john [email] said at 3:17 AM 04-01-2008: Went to Juneau back in 1992 or 93 when I was in the Navy. Being under 21 at the time, I was only interested in finding a bar that did not card. Found one right away along with about 500 other people from my ship. It was only a 3 block walk from the pier where my ship docked. They ran out of beer the first night. Unfortunately, it was really cold and that's the only thing that I did. I wish I could have that time back to do something different. The coast is beautiful though.
amanda [email] said at 3:20 AM 04-01-2008: My ex-husband moved there after our divorce. He enjoyed living there, but admitted that there wasn't much to do apart from hiking and outdoor activities.
amanda [email] said at 7:08 PM 04-01-2008: Nah. I found that escaping to Alameda was a much easier solution. Now I must remember to never leave this island.
art [email] said at 11:33 AM 04-03-2008: One suggestion - don't try to see the whole thing. It will burn you alive. Pick either the Southeast, Aleutians or Fairbanks/Anchorage and spend 10 to 14 days in that one area.
A friend and I took the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) up from Bellingham Washington. We had a blast. We camped on the deck of the boat (yep!) and stayed in youth hostels. Much fun.
More about the ferry. They each have a solarium which is basically an area enclosed on the sides and top with glass and electric heaters. There are chaise lounges underneath this. First come, first served. She and I grabbed two chairs and put them next to each other and dumped out sleeping bags/back packs on them for the journey. There were maybe thirty other people that did the same - it was like a moving campground.
Other people duct-taped their tents to the open part of the deck outside (maybe a dozen tents) and camped out there. It was amazing to wake up at night and see the Northern Lights.
The ferries have movie theaters, bars, cafeterias, restaurants, stores, etc. We were able to use the cafeteria hot water, forks, knives etc for free. The showers are free, too.
The boats lay over from 2 to five hours as various cities, so you can get off and explore and get back on.
We spent ten days on and off the boat. We were going to get off at Ketchikan but met a fun couple that convinced us to skip it and join them in Peterburg for pizza. So we went from Bellingham to Petersburg (getting off to explore Ketchikan and Wrangell when boat stopped). Stayed overnight then got on another ferry to Sitka where we spent two days. Then on the another ferry to Juneau (three days) and then on to Haines (two days) and Skagway (three). We also took the train to Whitehorse in the Yukon and back to Skagway.
On the way to Juneau the ferry stops at Tenakee Springs where there are hot springs (alternating single sex - no clothes allowed). When the ferry stopped for 90 minutes it was men's hours and a bunch of us were lined up at the rail to run the 2 miles to the springs. The women were grumpy.
We met amazing and strange people. I was also offered jobs on two gold claims and a fishing boat.
I plan to do this again with the wife once we have young'uns and they are old enough.