we heart juneau

Juneau, oh my I have grown in love with you. Grand glaciers, endless trails to take, sea scape views, whales seen in the distance from the shore. Many kind folks from near and far, plenty of parks and beaches. Camping at Mendenhall Glacier Lake, picking wild blueberries with the little ones. Whale watching adventures (boat breaking down in the water yikes!). Discovering abandoned villages, beaching combing, eating out and having icecream.

Our trip to Juneau was a dream come true.  Juneau is the kind of place where you go to unwind and decompress. The sea salty air will “get you”, making you stop and take it all in.  We did our best to pack it all  into 4 days and could of easily spent more time there. We explored every nook and cranny, checking out spots that the locals told us to go see.  We also found plenty of kid friendly places to go.

It’s hard to pick just one favourite memory but if I had to, I think it would have to be when the kids were most happy rolling around on the grass at the Shrine of Saint Therese. It was this beautiful little preserved place owned by the Catholic diocese. They have cabins to rent and a hall for meetings, but most beautiful are the grounds. Right on the coast, this little pocket of rain forrest has a trail that leads to a little island. On the island is the shrine of Saint Therese and a beautiful little stone chapel. From there, we took in the sea scape views and saw in the distance 5 humpback whales. We knew it was them because we could see them blow their blow holes for about 30 minutes. It was quite beautiful to see. Really we had many moments that stick out in my memory, and the best part of the trip for me was just to have family time together.

Winslow retuned to work this week and Juneau was just what we needed to do as a family before he went back. It was slow and easygoing there, and the vibe spoke to us. We want to and plan on going back there again someday. 

xox