After spending the last two days in Juneau, Alaska, I have seen many of this city’s most amazing sites. Like the Mendenhall Glacier, “The Glory Hole” at Sandy Beach – and the Alaskan Brewery – which gave a free tour and a lesson on how their great beer was made – and then let us enjoy the results – for free. But no matter the views, the sites – or the natural landmarks – the most amazing thing about this trip has been the people I’ve met rather then the places I’ve seen.

Being from New York City, a day does not go by without encountering a nasty person. Not that everyone in New York is mean – but during Rush Hour on the #2 Train – you are bound to run into someone who forgot to swallow their happy pill. But here in Juneau – I feel like I am on a different planet.

From complete strangers wishing me a good morning as I walked by, to storekeepers giving me free gifts – to a brewery allowing you to drink as much as you want and not even accepting a tip is something that is very foreign to me – because when you spend twenty-nine years in a city of ten million and fly to a city of thirty-one thousand – you feel like you are light years away from what you are used to – because besides the tranquility of your new surroundings – the people you meet there are just as comforting and welcoming as the sites that surround you.

As Montel took me around the City of Juneau – which if compared to Manhattan – is the distance from my office to my train station – I realized that every person I encountered, from the shopkeeper I bought things from, to the person who served me dinner – to the person I passed on the street – were kind, warm, sincere – and courteous – a far cry from the behavior exhibited on the #2 train.

The most dramatic act of kindness I have experienced so far was when Montel took me to a shop owned by her friend Pete. Pete knew who I was when I met him because of what Montel told him about me. So after a few minutes of conversation – he gave me two statues, two pins – and a postcard from his shop as a gift, just because I knew his friend. As I stood there amazed at what this man who I only met moments ago just did – I realized that for the next week while I was in Alaska – I was really going to be getting away from it all.

This pattern of behavior was apparent everywhere I went. Even at the Alaskan Brewing Company, where I met Tracy who poured me all the beer I wanted for free – and then gave me a tour of the brewery where I saw “Alaska’s Largest Six Pack” – the vats that hold a beer that has won two First Place Trophies at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival. Offering a wonderfully smooth Pale Ale, A calming Amber, A great tasting ESB – and the only Stout I can drink – the Alaskan Brewing Company has gone from an idea in 1986 to the third most awarded Brewing Company – behind only Anheuser-Busch and Coors. Not bad for a fifteen year old beer in a town of less then fifty thousand – now if only they would distribute in Brooklyn.

The part that amazes me the most about my trip so far is that I have been here for less then forty-eight hours and feel as “at home” as if I have been here for forty-eight years. While New York will always be my home – I think I could see this being my home away from home.

And to think – I pass more people going home from DOB then live in this town – now I know why less is more.