Alaska

Our flight landed at the Anchorage Airport at 12:45 a.m. and it was still daylight!  We stayed at the America’s Best Value Hotel (close to the airport, $135 a night, AAA rate, booked 6 months in advance, 3 day cancellation policy) We took the free hotel shuttle, checked in, then closed the room-darkening curtains to sleep for a few hours. In the morning, we walked down the street to Midnight Sun Car Rental. It is a local rental car company with rates at least $25 less per day than other companies and had great customer service. The vehicles….well… ours was a 2005 Chevrolet Uplander with over 100,000 miles on it, but it got us where we needed to go! Windshield protection was available for an extra $3 a day which is recommended if you are planning to drive out of Anchorage and end up on gravel roads.We have heard from a couple members who wish they would have gotten this!

We drove through “downtown” Anchorage then on to the Ulu Knife Factory, a small shop where you can learn hands-on about the knife that Alaskan natives have used for ages. And true to the factory name, you can see knives being carved by hand and by machine. Outside the Ulu factory shop is Ship Creek, a popular place for salmon fishing. The salmon hadn’t come in yet (June 19) but there was still a lot of people fishing on a Friday morning and we saw some salmon being reeled in.

We drove on Parks Highway 3 from Anchorage toward Talkeetna and the Denali area.  On the outskirts of Wasilla a friend took us to eat at a popular local place – Trout’s Place and Windbreak Cafe. After filling up on a reindeer sausage omlette we went to Wasilla City Hall to see where Sarah Palin started her political career. The city staff was happy to show us around. Just a short drive away was our next stop, the Iditarod Headquarters. It has a few display items, a stuffed sled dog, a selection of gift shop items, and a video about the Iditirod. The highlight was outside – going on a sled dog ride and meeting dogs and trainers who actually race in the Iditirod including the son of Joe Redington, “father of the Iditrod”. Although the sled race only lasted less than 3 minutes, our kids still experienced the thrill of a dog sled ride. We were encouraged to play with some 5 week old sled dog puppies that were so hard to put down! Many tours go through in the morning, so in the afternoon it was just us and one other family so we were able to ask as many questions as we wanted and there was no waiting in line. The museum and movie were free. The cost was $10 per person for the sled dog ride.  For our group, this was a great alternative to purchasing a sled dog excursion through the cruise ship. Those excursions are much more extensive with a longer, more scenic dog sled ride and a narrated bus tour, but prices start at $125 per person.

Our plans to get to Talkeetna for a glacier flight seeing tour were canceled because a wildfire in the area closed the road. The only other way to Talkeetna was a 14 hour drive detour! We, instead, dipped our toes in cold water of Lake Wasilla and headed back to Anchorage.

This candy factory is geared toward tourists with a large selection of souvenirs and good prices. There are large viewing windows to watch candy being made and had a huge chocolate fountain that everyone had to fight the urge to stick a finger in for a taste!  We paused for a photo with a famous inuksuk “Rock Man” located outside. Sourdough Mining Company, a popular restaurant with a lot of character is right next door. We opted to grab some delicious fried chicken from Lucky Wishbone, an Alaskan establishment since 1955 and picnicked at Lake Hood Floatplane Base and watched float planes take off and land. This captured our attention for quite awhile until we were off to tackle our quest to see a moose in Alaska.

We were surprised when we were told the best place to see a moose was at the Anchorage airport. Crazy, right?  But true. We drove around the back end of the airport around 9:00 p.m. in broad daylight, and low and behold we saw a moose chomping on some weeds and grass not too far from an industrial building. See a moose in Alaska. Check! Another surprise was around the corner. At the end of the Anchorage airport runway is a nice park and walking trail where we literally laid on our backs and saw planes take off right over our heads including a 747 that shook the ground!  After that excitement we checked into the Historic Anchorage Hotel in downtown Anchorage. It is a nice, historic hotel ($235 a night, booked 1 year in advance) within walking distance of downtown sights, restaurants, and nightlife.

In Juneau we wanted to do some exploring so we rented a car. Rental cars in Alaska tend to be pricey so we rented from a local place Juneau Car Rentals. Cruise ships dock at two docks A and C.  It was a good 15 minute walk to pick up the car at Dock C. Juneau Car Rentals is right at Dock C but a long walk to downtown. Dock A is a long walk to the rental car place and a short walk to downtown. We drove around downtown and saw the State Capital and the Governor’s Mansion. Next we went to Macaullay Salmon Hatchery for about an hour where we learned about the different Alaskan fish and their life cycle. Then we went to the marina to board our whale watching boat – Rum Runners with Captain Chris. We considered different whale watching tours but we found that for a group of 6 people it was less expensive to charter our own boat then to purchase individual excursions with the cruise ship or on our own. The charter gave us more flexibilty and a closer look at the whales. The tour did not disappoint. As soon as we left the marina the Captain quickly found a group of humpback whales. We were fortunate to watch the whales “bubble-net” feed, which they do at certain times of the year (mid-June) depending on the availability of food. Eleven whales swam in a circle underwater and formed a net of bubbles that trapped the fish. They shot upwards through the water and opened their mouths to gulp up the fish. It was a fantastic sight. We also saw a sea lion upon a buoy and some bald eagles. Our Captain was very informative along with a marine biology student on board who gave us a lesson on whales and served drinks and snacks.

