Overnight we sailed back down the Chilkoot Inlet to the state capitol, Juneau.
Juneau is unique among American capitols for a couple of reasons.
- First, it is not accessable by car. The only way to get there is by sea or by air.
- Second, it is the only US capitol with a city limit that is also a national border. It’s eastern limit actually extends up the mountains to Canada.
We docked shortly before 8:00 this morning, but Cheryl and I had scheduled an independent whale watching excursion and our meeting time wasn’t until 11:00 so we weren’t in any particular rush to get thru the morning routine.
Before we headed to breakfast Cheryl threw in a load of laundry. That should last us until we get home next Friday.
After breakfast we folded clothes, hung out, read until time to leave. We were docked at ‘AJ Dock’ about a mile south of the city center, so the port authority provided a shuttle bus to take us to the tram station (the south end of the business district) – which was where we were to meet our tour operator. We had some time so we did a bit of shopping before the van showed up. We boarded and were soon on our way to Auke Bay about 20 minutes north of there.
Arriving, we boarded our boat and while the captain manuvered us out of the bay our naturalist started talking about humpback whales.
before too long we found ourselves in what Cheryl’s brother described as ‘whale soup’. We were almost continually spotting whales all around us. Sadly none were very close but I did get a few decent pictures. Obviously if I had brought a big camera with a massive lense I would have gotten much better photos. Maybe next time.
Arriving back at the ship we grabbed our swimsuits and headed down to the spa where the hot pool was sending out inviting vibes. Once we could feel our toes again and after spending a few minutes lounging, reading, and absorbing the moist warmth we got dressed, used the swimsuit spinners and returned to our stateroom to prepare for…
At 5:30 we attended the Resident Historian Forum titled “The Complex Story Behind the ‘Seward Shame Pole’.”
It was a lively discussion about shame poles, shaming, the meaning of this pole beyond the obvious literal interpretation. Ultimately there was general consensus that the pole has significant meaning beyond the Seward incident (see yesterday’s post) and that there is currently nothing that could be done that would justify it’s being taken down. Looking to the future there was hope that at some point it could be replaced by another pole, perhaps a story pole speaking to the shame of our treatment of indigenous peoples and the initiatives of effective restorative justice.
After dinner we attended an astronomy Q&A session with our resident astronomer. He fielded questions, mostly about space and space exploration. He told stories as he responded to questions and it was an enjoyable and informative time.
Then it was back to the room to read and write.
Next up are 2 sea days – ‘Scenic Sailing’ among glaciers. Can’t wait!
Till then, R