Fodors Alaska Questions

My husband and I will be spending 3 weeks in Alaska in July. While I’ve done a lot of reading and some planning, I still have questions not answered by books or checking archives in this forum.

We broke the bank and will be taking a 7-day Cruise West Inside Passage cruise, Ketchikan to Juneau. Will arrive in Ketchikan 2 days early, so will have an evening and a full day on our own before departing on the cruise. Thinking of taking bus to Mendenhall Glacier and wandering the town during the full day. Any other sightseeing recommendations or restaurant recommendations or “don’t miss” things in Ketchikan? (I think we can take a Ward Creek nature hike, a ship excursion, on the day we embark. If not, we may try to do a rain forest hike of some sort the day before, along with the Glacier.)

The cruise is costing us more than the flights and other two weeks combined, but we decided that doing the smaller ship was worth the extra cost. (We hope!) Thus, we’re having to watch costs on the remainder of the trip, so I doubt we’ll be doing any very expensive activities like flight-seeing. I’ll call our disembarkation day from the cruise “Day 1.”

Day 1 – disembark, spend the day in Juneau, fly to Anchorage at night, stay near airport

Day 2 – Sat. Market in Anchorage in AM, drive to Seward in the afternoon. Harborview Hotel.

Day 3 – Thinking Exit Glacier hike, maybe the aquarium. Know I should take a bay boat trip from Seward but am nervous about bad weather, mal de mer, which I understand is not unheard of. Does anyone know what the possibility is of getting booked on a trip the day of (Sun., July 15)? I’d drop the glacier & aquarium in a heartbeat for a few orca and otters as long as I knew the water wasn’t horribly rough and the weather too unpleasant.
Drive to Homer late afternoon. Ocean House Inn.

Days 4 & 5 – Homer. Thought just puttering around Homer, tidal pools, boat over to Halibut Cove. Would love to see some bears but a flight is probably beyond the budget. (And always in the back of my mind is the boy in my daughter’s 3rd grade class who, along with his father, never came back from one of those flights.) Not particularly interested in kayaking, or fishing at all.

Day 6 – Head toward Denali, maybe trying to take a look at one of the Russian villages on the way. Drive to Anchorage or beyond. (Here I think I’ve screwed up. Have reservations outside Palmer and found the Gold Rush Cabins are located more out-of-the-way than I originally thought. Wanted Wasilla since that seemed right on the route but no half-decent hotels with private baths that night, for some reason. Any other suggestions since I can cancel the cabins w/o penalty?)

Day 7 – To Denali. Suggestions for late afternoon, early evening things to do, short hikes to take, in the park? Recommended restaurants near the park or in Healy? With little darkness, I’d expect restaurants to be open fairly late (10PM?) but would hate to be wrong and starve. Denali Park Hotel.

Day 8 –7:30AM Fish Creek shuttle departure

Days 9 & 10 – To Fairbanks? That’s if friends will be in town. I think they may be attending a conference the weekend before, and sometimes when they go Outside for something, they stay and visit family afterwards. If, when I talk to them, I discover they won’t be home, we’ll have two extra days to do whatever we want. Not sure whether to stay around Denali, go do some stuff in Fairbanks anyway. Open to suggestions here.

Day 11 – Drive to Talkeenta. Swiss Alaska Hotel.

Day 12 – Drive to Wasilla. This drive won’t take too long, so any suggestions on what to do this day along the way? Do I remember there’s a wildlife place (or maybe just musk oxen) in the area? BW Lake Lucille Hotel.

Day 13 – Fly home from Anchorage late afternoon. Should have 4 or 5 hours to do something in Anchorage before we have to leave for the airport around 3PM. Any suggestions?

Sorry this is so long. Thanks for any advice.

