This board helped me plan my July 2002, two-week trip to Alaska and I'd like to return the favor. We flew to Anchorage and picked up a car (I recommend a big one, like an SUV; lotsa gravel roads and you need power to pass those RVs). We stayed at Oscar Gill B&B, highly recommended, walking distance to downtown. Ate at Humpy's, Glacier Brewhouse, Simon and Seaforts and Café Paris; all great. Did the Museum of History and Art. Two days is the most you'll need. From there we drove down to Seward, stopping at Alyeska Ski Resort to take the tram ride to the top of a mountain and the Portage Glacier Visitor Center. Stayed at the Oceanfront B&B, which had one of the most perfect locations of any place I have ever stayed: right on the beach of Resurrection Bay. The breakfast is skimpy, but everything else about the place was amazing. Did the six-hour Kenai Fjord tour, from 3 to 9 p.m. with salmon dinner served on board. Saw lots o wildlife, but the calving glacier was the highlight of the entire two-week trip. The Sea Life Center was a must see. Eat at Rays. Two nights there was good, though I could've stayed at that B&B painting watercolors for a month. Our next stop was to Homer with a stay at Fernwood Estates B&B, which was situated on the side of a mountain overlooking the town. The view was amazing from the great room and the deck, food was delicious and the owner was really nice, but she had three kids who had the run of the place and it got a tad noisy. Homer is a funky town with artists and hippies and good for a two-night stay (we stayed three, just to rest). The museum is worthwhile, the Winn Nature Center gives walks so you can finally identify all those wild flowers you've been seeing. You can take an expensive flightseeing tour to watch bears catch salmon, or you can go to the visitor center and watch the live bear cam. If we had the money, ($800 for two), I would've gone to see them in person. Eat at Land's End, Café Cups, Captain Patties and The Homestead. We headed back toward Anchorage with a stop at Cooper Landing (sneeze and you'll miss it). Stay at Red Salmon Lodge for the well-appointed rooms and a chance to have dinner with 80-year-old Ethel, the manager. Check out the interesting cemetery on the way to the Princess Lodge. Above Anchorage, see another interesting cemetery in Eklutna. Our next stop was Wasilla; a truly ugly town that has been overtaken by sprawl, except for our B&B; Pioneer Ridge (formerly Yukon Don's). More amazing views, great food, nice rooms and hostess and her kids stay away from the guest areas. Go to the Iditarod Trail Headquarter for a $5 dogsled ride. Eat at the Lake Lucille Inn and watch the floatplanes come and go. Go to Palmer and the Musk Ox Farm. Next stop was Talkeetna and the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, where, if you are lucky, you will see the entire Alaska Range (featuring Mt. McKinley) from the deck. We took a flightseeing tour on the one clear day we had. K2 and Talkeetna Air Taxi are both recommended. The town below is cute, it was supposed to be the model for Cicily in "Northern Exposure." From there we headed back to Anchorage and home. We decided we didn't have enough time to do Denali Park and the idea of sitting on a bus for 6-14 hours wasn't appealing.

LJB, you need two things: an informative heading (like Alaska Trip Report) and paragraphs. I'm sure there is great information posted in here, so I'll steer the cruise/on-own poster to it.

Too bad you are not reporting about your trip.
You are telling people what to do based on your likes and dislikes

Eat at Rays. Eat at Land's End, Café Cups, Captain Patties and The Homestead. Eat at the Lake Lucille Inn Go to Palmer and the Musk Ox Farm.

Paragraphs, please

Suzie-we can't all be such trip report experts as you.At least LJB tried!
He acknowledged that this board helped with his planning.It was informative.
Next time paragraphs would make it easier to read, but the content is just fine.

Suzie:
You're a pain! LJB gave us a great report. Valuable stuff here. Needs paragraphs, but we appreciate the time he/she took to write it.

No, her report is not enjpuable to read at all. She should read others and learn first.

And I should learn to spell before posting my thoughts

I thought that it was a terrific trip report - with or without paragraphs!
Thanks,LJB for the valuable information.

LJB - Thanks for taking the time to post about a region I have yet to visit. It just reminds me that I should really start planning to get up there. I have four of the fifty states remaining to visit before I turn fifty myself -- Delaware, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. Time is fleeting!

Glean what you will from the naysayer posters - this is a tough crowd to play.
It's not very comforting when the first thing they can blurt out is that there are no paragraphs or that the title doesn't enlighten them to satisfaction.
I don't have much a problem with anything here -- it's just a travel board. Thanks for posting.

PS - any relation t LBJ?

:')

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Alaska and we found the recap of your travels very interesting. You mention several B&B's that you stayed at. How did you locate these B&B's? Did you book them in advance? Do you have web site addresses for them? Particularly interested in the Oceanfront B&B in Seward.

Found Oceanfront B&B (and a few others) right on the Web. You can do a google search (www.google.com and type in anything you want to find) or I searched on a Seward or Homer websites (which I found the same way). Oscar Gill was recommended on this board.
I booked ahead because we were traveling in high season. As Oceanfront only has one room; I imagine it's important to book that one ahead.

Thanks for your report LBJ. I wish more people would do the same after their trips especially when they've received lots of help on the board.

As for it being your opinion, what else could you possibly give. DUH!