We bypassed the "blue bus", the $8 per person each way shuttle to Mendenhall in favor of taking the city bus. We wanted to walk a bit further into town anyway, so it made sense to make our way toward the bus terminal (right next to the police station). The bus just raised its rates this month-$2 per adult, $1 per child- and exact change was required.
Honestly, it would be hard to find a less welcoming bus driver than we encountered today. I might have assumed that the fact that she was 11 months pregnant might have something to do with it, but others traveling with us from our ship said that they encountered the same thing yesterday in Ketchikan. That's too bad...with so many visitors every summer, you'd think Alaska would want to appear to be a bit more welcoming.
Still, a bus ride is a bus ride, and we enjoyed seeing Juneau a bit during the 30 minute or so ride down Mendenhall Valley. However (and we knew this), there is a 1.5 mile walk, slightly uphill on an asphalt sidewalk, from where the bus left us off to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center. Again, we were looking for some exercise, but given the hiking we subsequently did around the glacial lake, next time we would opt for the direct shuttle to the visitors center and save the walking to the bus terminal in town and from the drop off point of the public bus.
We had met up with a family from Toronto (originally from India) at the bus terminal. They were also off the Island Princess, and we chatted a bit on the ride. As it turned out, we walked with them, either in pairs or as a group, the mile and a half to the visitors center. Their 10 year old son was quite talkative- VERY talkative- and we heard all about their current vacation, their vacation last year, his last three birthdays and school. All the way to the visitors center. We worked hard to keep our amusement contained.
Photo 1: steep gangway up to the Promenade Deck 7
Photo 2: waterfront boardwalk leading to town
Photo 3: Freshly caught Alaskan blue cod
Photo 4: the Mt. Roberts tramway