Going to Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula next week
 

Where staying two nights in anchorage and then heading down to soldotna to do some fishing on the Kenai.

Anybody have any advice on a scenic route from anchorage to Soldotna?

Also, it looks like it may be raining in Anchorage, Which could put a damper on some of our sightseeing... anybody have any recommendations on museums or aquariums or other indoor places to see?

Oh yeah, any advice on restaurants with lots of king crab? All you can eat maybe?

I've been watching Deadliest Catch all month and it's been making me hungry!

King crab is out of season and no cheaper in Alaska than anywhere else.

Dear Sandie:
I can't give any advice on Anchorage, since we didn't get to spent any time there.

If I remember correctly, there is only one route from Anchorage to Soldotna. We went fishing on the Kenai in 2000. Spent 2 nites in Seward: sealife center, Kenai fjords tour, dog sledding(on wheels) and Exit Glacier. Then spent our week on the Kenai. Visited the settlers' cabins, Russian church in Kenai. We also took a day to go to Homer which has a nice museum and shopping out on the spit.

Distances on the map are deceiveing. It may be only 80 miles, but because of the two lane roads etc, it can take two hours. Give yourself time. The route is beautiful, but after Cooper Landing and heading into Soldotna, it gets into the Borreal forest: trees are thick but have a stunted appearance. We had a great time. Stayed at Krog's Kamp. On the last day I landed a 58# King salmon and my husband caught a 42# king. What a blast!

Have fun and bring a lot of money. Things are expensive. I used the "Best Places:Alaska" book.

Michelle

PS:

The fishing camp where we stayed arranged a flight trip for ten of us over the Harding Ice Field. It was spectacular!! Having 10 of us split up the cost. The flight was thru Talon Flying Service.

Michelle

The best things to eat in Anchorage are halibut and salmon. Go to the Glacier Bay Brewhouse in downtown. It is great!

If you're stuck indoors, the Alaska Museum of Art & History is downtown and very good.

Thank You all so much! I'll definitely check out the brewhouse, I was worried there might not be too many varieties of beer in alaska, but I guess that's not the case.

I'll be fishing for salmon so I might as well eat halibut there. I'm sure it is excellent. Even though it's not crab season I'd love to find a good crab restaurant.

thanks for the tip on travel.. I'm used to southern california, driving 80 while dodging bullets.

And the good news is that the weather forecast has been progressively showing clearer and clearer days.

Hi, I'm a lifelong Alaskan resident, and unfortunately, the only place to get fresh and relatively cheap crab is out where they fish for it! I spent many yrs. out in the Aleutians where they delivered dockside.
Anchorage and other towns charge close to what most people pay for lobster, market price, and even us locals can't get it often unless you know someone.. if you are willing to pay a very high price, you will find it, but there aren't any specialized crab restaurants per se. Most seafood items are salmon or halibut or even cod. Of course, they use the fake stuff in dishes too, so be careful.
Enjoy your trip, J. (in sunny and green Kenai:).. p.s. I had three teenage moose calves munching grass in my backyard this morning.

Sandie, Go out and buy a MIle Post tour book or go to library and copy the few pages you need from Anc to Soldonta. This will give you info on what you are seeing by mile marker.

If you have time on the drive to Soldotna you might detour into the old mining village of Hope, the only settlement on the south shore of Turnagain Arm. Interesting little town, worth the couple of hours it adds to the trip.

The scenic route from Anchorage to Soldotna, BTW, is the only route from Anchorage to Soldotna. Enjoy.

Where are you fishing? Jetset1, isn't it a little early for the spring Kings or are they in the river?

Oh and I too worked on the chain for years - where were you?

Gardyloo, we were in King Cove. My husband worked for the big seafoood company there, I was a substitute teacher and community busybody,lol. Boy were we spoiled too, we had that crab fresh out of the cookers, ate so much it was sickening! Also, I miss the octopus dip and kippered salmon, sheer heaven in a jar!
People have been fishing for winter kings, but don't think the Kenai is open for awhile yet. The bridge expansion in Soldotna is going on, traffic is somewhat slowed, but hey, it's still nothing compared to the lower 48. Our gas is arouind $2.39 regular now, Anchorage still cheaper of course!
And our governor is still pushing for his jet!

We're hoping to get in on the first run of Kenai Kings.. It supposedly starts mid-may through june, so we're hoping to not be too early being there for memorial day weekend.

We may spend some time on the Kasilof too.

Sounds like we can get crab just as good and just as frozen down here. That halibut sounds great though (especially since I'm hoping to be taking plenty of salmon home with em. :D

How far out of the way is Denali NP?

Denali is 237 miles north of Anchorage. You are driving about 2 hours south of Anchorage. We also liked the gourmet pizza and beer at the Moose's Tooth in Anchorage. They have beer samplers. If you have cooking facilities, you might find frozen king crab at the supermarket in Kenai or Soldotna. Last year in late June we bought it for $10.99/lb. Halibut seems to taste a lot better in Alaska ... every way it's cooked. The visitors center in Kenai has a small but nice exhibit.
Nobody has mentioned the state trooper museum in Anchorage. We missed it last year. Recently read an interesting write up about it. Next trip?

Jetset1 - pm me at [email protected] and we'll swap stories about King Cove.

sandiejoe,
I'd consider looking at an off-shore king trip, i.e. deep creek or in the anchor point area. A lot of the deep creek guides will do a combo halibut-kings trip. We used to fish kings when the tides were in and halibut when it was out. Nothing more fun than having a 150-pd. halibut pull a 11 foot zodiac around.

As for king crab, 95 percent of the stuff is harvested hundreds of miles away. Best crab I've found was always at Sagaya Market in Anchorage or 10th & M Seafood -- but my guess is the Anchorage Costcos sell more of it than anywhere else in Anchorage -- kind of like everywhere else ...

There are express routes and scenic routes to the KP -- the express route is if you're not behind one of the damn RVs. BTW, message to RVers and other goat gapers, if you've got traffic (5 vehicles) behind you and aren't doing the limit, it's the law to pull over.

My husband has always been a king crab fan and was very excited when he ordered his first "fresh" king crab meal at Land's End in Homer. It was $35 for one pound and he said it was no better than frozen. Just one experience...

The best advice I can give you is to pick up a copy of the Toursaver book. It is loaded with 2-for-1 deals all over the state but there are many offers in Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula. Rafting, kayaking, Kenai fjords, Alaska Sealife Center, and a boat tour of Kachemak Bay. All of the deals are listed on the webite (www.toursaver.com). The official name of the book is "The Great Alaskan Toursaver". Enjoy your trip.