Tourist Season In Juneau

Juneau's streets are lined with tourists. As many as five cruise ships dock in Juneau in one day, so the streets are busy. Tourists come from all over the world. I overheard one the other day tell whoever was on the other end of the cell phone that "Juneau is really big. The other towns in Alaska are really small." I almost gave him a geography lesson but decided not to dampen his excitement.

Here you see four ships docked at once. The float plane is one of six or seven that take off from the Gasteneau Channel right next to the cruise ships to fly tourists out to view Mendenhall Glacier and the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. When the ships are in town, the planes carry a steady stream of tourists into the air to view Southeast Alaska.

Crosswalk guards stop downtown traffic to allow tourists to cross the streets. Without seeing it, it is hard to believe how the streets are lined with tourists all summer. With all the tourism Juneau gets in the summer, how would moving the legislature would devastate Juneau's economy?

The Tram transports tourists to the top of Mount Roberts where there is a restaurnat and gift shop. Yours truly has vertigo, so has never been on the Tram but have heard it is a fun journey that takes passengers 1,800 feet in the air. Goldbelt estimates it has 200,000 passengers a year.

Here is a view of Juneau, Douglas Islalnd, Gasteneau Channel, and Douglas Bridge 1,800 feet up Mt. Roberts. (Photo taken by Willow Seay in 2004)

This is the courtyard as viewed from the Capitol Buidling third floor (which is called the second floor because the first floor is called the ground floor).

A float plane lands next to the cruise ship Infinity. The huge cruise ship dwarfs the float plane.

When the cruise ships dock, they become a skyscraper that moves in on the skyline of buildings in Juneau. This cruise ship actually block the view of Juneau from Douglas Island across the Gasteneau Channel.