Ferry Hopping Cont'd next hop, Juneau

Our trip to Juneau from Haines was under 3 hours. The main reason we went to Juneau was because it is the jumping off port for other ferries further south. Juneau is a city and is go fast, traffic, crowds and NO parking places! The campground we stayed at was one of the worst in my life and way too expensive. It was electric only,  in a park full of permanently parked (forever) RVs. A mud hole too! The only saving grace was a clean, free shower. (Showers cost in Alaska!) I found a great place for breakfast on Yelp and it was outstanding! Off we go in the rain to the famous Mendenhall Glacier. I last saw it in 2002 and it recedes 100 plus feet per year. Sad. In 02 we could walk up to it! Now there is a huge Visitors Center full of bus loads of cruise passengers. You view it through big picture windows or walk a long steep path down and still view it quite a way a ways. It is beautiful though! From there we went downtown where 5 ships were in port. We got lucky and found a parking place within walking distance. Carolee and Dan wanted us to see this famous, old bar. The Red Dog Saloon. It was quite crowded and not as cool as they remembered.  Think tourist trap. I wanted to go to the glacial silt soap shop I had read so much about and did. Bought 2 bars. They make your skin as smooth as silk!  Bob and Molly Pinner had been to Juneau earlier and told us to eat at Tracy's Crab Shack. So by now we are hungry, very wet, didn't care, and marched down the busy streets and found it! You stand outside in the rain to order and eat under a tarp! We were able to snag the one inside table! I had FRESH Alaska Golden King crab. It is a summer crab, not caught in abundance like the Red King caught in January. It was absolutely the best crab I have ever eaten! I can't describe the flavor! We also shared crab bisque and crab cakes which were both excellent. After more shopping we headed back to our dump, oh, I mean park, and turned in early. We had to be in line by 4:45 a.m. for our ferry to Sitka, the first Russian capitol of Alaska.