eriberri

Here it is...better late than never!

We (myself and husband, 28 and 30) planned this trip beginning in Jan 2005. Used this board, tripadvisor, Lonely Plant and Frommer's. I'll comment on accomodations and restaurants at the end.

Sat 8/6 - Flew Boston-Las Vegas-Anchorage. Left Boston @ 7 am and arrived in Anchorage at 3:30 pm. Tip: Get bulkhead or first class seats...very, very long day! Flying into Anchorage was awesome in terms of the scenery. Picked up rental car and drove to BnB. We were amazed and stunned at the beauty of the mountains so close to the city. After checking in, drove back to Anchorage for dinner at Moose's Tooth. Saw 3 moose on a corner near BnB on our way back. Amazingly huge, yet graceful animals. First night trying to get to sleep while it was still light out - very cool!

Sun 8/7 - Breakfast @ BnB, off to explore Anchorage. We visited the Native Cultural Center and the Museum of Art & History. Both were new and fabulous places to visit. Lunch at Marx Bros. Cafe in Art & Hist. museum. Spent the afternoon walking the Coastal Trail, downtown to Earthquake Park and back. Some great scenery along the way. Next time I would rent bikes like everyone else seemed to do, but we needed to stretch our legs after Sat's travel. Coffee break downtown. Had leftovers for dinner back at BnB.

Mon 8/8 - Drove from Anchorage to Cooper Landing down the Seward Highway. Most incredible drive ever. Didn't make too many stops, but we did take advantage of a few of the turn outs to take some great pics. Seeing mountains on the sea is one of my favorite things, so I was enjoying myself tremendously. Arrived at Kenai Riverside Lodge to "gear up" for scenic raft trip/float. Spent the day floating down the Kenai River, saw eagles, salmon, fisherman and 3 canyons. Lunch was a gourmet picnic on the banks of the river. Wonderful day! We ended our trip at the edge of Skilak Lake where we then motored across to the Kenai Backcountry Lodge. Dinner on the lakeshore overlooking the mountains, just the two of us. Fell asleep at 10 pm, half hour before sunset!

Tue 8/9 - Breakfast at the Lodge. We then went on a guided hike up Cottonwood Creek trail. The hike up was through some fabulous forest (mushrooms, ferns, trees that we had never seen before) up to the Alpine Tundra. Another gourmet picnic and lots of blueberry picking before heading back down. Late afternoon sauna and nap before dinner. Played cards and bed again by 10. Woke up at 2:30 am to use the facilities and saw the Northern Lights! Faint, as it was early, but incredible nonetheless.

To be cont....

eriberri

Wed 8/10 – Breakfast at the lodge and back across the lake for the drive back to our car. Drove from Cooper Landing to Seward. Lunch at Apollo’s. Visit to Sealife Center, which was excellent. New facility geared toward education and animal rehabilitation. Saw seals, puffins, a sea lion and lots of fish. Worth the time! Rest back at hotel before our 6 pm to 10 pm “sunset” sea kayaking trip. Trip was fun, saw ghost forests and hiked to a waterfall at the halfway point where we also had drinks and snacks. Kayaks and guide weren’t as good as our experience at home, but definitely an enjoyable evening. Had an awful dinner at the one place that was open. Only late night of the trip!

Thur 8/11 – Breakfast at the Starbuck’s in the Safeway. Nicest supermarket I’ve ever been to, wish we had one at home! Went to boat harbor to check-in for our Fox Island Overnight trip. Hour ride to Fox Island, saw a very cute sea otter, lunch on Fox Island. After the rest of the passengers had left, we were shown our cabin. Took that day as “vacation day” and spent the afternoon napping and reading…looking out over the water to the mountains and listening to the waves on the shore…quite nice! Dinner was awful, back to the cabin to read and sleep.

Fri 8/12 - Breakfast on Island, worse than dinner. Boarded boat at 10 am for full day Northwestern Fjords Tour. Amazing trip, we saw orca (including a baby whale), humpback whales, sea lions, seals, otters, eagles, waterfalls and glacier calving. It was a long trip, but worth it (IMO) for the scenery and wildlife. I actually enjoyed sitting outside all bundled up watching the sea go by. Too long for little kids or non-nature lovers. After the boat ride we drove to Girdwood. Had dinner at Jack Sprat’s. Went to BnB just up the road. Again, bed early after a long day.

Sat 8/13 – Breakfast at BnB, a bit of shopping (t-shirts for the parents and in-laws) and drove back to Anchorage. Stopped at The Peanut Farm for lunch before heading to the airport. Flight departed for Las Vegas at 4 pm. We arrived home in Boston Sunday morning at 7 am.

Wish we had more time, but it was an incredible trip and we can’t wait to go back!

