We had about an hour and 15 minutes before our first excursion so I wanted to get some postcards and a couple of other things to kill a little time. When we initially boarded the ship we got these Destination Alaska "coupon" books and in them they had all these offers. One of them was a set of nine coins that you obtained from a jewelry store. It was the same store and there were three locations in Juneau, four locations in Ketchikan and two in Skagway. In order to get the coins you had to listen to a sales pitch to buy jewelry and it wasn't cheap. They tried to sell us rings at $1200 to $1500 each. So we listened and eventually got our coins. After two stops I had had enough. So we at least had two coins as souvenirs and we felt that was good - I just couldn't listen to them anymore. We also made a stop at a different jewelry store and got a whale's tail pendent and then went into another shop to get a few postcards. Then realized we needed to go to meet the bus for our excursion. We found the sign for our excursion in front of the entrance to the Mount Roberts Tram. When the small bus pulled up we climbed aboard along with about 15 other people. The excursion we were on was through Liquid Alaska Tours and was the City and Glacier Tour. The tour started at the docks and went along Franklin Street and then crossed the Gastineau Channel over to Douglas Island. We got a great view of our ship and Juneau from the island. Then we crossed back over and took a driving tour of Juneau passing the library, the Capitol Building and the Governor's Mansion.
Then we headed down Glacier Highway to our next destination - Mendenhall Glacier. Our first glimpse of the glacier was at a pullout and it was spectacular. You looked across a meadow and over trees to see the glacier in the distance. I couldn't wait until we got closer. So we continued our drive and arrived at the parking area. Our tour guide told us we had 45 minutes and then we needed to be back at the bus. Thomas and I walked up to the Visitors Center and spent a little time looking around and I got a patch and some postcards along with a stamp from the Tongass National Forest. We only spent a few minutes here because we wanted to get a closer look at the glacier and we really didn't have all that much time. So we took the Photo Point Trail and got a good look at the glacier and I took quite a few pictures. There was a letterbox here but we ran out of time and I was more interested in the glacier and not the letterbox so we deferred looking for the box to have more time with the glacier. Before we knew it we needed to get back to the bus. The tour guide took us back into town but decided to make a quick detour at a salmon hatchery. We didn't go in or take a tour but he showed us a ladder and told us how the fish were actually raised here and then moved to bigger holding areas and then eventually released into the wild. Since salmon returned to their birth place they come back to the hatchery and to their death - kind of a little creepy. Before we got back on the bus I asked our tour guide if he could drop us off at the Capitol Building and he said no problem, he just had to bring the other people back to the dock first. So a little while later we were entering the Alaska State Capitol Building. We checked in with the information desk and I got my Capitol Collection stamp for my book and a self guided tour brochure and we bought two pins - a forget-me-not and a state outline for $1 each. We then went on our tour. 
The building wasn't all that impressive and so far it is one of the least appealing capitol buildings I have visited. I was shocked at how small their senate and house chambers were. They did have some interesting artwork including an exhibit of elementary student drawings. I am glad I got to see it but it isn't one of my favorites. After our visit here we started to walk back to the docks and decided to make a detour to the Juneau Public Library and see if we could get a little internet time. I was able to connect and get two of my post online and check my emails. We left the library and finished our walk to the Mount Roberts Tram building for our second excursion of the day.We checked in and were standing in a large group of people also going on the excursion. They were a group called Christian Cruisers and Thomas and I started 'praying' that we would be on separate tours. And our 'prayers' were answered. The guide ushered us to a waiting bus and ushered the other group on to a different bus. This was the Whale Watching Tour and we were driven to a waiting boat. We boarded our boat at Auke Bay and we heaeded out to Favorite Channel. We hadn't gotten very far when we had our first whale sighting.
And what a sighting - there was a group of four humpback whales swimming together. We spent about 30minutes watching this group (we got to see them bubble netting during this time) and then we had to move on to give other boats a chance to see the whales. During the rest of the outing we saw three more individual whales and four stellar sea lions. The naturalist we had on board was the cutest thing (I really hope that doesn't sound sexist because I don't mean it to be) - she was young and beautiful and perky and very knowledgeable - I really enjoyed this tour and so far has been a highlight of the trip. On our way back to the dock to board the bus we got to see a few eagles in the trees along the coast, unfortunately they were pretty far away and we didn't get a great view. Anyway, we got back on the bus and we were taken to the dock. We still had quite a bit of time and I wanted to plant one of my boxes here in Juneau. We were standing in front of the Mount Roberts Tram building and I looked around for a good spot that was close but safe. I noticed a stone wall across the street and Thomas and I headed over there. We ended up bumping into TsukiAmes and Jei sitting at a table nearby. So we went over to say hello and Thomas sat down and visited with them while I went and hid the box. I found a great place for Alaska: Land of the Midnight Sun and then I returned to the table and wrote out the clues. Thomas went into a store to see if he could find a couple of gifts and I visited with TsukiAmes and Jei. Thomas returned and we headed back to the ship.We went to our cabin and put our backpacks down and cleaned up and changed for dinner. We ended up having a great meal and visit with Deanne and Dave. I had a shrimp cocktail and marinated roasted chicken and I skipped dessert and Thomas had crisp romaine lettuce with carrots and a new york steak with roasted potatoes and chocolate cake. After dinner we went to the Celebrity Theater to see Jason Bishop. He was billed as "America's Hottest Illusionist" and we thought it would be a good show. We only got to see the second half of the show but it was really good and we really liked it. Afterward Thomas decided to call it a night and stayed in and read and I went letterboxing with Deanne and Dave. We found two boxes around The Emporium, one in the Grand Foyer and one in The Card Room before calling it quits. It was a long but wonderful day and I was feeling a little tired but also really enjoying myself. Tomorrow we are in Skagway.
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