hi all!!
Another lunch hour, another excursion review.
In Juneau, we did the Enchanted Taku Lodge and Floatplane excursion. Let me preface this by saying because of the price tag, Mom and I both nearly backed out several times - however, it was absolutely the highlight of our trip and it will be the first excursion booked next time we cruise Alaska.
When we met in Wavebands, we were asked to put our weight on the small tear-off portion of the excursion ticket. Then, we boarded a bus that drove us to the dock the float planes leave from. Our guide asked for families of four or more to identify themselves, then split them out into seperate areas. She then added people to each group until they all had 9 people in them. Every effort was made to keep parties together. Then, she did a little mixing and matching (I'm assuming to get weights more equally distributed.) She then collected all the tickets for each group and went inside to the office. A few minutes later, she came out and assigned each group an animal name (we were in the Moose group). That was how we would be called to board the floatplanes both in Juneau and at the Lodge. Mom and I are both Pooh-sized and at no time were we ever uncomfortable!
When we boarded the planes, there was a netted compartment in the back for backpacks and loose items. The windows curve outward, so you can get your camera into some really good angles. We ended up in the last two seats and really like being further back from the wings. The flight itself is spectacular! From the super smooth liftoff and landings to the amazing views and the interesting narration, we were disappointed that the flight was over so quickly!
We flew over at least two glaciers (sadly, my notebook was in the storage compartment) and glided in to the most beautiful setting ever. The Taku Lodge sits on an inlet with a glacier just across the river. We were greeted like old friends and brought into the lodge to drop whatever we wanted to drop and to get coffee, Russian tea (OMG! Wonderful hot orangey, spiced tea.) or to purchase sodas/beer/wine. We were allowed to wander for about 30 minutes before lunch.
During that time, I visited with the grillmaster (he's from Southlake, about 20 minutes from where I live - small world!) and we had two bear sightings. They would come right into the clearing. At the first call of bear, the "bear bouncer" would grab this long, thick stick and come running to stand between us and the bears. We never felt threatened by the bears and I was glad to see that they were trying to not have to do more than scare the bears away.
Lunch was the grilled salmon (a chicken option was available), the world's best baked beans, stewed apples, to die for herbed biscuits, yeast rolls and molasses cookies. We chose to wash ours down with an Alaskan Amber. I will be honest - I don't like fish, but it just felt wrong not to try it on this excursion. It was WONDERFUL!! No fishy taste and a smokey, sweet crust from the glaze.
While we were eating, the manager came out and told us the history of the lodge. He was engaging, funny and told a great story! Also, the bears came to eat the sludge under the grill (created from the sand and fish oils - they were very careful to not leave any actual food outside). After we were done, we had another 30 minutes or so to enjoy the grounds.
Sadly, our chariots came back and we had to sail back through the sky to Juneau. But oh, my what a wonderful day!!
