Pearson's Pond Warms Hearts in Alaska
By Kathie Farnell
Photos by Jack Purser

Just outside Juneau, Alaska, a luxury bed and breakfast literally caters to a couple’s every whim. Pearson’s Pond Luxury Inn and Adventure Spa has been described as “what happens when an obsessive-compulsive opens a bed and breakfast.” It started simply enough: innkeepers Diane and Steve Pearson have always been happy to help visitors plan their Juneau stay.

Now, however, things have escalated.

Want to get married on a glacier? No problem--Diane will arrange to have you ferried up there in a helicopter, perform the ceremony herself (she’s licensed), cater your reception and provide accommodations for the honeymoon. When intrepid couple Danny McCracken and Tracey Obeda got married atop Herbert Glacier in July, 2005, Diane even arranged for them to spend their wedding night up there in a tent !

As if that’s not enough, Diane and Steve also assist Asian honeymooners who want to follow the custom of conceiving a “good fortune” baby under the wintry Northern Lights by providing romantic hot tubs outside under those same lights.

From kayaking to yoga to dogsledding to feeding a duck (the pond back of the inn is home to an entire duck family), the Pearsons will accommodate you.

And if you just want to relax and enjoy south Alaska’s temperate summer climate and magnificent scenery, Pearson’s provides luxurious rooms, fresh-baked bread daily, wine and cheese every afternoon, and a back porch with a peaceful view of the glacier-made pond. A garden surrounds the house and in summer bears have been known to eat their way through the blueberry bushes. A hiking trail just down the road winds over to the big blue Mendenhall Glacier, which tumbles icebergs into Mendenhall Lake. There, a visitors’ center provides information about the shrinking glacier as well as scenic photo opportunities. Get even closer to a glacier with Northstar Trekking, headquartered near the airport, which offers professionally-guided helicopter glacier hikes and flightseeing tours.

Juneau, Alaska’s capital, is a compact city of 30,000. Though the town has a good road system, there are no roads leading out of town. The outside world comes to Juneau via air and water. The city is actually located in a rain forest, a surprise to those of us who think rain forest means Brazil and howler monkeys. Overcast skies are the norm here, and the deep waters, steep mountains and hills covered with fir trees are reminiscent of Scotland. Bald eagles love Juneau; our national bird feasts on the salmon which run upstream to spawn in the warmer months.

Whales love Juneau, too; the humpback whale, which wisely spends its winters in Hawaii, is a summer Juneau resident, eating its way through tons of tiny aquatic life. To get a good look at the whales, it’s easy to board one of the whale watching tours which leave from the Juneau harbor or from nearby Auke Bay. Adventures with Whales, located in Juneau, takes visitors out to the whales in its new purple 51-footer, Orca Odyssea. Our voyage turned up sea lions as well as whales doing everything from taking a nap, to waving their long pectoral fins, to jumping clear out of the water.

Juneau is a popular cruise port. Huge ships dock here every day, dwarfing the downtown buildings. The waterfront area is home to a number of interesting attractions. The Mount Roberts Tramway boards near the cruise ship docks, climbing 1800 feet to provide a spectacular view over the Inside Passage. Tickets include admission to an award-winning film, “Seeing Daylight” about the history and culture of the native Tlinget people.

The tram is one of a number of attractions operated by Goldbelt, Inc., Juneau’s Alaska Native Corporation. Another of Goldbelt’s offerings, the Tlinget Welcome and Presentation at the downtown Centennial Hall, allows visitors to experience a traditional welcome and learn the intriguing story of the Tlinget, who have been described as having the most sophisticated social structure of any indigenous people. The husband and wife team of Ed Kunz, Jr., and Percy Martin, both Tlinget elders, share stories from their people’s long history of life in a land so abundant that they once made bullets from gold. Goldbelt also offers out of town excursions: Glacier Day Cruises by Goldbelt’s Auk Nu Tours leave from downtown Juneau, bound for destinations including Tracy Arm Fjord, rated the #1 glacier tour in Alaska.

If all this activity has made you hungry, downtown Juneau is home to a variety of local restaurants. The waterfront Hangar on the Wharf is a favorite with locals; try the halibut tacos and sample their enormous collection of microbrews. Twisted Fish Company, near the Mount Roberts Tram building, also offers local seafood including first-rate salmon. The Fiddlehead Restaurant, back of the waterfront area on West Willoughby Avenue, features creative, fresh cuisine including seafood, steaks and homemade desserts.

Getting There:

Getting to Juneau is easy; it’s a two-hour flight from Seattle aboard Alaska Airlines, with several flights scheduled daily. The Alaska Marine Highway provides year-round car and passenger ferry service between Bellingham, Washington or Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and the Alaska coast.

For More Information:

For more information on the Juneau area, check the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau site, http://www.traveljuneau.com .