After the tour was over we drove to Mendahall Glacier which was easy to find and easy to park. We did a short 1/3 mile walk to Photo Point and then hiked 2 miles to Nugget Falls at the water’s edge. Both hikes were easy with paved trails. Nugget Falls is a cool sight to see – a waterfall with the river of ice (the glacier) in the background.

We were intrigued by the idea that the only way to get to Juneau is via plane or boat. Literally no roads lead to Juneau! So after the boat tour we took a road north out of town and almost got to the end. We stopped to look at the Shrine of Saint Therese which was scenic but our group wished we would have used the time to see if we could get to the end of the road out of Juneau.

In Skagway we got off the cruise ship and walked 10 minutes to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Museum located on the main drag as you enter town. There was Ranger-led tour going on outside so we joined it. We later found out that the Park took reservations for the tour and the tours often fill up. Our ignorance landed us in a tour with no waiting. If you do have to wait, the museum has a lot of interesting exhibits. The tour walked through parts of town and ended near another NPS building where they have a Junior Ranger Program with hands-on activities.

We walked through town collecting “Alaskan charms” from the jewelry stores. The shops offer the collectibles for free to entice people in the door, which is smart business because I don’t think we would have gone in otherwise but we ended up seeing some interesting and nice quality items. After a peek into the famous Red Dog Saloon we went back to the ship for lunch and to grab some items for hiking. The mile long trail we took began at the very beginning of town and led to Lower Dewey Lake. The hike went up a mountain to a lake on top! The water was freezing but my husband and kids went in for a quick swim. The NPS website has good information on the hikes. We found this more helpful than the Rangers that day.

Icy Strait Point became a cruise ship stop in 2004 so it is a much newer cruise ship port. The little “town” of Icy Strait Point was built specifically for cruise ships so it is clean and organized. We tendered to the port. Immediately past the boarding area there is a building for excursion information and a large building that has museum-type exhibits explaining the canning process since the area had been once used for a cannery. There is also a large gift shop which has many hand-crafted native Alaskan gifts. The main attraction in Icy Strait Point seems to be a long zip-line which begins at the top of a mountain and ends right in the tourist area. Spectators can grab food and a drink at the restaurant, sit outside at picnic table and watch people zip down. A couple of members from our group did the zip line and absolutely loved it. $120 for a 40 minute ride to the top and a 5 minute zip ride down.

Near the zip line observation area is a short (took us 5 minutes) forest trail hike which had some different fauna then other Alaskan hikes we had been on so far. The very best part of the stop was walking along the beach. Our group got excited when we found a starfish. Minutes later we realized there were hundreds of starfish on the shore, so many that you had to be careful not to step on one! Before getting back on the ship, we stopped at the Crab Station for some fresh Dungeness Crab. They also serve a killer Crabby Bloody Mary. You won’t find any places where the locals go – because there are no locals! Employees live in the town of Hoonah which is a considerable walk or shuttle ride away. Fellow cruise passengers that went to Hoonah said there wasn’t much there to do or see. The town wanted to keep tourists in the Icy Strait area.

We started the day in Ketchikan with a quick-paced 10 minute walk past a bunch of tourist shops to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show arena. It is THE show in Ketchikan. Shows are held multiple times a day. Our morning show was sold out so purchase in advance through the cruise ship or on your own. (save $3 a ticket purchasing on your own) The Lumberjack Show was entertaining and definitely unique to Alaska! Loggers were competing for a title and the crowd was encouraged to cheer and jeer for the USA or Canadian team depending on where they sat in the arena. It is open seating so you can choose to sit by the USA or Canadian flag. Since there is only one exit, through a gift shop of course, sit near the entrance if you want to exit faster. We didn’t, so after a wait, we exited and walked to Ship Creek. Ship Creek is a picturesque historical area with colorful buildings and gift shops with unique items along the creek.

The rest of our day was spent with family friends who live in Ketchikan. We visited their house and had a close encounter with a bald eagle – just 10 feet away from us in their backyard. They took us to Totem Bight Park on the north end of the city. Maybe since it was quite a drive from the town, the park was incredibly peaceful with few other tourists. The park had 14 totem poles and a clan house (above) along a hiking trail through the woods near the water. There was no admission fee. Others in our group enjoyed going to the Totem Heritage Center which is walking distance from downtown that has museum as well as totem poles for $5 admission. After leaving Ketchikan for the first time we could feel the ship rocking in the waves. We came prepared with seabands, natural oil to rub behind the ears, and some sea sickness pills. We did a little bit of everything and no one felt too sick.