Sunday, September 1, 2013...Radiance of the Sea was scheduled to dock in Juneau, Alaska's capital by 9:00 AM, so we got up early to get a jump on our busy day.  Juneau would be our first scheduled cruise/tour sight.  We had booked a whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier tour and couldn't wait for this adventure.  After a delicious breakfast at the ship's buffet we got our gear ready and waited for the departure signal.  Kathy and her crew had booked the same excursion, so we quickly headed to the tour host holding up our tour number, and followed them to our bus. 

 

John, our bus driver/tour guide welcomed us and explained that he would first be taking us to the whale watching boat, and later, pick us up to drive us to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. John had a great sense of humor, and provided lots of great information about Juneau en route to the boat.  We arrived at the port and boarded "St. Nicholas" to go out on our whale watching adventure. 

Wildlife tour guide holds a piece of baleen from
a humpback whale

Bald Eagle nesting

 

There she blows!  Humpback whale first sighted as it expels
air through its blowhole before making a dive for krill

 

We found some great seats near windows and listened to Jenn, the tour's wildlife guide, as she went over safety procedures.  As we headed out into the sea, she then outlined our watch plan and told about the huge baleen whales that we would be seeing,  We saw Bald Eagles, right away, then a couple of whales swam near us.  We could see their breath as they expelled air through their blowhole.  The captain then reported sighting about a dozen humpback baleen whales up ahead, so we would leave these two whales, and head out to view the larger pod. 

 

We left our seats and found a good spot on deck to get a closer look.  Just as we were thinking, "where's the whales?", a large humpback lunged up in front of us and scared us all!  From then on, the dozen or so baleen whales put on quite a show for us all.  We watched in amazement as the whales arched their backs and lunged for krill, flipping their flukes up for us to photograph.  We stayed put for about a half hour, just watching the whales feed, then the captain turned to head back to harbor.  On the way back we saw a large group of harbor seals and then Stellar Sea Lions (reddish coats) wiggling on a rocky seashore.  There were more Bald Eagles to see too, as the satisfied group of whale watchers headed back to port. 

 

Here are ome of the photos of whales flukes that we captured:

 

 

Now for some Harbor Seals and Stellar Sea Lions:

 

Harbor Seals sunning themselves

More Harbor Seals

Stellar Sea Lions wiggling around the rocks

Nap time for some Stellar Sea Lions

John and his bus were awaiting us when we got back to shore, and he swiftly took us to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor area.  It had been a misty day so far, but as we started up a trail to get closer to the glacier lake and glacier, the rain stopped and the fog lifted.  We now had even better views of this beautiful glacier.  After snapping lots of photos we walked back the trail to the 3 story visitor center.  With limited time, we took the elevator up to the main floor of the center to find an amazing view of Mendenhall Glacier through the floor to ceiling windows.  I got my National Park Passport stamped, then headed to their theater to view a short movie about the glacier.  There were many wonderful exhibits about Alaskan wildlife and the glacier, as well as a large gift shop.  I was able to purchase some beautiful glacial glass earrings for daughters, Trisha & Sarah, then it was time to get back on the bus for our trip back to the center of Juneau.

 

Glacial waterfall into Mendenhall Lake

Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier

Glacial ice floats from caving off the glacier

I apologize for the reflection, but I had to include this photo
that I snapped from the visitor center window, just as
a Bald Eagle swooped by.  (see wings near right center)

 

Next we decided to walk through some of the local shops near our ship, including a brief visit to a famous brothel & watering hole called "The Red Dog Saloon."  I found an Alaska/59 khaki colored hat for my Dad, and a green denim-like Alaska shirt for myself.  After checking out a few more "Alaskan Made" shops, we boarded our ship for a well-deserved brief rest before our 5:30 PM dinner time.

 

Famous Juneau watering hole and brothel

Agnelo greeted us and walked us to our table as Marian brought our normal ice tea to drink...and then explained tonight's bakery chef bread selections.  Since our first bottle of wine was quite empty, I ordered a bottle of the same wine to share with our dinner.  For a starter tonight I had a delicious winterberry soup, entrée of grilled chicken, followed by a rhubarb/apple crumb cake for dessert.  We enjoyed meeting the couple seated next to us, Dennis & Denise, originally from Iowa, but had recently moved to a lake resort home in Minnesota.  Wanting to make it to the 7:30 PM show, we quickly completed our dinners and headed to the theater.

 

 

Radiance of the Sea (Our angled balcony is two decks above the
2nd yellow rescue boat!)

 

"Piano Man" was the theme of this 40 minute song and dance review, performed by the Radiance Singers & Dancers, with the Radiance Orchestra.  It was a quality production with great sets and lighting.  Their selections featured Billy Joel, Harold Arlin (Wizard of Oz), Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Barry Manilow.  The lead male singer, who also played piano, made the show successful.  Going back to room, there was just time to do some journaling before calling it a night.  It had been an amazing day, beginning with a very successful whale watching trip/glacier tour, and ending with another wonderful dinner and show.