When my friend from Florida booked a trip to visit me in Skagway, I decided that I would fly over to Juneau to meet her and do a quick sight seeing trip with her before she arrived in Skagway.

Here are my must do’s for anyone with less than 24 hours in Juneau.

A lot of people wonder how people travel between Skagway and Juneau.  Because there is no road between the two communities, your choices are to fly or ferry.  For this trip, I did both…which is definitely the way to go!  For my trip to Juneau, I flew on Alaska Seaplanes.  These are not the float planes that you might be thinking of…but instead, small turbo prop planes.  I was worried that my flight was not going to happen because it was cloudy and rainy all day, but the clouds cleared just in time!

The views from above are truly spectacular!  It puts into perspective just how small we are!  Once I got to Juneau, I picked up my rental car from Juneau Rental Car.  I love this company because they drop the car off at the airport for you…no need to mess around with going to a desk and waiting in line!  You never know what kind of vehicle you are going to get…and this time there was a Lincoln Continental waiting for me!  One word…luxury!

It was a mad dash to the Super 8, so I could get checked in and meet my friends for dinner.  No trip to Juneau is ever complete without a trip to In Bocca al Lupo!  It is my favorite choice for dinner (and dessert if you are lucky enough to get there in time to get some!)  Luckily my good friends, who live in Juneau, were available to meet me for dinner! As always, I got the pizza margherita…which never disappoints. I also got a Caesar salad this time…and it was AMAZING!

***Pro tip…get the Thunderdome as an appetizer.  You will not be disappointed!!!

After dinner, we grabbed some frozen yogurt from Juno FroYo…and then I was off to the hotel to wait for the arrival of one of my favorite people…all the way from Florida. 

Marnie arrived at 11 PM…so we didn’t have much time to catch up.  I knew we needed to be up early, so I could cram in as much as possible in the 8 hours we would have to sightsee!

We started our morning around 8 am!  Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day…but it is also my favorite (we actually used to own a breakfast food truck!)  Our first stop was Donna’s, which is a staple in Juneau!  It has been there since 1984…and it is very apparent that it is a local favorite.  It is located right by the airport…so there is rarely a time that we visit Juneau and do not make a stop here!  

After breakfast, we headed straight to Mendenhall Glacier!  We were hoping to beat the crowds…which was never an issue because somehow we lucked out and landed here on a no ship day!  We practically had the whole area to ourselves.   We did the 2 mile round trip hike to Nugget Falls and used the time to get caught up on each other’s lives (It had been 1.5 years since we saw each other)!  We then wandered down to Steep Creek to see if we would be lucky enough to see any bears…but the only wildlife we saw were some salmon and a porcupine who was sound asleep in a tree.

Next stop…Breeze In, but not just any Breeze In…the Lemon Creek location (because they have a wall of donuts!)  The motto of Breeze In is “More than a convenience, it’s a breeze!”  I always wonder if we are just unusually excited by this convenience store because we don’t have ANY convenience stores in Skagway, but I have found that my friends from the lower 48 are usually as impressed with the donuts here too!  After snagging boxes of donuts and some drinks, we headed for the Shrine of St. Therese.

The Shrine of St. Therese is located “out the road”, which is about 22 miles north of downtown Juneau.  It is a Catholic church that overlooks the most beautiful section of the Lynn Canal.  It sits on 46 acres, with the stone chapel showcased on the peninsula.    While visiting the shrine, we took the time to follow the Merciful Love Labyrinth.  It was an opportunity for us to follow the path, enjoy the experience, and for me…take some photos!

Next stop…downtown Juneau!  On our way downtown, I made a quick detour to the whale sculpture.  Takhu is an iconic, life-size, bronze sculpture of a breaching humpback whale.  It was sculpted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alaska’s statehood.  Once we marveled at the beauty and snapped the obligatory photos of the whale, it was off to the Red Dog Saloon. 

The Red Dog Saloon has been in operation since the heyday of the mining years in Juneau.  In those years, it was the model of hospitality and fellowship for travelers…and now it continues that tradition of fellowship for all of the cruise passengers and independent travelers that make their way through the capital city.  I brought Marnie here because a “duck fart” shot is a must when you travel to Juneau!  It is a layered shot of Bailey’s, Kahlua, and Crown Royal.  In my opinion, you can’t really say you went to the Red Dog Saloon if you didn’t have a duck fart.

At this point, it was almost time to head for Auke Bay, which was our departure point back to Skagway…but not without a trip to Fred Meyer first!  Fred Meyer would be our equivalent of a Target.  And since we do not have any of these types of chain stores in Skagway, it is always a must visit.  At this particular time in Skagway, we were having the “Great Milk Shortage of 2021”.  Milk was hard to come by…and it was being flown and trucked in whenever possible.  When the milk did arrive, we were all thrilled… but a half gallon was going to cost you about $8!  So, we went to Fred’s and picked up a few gallons of milk ($2.99 a gallon). 

It was now time for us to head to the harbor to catch our ferry back to Skagway!  We chose to travel with Alaska Fjordlines…which is a family run business out of Haines, AK.  During the summer season, they have runs between, Skagway, Haines, and Juneau.  On the trip back from Juneau, you get the chance to see whales, seals, eagles, sea lions, glaciers, lighthouses, and so much more!  It is definitely an experience in and of itself!