It’s pretty extraordinary to explore amazing locations thanks to my job at Alaska Airlines. I’ve always loved traveling and Alaska has always held a close place to my heart as Seattle’s hometown airline. For the first trip to Alaska, Juneau was a great choice. It is just a little over a 2 hour flight from Seattle. Juneau is Alaska’s capital and home to Alaskan Brewery (one of my favorite breweries) plus it has the outdoor appeal with the Glacier and hikes to be enjoyed. The plan was to head back to Seattle on the 8pm flight if all worked out.
Our first stop in Juneau was heading to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was a really easy hike to get to Nugget Falls where we had a better view of the glacier and the falls crashing down next to it. Definitely a great way to start the day. The glacier is massive and the beautiful blue colors shine across the water on the ice thunks.
After the Glacier, we hit the highway out of town to a place that the rental car agent recommended. It was a shrine that had an amazing spot on the water. From there, we were able to watch the salmon swimming upstream (some successful, some not) and the bald eagles hanging out near the water. They are truly magnificent so I was excited to capture them in their element.
After the shrine, we headed into downtown Juneau for lunch. Since there were a couple cruise ships in town, downtown was super busy so we stayed away from the crowds and after lunch, made our way out to the Alaskan brewery. Alaskan is the beer beverage served on board Alaska Airlines, so I was able to get a VIP tour through the brewery for work.
We made the decision around noon to switch to an earlier flight for a better chance of getting home. It meant leaving earlier than expected but it ended up being a good choice as we both made the flight back to Seattle and arrived early enough in the night.