Sounds like a terrific trip which I think you will find well worth breaking the bank. I think you can do some small economies like packing picnic lunches and breakfast in your room. I loved the Saturday market. You might consider visiting the Title Wave bookstore to get some books about Alaska, not guide books but non-fiction by Alaska authors. It's a huge store. Keep in mind the drive to Seward is spectacular and there are places you will want to stop. However, you might do the stops (i.e. tram ride up Alyeska, Portage visitors center) on the way back from Homer to break up the long drive.
We've made reservations the day before for the longest Kenai Fjords trip. The orcas are fabulous. But we were in late June and mid-week. It really depends on weather and our visit was during a hot, dry summer. We also managed to pick a day when a cruise ship was not in port. Give yourself a second chance with another possible day, maybe coming back from Homer. If you do the longest trip I don't think it gets back until 6pm. You'll want to have dinner then it's a 3-4 hour drive to Homer. You don't list the Pratt Museum in Homer, it's small but very educational. Don't miss the short video about homesteading in Alaska in the 50s. The Skyline drive is also nice, great view plus watch for soaring eagles. I missed seeing a garden I later saw written up in the Anchorage Daily News. We saw more otters on the nature cruise out of Homer but the cruise wasn't half as good as the one out of Seward. (i.e. no orcas) Homer is artsy and funky as well as famous for fishing charters. The Kenai visitors center has interesting exhibits. This would be a detour but it's right next to Soldotna which you'll be driving thru on your way to/from Homer.
In Wasilla you can visit Iditarod headquarters. Might have sled dog puppies to see. The Transportation Museum was pretty quiet when we went but has a lot of information on early flight/bush pilots in Alaska. I consider Independence Mine a MUST SEE. Nice views plus an excellent job restoring some of the old buildings. A chance to imagine what a thriving mining town it used to be. After that, there's not a lot along the way to Talkeetna. You might consider staying in Anchorage on your way north instead of Wasilla or Palmer because you spent all day driving. Wasilla is about another hour north of Anchorage. You'll find some good restaurants in Anchorage whereas we thought Wasilla was mostly average casual/family dining.

You have some location errors. Mendenhall Glacier is out of Juneau not Ketchikan. With a rental car, you can easily walk arohnd Ward Lake yourself. I would purchase a tour for it. One of the nicest trails a little further is Preserverance Trail. Request their guide book www.visit-ketchikan.com

I stongly suggest- since you are concerned about motion sickness, in Kenai Fjords, you should be just as concerned about it on your cruise. It is a myth that your Ketchikan/Juneau routing is "smooth as glass" and a small boat is going to have much more movement than a cruise ship. I suggest you consult your health care provider for recommendations.

The Alaska Sealife Center is worthwhile but in no way comparable to a Kenai Fjords boat tour. However, your overall cruise will have very similar wildlife sightings. If going to Sitka, it's a given to see sea otters. Orcas- completely hit or miss, they are wide range animals and in no particular area except the resident L J K pods of Vancouver Island.

I would add Hatcher Pass for the scenic drive, since you are staying near Wasilla. As for your "russian village". I suggest you consider a Eklutna Spirit House tour.

There is only one resturant in Healy that I know of, but glitter gulch is open late, and Subway open 24/7.

Be certain to purchase all you need in groceries by Wasilla, nothing full service until Fairbanks.

There are hiking trails near the entrance of Denali Park www.nps.gov/dena has activities lists, also usually ranger activites, and consider driving to Savage River. Moose frequently seen in the evening.

Fairbanks is worth 2 nights. I would go here anyway since you have the time. Plenty to see and do.

However I would not be staying in Talkeetna and then Wasilla the next night- not even worth the packing. You don't list any activities between the two?? The Musk ox farm is outside of Palmer, an hour tour. Hatcher Pass would be worthwhile, but you have more than enough time to do that on your way up. I would just head to Anchorage and spend touring time there. Much more to see and do.

You need a 2 hour window at Anchorage airport, so probably not the time you think you have??

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. Some good ones, things I didn't know about. I actually do have a reservation in Anchorage I haven't cancelled yet, so maybe I should keep that one and cancel the cabins. I thought that maybe it would be good to get an hour closer to Denali so we'd arrive earlier the next day, but I guess it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

You're right, BudgetQueen, I had my glacier locations mixed up. Have a raft of notes and even a calendar which says "glacier on our own" for the day in Juneau, but I didn't bother to consult it carefully. (And also didn't proof the post because I hit the post key instead of edit - surprised I haven't done it before, I guess.) We should have time to do something in Anchorage the last day because our flight doesn't leave until 5:30, so I figured if we weren't too far away and were in the car by 2:30 or 3, we could get to Avis before 3:30.

Boy, I hope you're wrong about the Spirit of '98, though. Other info I've found said it wasn't usually too bad, but I've read some horror stories about boats out of Seward (including a sidebar in one travel guide titled "It's not easy being green."). Actually, I have a couple dozen Scopace tablets we got for a 16 pass. Galapagos boat in Dec. and didn't need. But while they're probably okay for my husband, it's somewhat risky for me to take them and I'm hoping any rough water can be handled by Bonine. Only times I've ever been too queasy was on a high speed cat going out to the Great Barrier Reef and on a large ship going through a passage into Barbados until a couple of years ago. And a lot of that was my stupidity for taking a narcotic pain killer before going out on a sail boat in St. Croix. But it was a day to remember as the rest of the family snorkeled and I floated around feeding the fish for two hours, trying to stay decently far away from the others. That was the only time I've actually been sick but since then I've been more worried. I hope if I don't take anything stronger than Tylenol that I'll be okay with Bonine if there's any rough water.