Info to follow....

eriberri

Accomodations:
Awesome Retreat BnB, 20 min outside downtown Anchorage (2 nights) – Great place, artsy, funky and friendly! Owner is wonderful and welcoming. It is brand new and built to be a BnB, which is a huge plus. It was quiet, beds were very comfy, and view was spectacular. Common room/kitchen were well planned and we actually spent some time there, rare for us. Food was self-service breakfast, which we really enjoyed. You can spend a little extra for a few hours in the Jacuzzi and sauna, do it! Sitting in a Jacuzzi looking out the mountains is a great way to end the day. There is a pond on the property that is cute too.

Kenai Backcountry Lodge (Alaska Wildland Adventures) (2 nights) – This was our big splurge! A luxury camping resort in the midst of a wilderness preserves. Warm, comfy cabin on the lake, gourmet + home cooking and the best staff you could ask for. Their cedar sauna is truly amazing! They are eco-friendly which was a huge incentive for us. I could live here! We did our rafting trip with this outfitter as well. Highly recommend!

Seward Windsong Lodge, Seward (1 night) – New, basic, clean and comfortable. Outside of town so it was very quiet. Staff at check-in was very rude, first bad service is always a bummer. Nice, but not worth the $$ IMO.

Fox Island Overnight (Alaska Heritage Tours) – Cabins were newer, clean and comfortable. When there were no other guests on the island (day trippers) it was very quiet. Scenery was amazing. Food was awful and portions were small. Only disappointing part of our trip. Staff was inexperience and uninterested. Would not recommend.

Timberline Drive BnB, Girdwood (1 night) - More of an apartment than traditional BnB. Bedroom, living room, kitchen and deck w/hot tub. Nicely decorated with lots of brochures and books on AK and the area. Kitchen was stocked for self-service breakfast. Close to shops and restaurants. Didn’t get to use hot tub, but it looked fabulous. Only bad point was neighbors had late night gathering that kept me awake. I would recommend, but I would be sure that the owner was going to be on-site, she was away that night.

Food:

Moose’s Tooth (Anc) – A++ food, service and beer! We had soup, pizza and chocolate cake. All were excellent.
Marx Bros Café @ the Museum of Art & Hist (Anc). – Wow, one of the best lunches I’ve ever had and for $25 for 2. I had a turkey pannini sandwich with salad and hubby had polenta lasagna with salad.
Snow City Café (Anc) – Coffee and sweets were great, wish we could have gone back for a meal as the menu looked great. Staff was pretentious and slightly rude, but that’s par for the course at small funky places, right!?!
Kenai Backcountry Lodge – Dawn and Jill are 2 of the best cooks ever! Their food could easily compete with that of an upscale city restaurant. Everything was fresh and well prepared. Salmon, sourdough pancakes, salads and breads to die for….
Apollo’s (Seward) – Okay pizza and subs. Pricey IMO, but looked like the best option. Next time I would have a soup and salad or quiche at the Ranting Raven.
Crabpot (Seward) – Way overpriced very bad food. $8 to split an order of $18 rice and broccoli stirfry? I think not! Got 3 greasy appetizers and a couple of beers for $50….not happy, but they were the only place open after the late kayak trip.
Jack Sprat’s (Girdwood) – Best official restaurant meal of the trip…yams fries, spinach salad, halibut burrito and seafood lasagna all to share. Atmosphere, staff and food were excellent. Small place, make reservations if you can.

Overall I would say that w/some good recommendations the food in Alaska can be excellent. And the microbrews are fabulous, would give the ones in Boston a run for their money.

Mason525

Thanks for your wonderful trip report. Great detail & balance.

Clousie

Thanks for posting a detailed, helpful report. Wish more folks would do this.

Pat2003

I agree with you, Clousie, that's why I would like to see some of your trip reports

Clousie

Pat2003

I just ttt 3 of them for you.
US Board:
Thanks for help with Alaska
Weekend in RI

Europe Board:
Comments on trip to Switzerland.

I realize that they're far from as detailed as eriberri's great report, but when folks have questions about a place I've been, I try to provide more specific info. We're hikers so I know that our activities won't be of interest to many who post here.

I'd love to read your reports, too.

Pat2003

Clousie, we are hikers too and I got great help from John on this board regarding our hiking trip to Death Valley in November. I will post report. Meanwhile I am still waiting for more ideas on hiking in Death Valley. We are thinking about going to White Sands National Monument. Did you travel to any of these places?

eriberri

I'm so glad I did good! This was my first "real" report. I found them very helpful in my planning so I tried to return the favor.

I'll have to keep the posts below in mind when we start planning our out-west hiking trip!

BTW - Thank you for the nice comments, makes the effort worthwhile.