Well one tinny blur of a bear on a rock as we cruised the Tracy Arm, a deep fjord below Juneau. Located on the east coast of Douglas Island along the Gasineau Channel, Juneau is the only state capital in the United States located on the mainland that cannot be cannot be reached by car. It has a Highway through the centre which stretches 40 miles north and about 10 miles south. Named after the prospector Joe Juneau, the town became territorial capital in 1912 and state capital in 1959. Juneau was founded on gold in 1880 and from the first strike in Gold Creek to the largest gold mining of its time - Treadwell Mine - gold was the major economic activity until the closure of the last mine in 1945.
The architecture is very much " gold rush" with trading posts and traditional saloons but close to the docks, as our guide put it "is all Disney land" created by Carnival Cruises. I learnt today that all along the Alaskan coast most of the ports have been developed by Carnival to feature dozens of jewellery shops. I wondered why I recognised many of the shops from the Caribbean! Is their no end to their domination and manipulation of local economies. The local guides and bus drivers all asked us to ignore the "Princess shops" as they were known and ask the locals to point out outlets selling Alaskan goods.
One not to be missed stop on my short run round the town before joining an excursion was the statue of Patsy Ann. The story goes that in the 1930's , the locals named a deaf, homeless dog Patsy Ann; she showed up every day a ship docked. Not only was she their, she always waited at the correct one of seven docks! She was made "Official Greeter" by the mayor in 1937. The statue - see photo - was erected in here loving memory.
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