop was to the Alaska State Museum. The museum offered many artifacts from Alaska's past and taught about the state's complex history. Alaska was home to Indigenous people, then Russians came, and then Americans. There was lot of culture lost because of the actions and policies made by Russians and Americans, but it was good to see what hadn't been lost was preserved and treasured by the Indigenous people and the museum. There were canoes, clothing, animal horns, and art throughout the exhibit. After about an hour, we headed back to the bus and Jae drove us back to the dock.
Mom and Joe decided to look through some of the stores in Juneau, but I was ready to return to the Disney Wonder. I saw Peter Pan & Wendy, a live action retelling of the classic story. It was pretty good for a remake, with a few deviations from the original animated film. I still had time to meet some more Disney characters and today I got to meet the captains of the ship, Mickey and Minnie. It was a pleasure to meet both of them in their sparking Silver Anniversary outfits. After I got my photo with each of them, I saw Frozen: A Musical Spectacular in the Walt Disney Theatre. It was a fun Broadway show that reminded me a lot of the show they used to perform at Disney California Adventure. All the songs from the film were performed with entertaining choreography. I enjoyed the show as much as the one from DCA.
After the show, I attended Mouseketeer Madness. I'd gone to this event a couple days before and unfortunately wasn't picked this time either. It was still a joy to answer the Disney trivia though. Dinner was at Triton's, the restaurant we ate at the first night of the cruise. It was delicious, though Joe noted I've had chicken as my entree every night so far. What can I say? I'm not the adventurous eater he is and I really do like chicken. At least the chicken dish has been seasoned or marinated differently each night. I tried my luck at Mouseketeer Madness after dinner (third time's the charm right?), but wasn't chosen. I did know most of the answers to the trivia questions though. Can I get that Mickey Medal now?
It was getting late, so I decided to head off to bed, well after I finished doing laundry on the deck above our cabin. Tomorrow is our last excursion, Ketchikan, where I'll need to buy some souvenirs (a favorite road trip tradition for me).
If you'd like to read the day's events from my mom's perspective, you can read her blog here.
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