Our Adventures with Mom and Pop Johnson, Cont.

While they were in town, I had the opportunity of giving a tour to my parents-in law.

Emily Johnson:  Tour Guide/Driver, at your service.

We went to one of my favorite spots in Juneau, the Glacier Gardens.  It’s just so—ahhhh—relaxing.  While the passengers go on a guided tour of the gardens and the forest behind the gardens, I get to sit in the greenhouse/café/gift shop, sipping on a hot chocolate or Italian crème soda made by the baristas there while enjoying the beautiful surroundings and peaceful instrumental music played on the speakers.

My favorite, coconut hot chocolate.

Italian soda...or what's left of it.

The beautiful exterior of the Glacier Gardens.

This is the part of the greenhouse that hosts weddings.

 Earlier this week, both Eric and I were able to take them by the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery.

Note from a Tour Guide:  Salmon are born at the hatchery, and then they’re big enough, they’re released into the wild.  Whenever salmon are spawning, they return to wherever they were born, so the salmon born at the hatchery return to there.  Whenever salmon are spawning, they’re at the tail end of their lives; their meat is lean, and it’s starting to decay, so these salmon aren't usable for restaurants or for sale at stores.  There are, however, a few good uses for these returning salmon, such as fertilizer, cat food, and cruise ship food. (I’m only kidding on the last one…maybe.)

Right now we have chum salmon that are returning as well as a few king salmon.  It’s exciting watching the salmon swim against the current in the artificial stream leading to the hatchery.  They get really beat up trying to make it to the spot where it all began.

Two chum salmon sandwiching a king salmon.

Almost every day, we've had some sort of meal with them.  The first full day with them, we went to the Red Dog Saloon downtown, a popular place here in Juneau.

Note from a tour guide:  The Red Dog Saloon has been here since the gold mining days.  It has moved locations a few times, but they keep it pretty authentic looking.  It has swinging doors, animals on the wall, and sawdust on the ground.  The sawdust is there because that’s how they used to get their tips.  The miners who were coming in weren't paying the bartenders enough, so the bartenders put sawdust on the ground, hoping that whenever the miners would sit down, the gold in the miners’ pockets and the gold flakes on their clothing would fall onto the ground, into the sawdust, and the bartenders would be able to sort the gold out later.

When we were there, we sat in the loft of the restaurant where we enjoyed lunch while listening to a comedic piano player down below.

Johnsons!

Oh the sassitude of the Red Dog Saloon.

 We’ve tried a few other restaurants around town, including the ritziest of them all—Costco.   One night, we also shared a meal in our current home.  Eric and I made our current favorite dish, sriracha  sloppy joes (recipe here), and I made an apple compote recipe from the Taku Glacier Lodge (post about that wonderful place here).  Cindy always makes delicious meals for us when we visit California, so it was nice to at least attempt to return the favor. (It’s hard to beat or even come close to her awesome cooking.)