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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 couples every whim.
Pearsons 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 (shes
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 thats 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 Alaskas temperate
summer climate and magnificent scenery, Pearsons 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,
Alaskas 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, its 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., Juneaus Alaska Native
Corporation. Another of Goldbelts 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 peoples 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 Goldbelts 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;
its 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
.
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