Had missed any mention of Hatcher Pass in my reading. The booking for Talkeetna, then Wasilla was sort of a mistake. When I couldn't get a hotel in Wasilla on the way up and couldn't get the hotel I wanted in Seward, I went into a panic and booked some hotels before my reading was done. Later I realized we didn't have to go back to Anchorage the night before since our flight was so late. When in doubt, I'll sometimes book a Best Western or other chain because they're easy to cancel. So I may still decide to cancel the Wasilla hotel, a BW, and go back to Anchorage.

You'll just have to see what the weather and ocean are like when you want to try a boat ride out of Seward. My husband had been on some rough water with no trouble at all but then one deep sea fishing trip did him in. We got the wrist bands and I think he also got some bonine. Looked for ginger candy but didn't find any. We lucked out with one of the calmest days of the entire summer. So calm that the captain was available to take us thru a very narrow inlet to a hidden cove. She said there were only 2 or 3 days each summer that she could do that. There was no wave action at all. Hope you are that lucky. OTH the glacier didn't calve for us so we had to be satisfied with the dramatic video at the Portage Glacier visitors center.
Hatcher Patch and Independence Mine are near each other.

We did the Cruise West 7-day Juneau to Ketchikan trip last May (opposite direction from your cruise) and loved it. Seasickness was not an issue at all. I hope your luck is as good.

We were also on the Spirit of '98. The included tours were interesting. We did take the optional White Pass RR trip out of Skagway and the tour of the Raptor Center in Sitka. Both were worth it. Skagway also has an interesting video in the park ranger visitor center.

For Mendenhall, in Juneau, find the kiosks in front of the library. Ignore the "tours" and just take the $6 shuttle. It goes to the parking lot by the visitor's center at the glacier. The visitor's center is excellent, with interactive exhibits, and scopes trained on different parts of the glacier. You don't need a tour or a guide. When you are ready to leave simply wait back in the parking lot for the next return shuttle.

A ride on the tram up Mt. Roberts gives you great views. There is a lot of tourist shopping, etc. in Juneau. We avoided the crowds by having a really good lunch in the cafe of the Baranoff Hotel, which is several blocks from the tourist action. There are also some good restaurants in the Merchants Wharf Building. It is on the docks and is painted blue.

We had our extra days in Juneau, so I can't comment on what to see in Ketchikan. We did have an hour or two and the museum is interesting.

We did Southwest Alaska a couple of years ago in an RV. While the Kenai Fjords glacier trips out of Seward are good, you will have seen much of the same on your Inside Passage Cruise, including orcas and otters, and bears, and calving glaciers, and may not want to spend your money that way.

Yes, do the Pratt museum in Homer.

I hope you have a copy of The Milepost. I had it on my lap the entire time we were driving. Excellent maps and it lists attractions, etc. all along the way by the milepost locations. It also has many ads for places to stay and shops. You can order it online. In some forum I read about getting it at a discount. As I remember, our copy cost around $25, but it was more than worth it.

Have a great trip.

I ordered the Alaska travel planner online and have been inundated with mailings from Princess, et al and a handful of e-mails. The travel planner was a big disappointment and I was getting a bit annoyed. Just read about The Milepost in another Fodor's post last night. Fortuitously, I when I checked my e-mail this morning, I had an e-mail for a discounted copy. So some good has come of getting on the Alaska junk mail and spam lists.

Thanks, dfrostnh, for reminding me that I have wrist bands. I’ll put that on my packing list.

Glad to hear about the White Pass rail trip, jtrandolph. Read some reviews (Trip Advisor?) with the first two saying, “awful, waste of money” and half a dozen others saying it was great. I was siding with the majority, so it’s good to hear that you thought the trip was worthwhile. It was the one that looked more interesting to me than any of the others offered. Had figured we’d do the glacier on our own (will undoubtedly have had enough “togetherness” by then, as I’m basically an anti-tour independent traveler), so I’m glad to hear about the shuttle bus. I had read that there was a bus but didn’t know more than that. Also will consider the tram ride. (Have a little problem with heights but maybe a stiff drink first? ) And I guess I’ll wait till I get to Seward to decide about a boat trip. If we’ve seen tons of good stuff on the cruise, we may not feel the need to take another trip – especially if the weather stinks, too. I’ll just play the “If God wants me to [have it, do it, whatever], he’ll make it still available when I get there” game.

I’ll have weather questions later, but I’m leaving tomorrow for a trip till the end of the month to Sequoia/Yosemite via Vegas and have to contemplate clothing some more. Winter Silks fit largely into the travel picture for people who have lived in FL for years, so now I’d better go make sure the stuff I’ve picked out to take is loose enough to go on over my long undies after I ate 3 bags of jelly beans. (For some reason my husband wants to make this our annual Vegas post-convention trip this year. I would have picked Sept., myself.)