We arrived in Alaska just after the September equinox as the days were beginning to get shorter, but we certainly filled all the available daylight hours with adventures (accompanied by borrowed bear spray whenever we ventured into the great outdoors!). Here are some of our more “urban” experiences, sights, and foods that we experienced in Anchorage.
After hearing many stories of how lucky we would be if we got to see Denali, we were fortunate enough to see it our first day in Alaska – all the way from Anchorage, 130 miles away! My first reaction was “what a tyrant!” You can see that it is massive – topping out at 20,310 feet! That “little mountain” to the left is Mt. Hunter, which is just 14,573 feet. By comparison, Mount Rainier in Washington is 14,411, and Mount Washington in New Hampshire is a paltry 6,288.
As we’d last seen a Captain Cook monument in Hawaii, we were surprised to find another here. But it turns out that he got around, visiting Hawaii in January 1778 and Alaska in August the same year. The statue overlooks Cook Inlet from the northwest portion of Anchorage, when he was poking around looking for the fabled Northwest Passage. Of course, Cook was not the first person here, the inlet had already been named Tikahtnu by the Dena’ina.
The Last Blue Whale by Joseph Priniciotti, 1973. I really liked this statue, only later realizing that the boats in the circles by his tale had men being thrown to their deaths! Is the whale smirking?!
We listened to an audiobook about the Iditarod, Winterdance by Gary Paulsen. The race is about 1,000 miles long, and when it began in 1973 it set off from Anchorage. These days it has a ceremonial start in Anchorage, but a real start the following day about 70 miles away. Affiliate link.
You can’t go to Alaska and not get fish and chips! Unfortunately, these were just “okay,” as was the beer, even though its label featured an Iditarod dog.
Halibut was on the list of foods to eat in Alaska, and we “just happened” to go to Glacier Brewhouse, which was recommended as a place to get it. I thought it was fine, nothing I’d get again. Menu description: Fresh Alaska halibut coated with basil pesto & spent grain bread crumbs, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted tomato vinaigrette tossed seasonal greens.
Another “must have in Alaska” is salmon, which Doug had at the Glacier Brewhouse. Alaska Alder Grilled Salmon, menu description: Lemon dill butter, roasted Yukon gold potatoes, asparagus, baby tomatoes, avocado lime verde.
We went to 49th State Brewing, where Doug had the Yak Burger. Per the menu, “locally raised Alaska yak has a delicate juicy flavor. Handmade burger topped with carmelized onions, applewood smoked bacon, smoked Gouda, cheese, mustard, pickles, and mayo on a pretzel bun.”
It was my turn to try some salmon, so I got the Ancho Chili AK Salmon Bowl from 49th State Brewing. It was absolutely delicious! Menu description: Ancho chili spiced Alaska sockeye salmon, brown and red rice and quinoa blend, black beans, cotija cheese, warm tortilla chips, roasted corn, tomatoes, house pickled red onions, avocado…with spicy honey mustard dressing.”
Doug and I have been going to the Banff Mountain Film Festival’s World Tour showings for more than 20 years, but it’s gotten difficult when living van life – we need to “happen to be” in the same city where the Festival is stopping on tour. The stars finally aligned while we were in Anchorage, so we grabbed two tickets at the last minute and excitedly took in the evening’s short films.
Overall, I was not much impressed with the selection in this lineup, but the short on “tandem cross country skiing” was absolutely hilarious. I found it in two parts on YouTube, above. Give them a watch for a good laugh!
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