I am reporting in on our NatGeo Inside Passage Cruise which we recently completed. I had torn my meniscus in early March, had a cortisone shot 3 weeks later and embarked on our cruise the beginning of June. We were traveling with my sister and her wife. In hindsight, this was probably a cruise that we should have all canceled as it did not go well for any of us except my husband.
We arrived in Juneau a day early so as not to miss our embarkation if our flights were delayed. We arrived at nearly midnight and taxis from the airport were far and few between. We called the NatGeo recommended taxi company and they said they would be there when they got there. They never showed up. It was catch as catch can and we finally snagged a taxi. The taxi driver said many of the cabbies had taken the night off. We were staying at the Baranof Hotel but regretted not booking a hotel that had an airport shuttle as many of the arriving passengers were being quickly whisked off to their hotels on those hotel shuttles. The Baranof is an older slightly shabby hotel but we survived two nights there. And it was not cheap but nothing is in Alaska.
The next day we opted to walk a bit of a distance to the Sandpiper Cafe (good choice) for breakfast and then went to the Alaska State Museum. This is a wonderful small museum highlighting the native Alaskans, their crafts and lives. It was well worth a visit. We met up with my sister and sister-in-law later in the day for an early meal at the Red Dog Saloon. It was crowded but we didn’t have to wait for a table which was surprising as there were so many cruise ships in port. The Red Dog is a popular place. The meals aren’t fancy and it was reasonable. It is like an old time saloon and the waitresses were in costume and very engaging. There was also live entertainment. I had the drink called the duck fart which the saloon is known for. It is a large shot glass with a layer of Kailua, a layer of Bailey’s and a layer of Crown Royal. You are instructed to down it in one gulp and not sip. I sipped the first one as I didn’t want to miss the taste of all the liqueurs but downed the second one (yes, I had two. Don’t judge me.) in one gulp. So far my knee was doing well despite all the walking in Juneau and two airports and was great the next day as well. The knee brace was good support and I was taking some ibuprofen. I was optimistic that the trip would be doable for me. I could have had another cortisone shot before this trip but decided to save it for the trip to the Arctic. You can only have so many of those shots per year.