Creature comforts: the pretty good Alaskan indoors

Downtown

Coppa coffee and ice cream shop: Owned by our friends, Marc and Jessica, Coppa is a little off the beaten downtown path (right near the big federal building), but worth finding. Good coffee and and some amazing locally-inspired flavors. The rhubarb sorbet is what started it all. The best secret find in Juneau! A must visit for life-affirming local lavors.
State Museum. A new and extensive museum. Highly recommended for snapshot of Alaska history, culture, industry, and artwork.
Shopping: You can't go wrong just walking around downtown Juneau. Our top picks include Hearthside books, Trove, Shoefly. (Can you tell which side of the "royal we" wrote this?)
Art: Canvas Art Gallery, Sealaska Heritage store WM Spear Design
Food and more drinky drink... (see below).
Amalga Distillery: A gin distillery at which you can sample a couple of drinks. Owned by a couple of good friends, an artist and a teacher.
Devil's Club Brewing Company: Relatively new place downtown. Tasty beer. Taproom started by 3 Juneau boys. Cool space/former Vaudeville theater.
City Museum. On the national register of historic places.
Mt. Roberts Tram: You can pay to take it round trip, or you can hike the Mt. Roberts trail, spend $10 in the restaurant/bar, and take the tram down. Count on about an hour to the tram from the trailhead, which starts on Basin Road. There's good access to alpine hiking from the top of the tram.
Tom's buddy David A. Jacobs has recently scorned him for forgetting to list The Triangle Bar as a great local watering hole. Jake's right. They used to take shelter there for a Rainier and a hot dog while searching for work in the summer of '84.

Out the Road

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Note that they were remaining open during the "laps" in funding. I wonder how many such "laps" of lapses we will have had by June! This is the area where we'll tie the knot. Do your best to shoo other tourists away. Visitor center is beautiful, and there might be a few sockeye in Steep Creek. Follow the hordes of ponchos. Or not. If there are sockeye in, there's sure to be some black bear around. Might be good to stop by in the evening, when the tourists have gone.

University of Alaska Southeast . If you're driving around and looking for an un-touristy thing to do, go to the UAS campus at Auke Lake and if the library is open go in and check it out. It's really a gorgeous spot. Then encourage your relatives to consider UAS. It's got a nationally ranked marine science program.

Squire's Rest Bar. (Right across from the Auke Bay / Statter Harbor boat launch.) This dive bar is a fun place to go to in the summer months because you can often strike up conversations with the crew on the mega yachts. Otherwise, it's an unpretentious spot with a great view of the water.

Shrine of St. Therese. Cool old stone church in a little grove of spruce right on the water.

Bars and Restaurants

We hope you haven't come from Seattle or elsewhere with expectations of being culinarily dazzled, but when in Rome, right?

Probably best not to take our word for it, so check out the local ratings from our fishwrapper. And here's another dining guide.

The Hangar downtown has a great set of taps, and tasty food. Good halibut tacos -- ask for 'em even if they're not on the menu. Its sister restaurant, The Twisted Fish, has pretty decent fare as well. If it's nice, outside seating is fun, depending on the music selection.

Deckhand Dave's street (fish) tacos are pretty danged good.

A fun spot if you're looking to avoid tourists (I think) is The Sandbar. It's on "Industrial Boulevard" (which tells you most of what you need to know, other than it has the best halibut fish and chips in town.

A popular spot for late night grub is Pel'meni, a Russian dumpling place in the Wharf building (where the Hangar is).

The Island Pub on Douglas Island is another good spot to get away from tourists. They make a pretty good marinara.

Never a bad idea to stop by the Alaskan Brewery's tasting room should you become a little parched. The new tasting room is a little more glitzy than the old one in the brewery itself.

And if you're just looking for a quick bite to get you on the road (or back on the horse), try the Breeze In deli in Lemon Creek. Their burritos are hefty and tasty. Good beer and wine selection there, too. Tom thinks he's going to fund his retirement with "Body by Breeze In" t-shirts (and modeling).

Other good spots: Rookery Cafe, any Heritage Coffee (the one on Seward and Front St. is the biggest), Salt (good wine bar),Sandpiper Cafe, Boca al Lupo.

Many picnic spots out the road.

Katrina doing her best to promote Devil's Club swag.

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