Downtown Juneau

Sleep was somewhat fitful, but we still managed to get up at a reasonable hour and appear in the hotel breakfast room scrubbed and presentable. A hot breakfast was complimentary, so Katherine ordered a cheese and mushroom omelet and Chris ordered scrambled eggs and toast. The food was prepared quickly and was delicious!

Well fortified, we grabbed our backpack and caught the shuttle from the hotel to downtown Juneau. Our first stop was the Alaska State Museum. A giveaway that Juneau's climate tends toward precipitation: a bank of free lockers and coat racks, with the invitation to leave one's wet things there.

For a state museum, the collection seemed somewhat sparse. Major areas were dedicated to the Russian history of Alaska and the culture of the indigenous peoples, as represented by artifacts both ancient and contemporary (think Sarah Palin). Half of the second floor was dedicated to modern photography and the paintings of a local resident. Overall, it did the job of giving the background of the state of Alaska.

After visiting the museum, we walked toward downtown, climbing stairs and going by the State Capitol building. We stopped into several shops and ended up buying two books about the Gold Rush. Most of the morning we wandered around downtown.

We stopped for lunch at El Sombrero, and had the most eager and excited server we had ever met. As each of us placed our orders he repeated "No worries!" and seemed more excited about our selections than we were. Chris had the mini tostada and Katherine had a half order of the Macho Nachos. She speculated that this only made her half macho.