A Weekend in Anchorage

After traveling 10+ hours, crossing four, yes FOUR time zones, and arriving in Anchorage in the early hours on Saturday, we knew it was going to be a light day. After a leisurely morning we spent the afternoon strolling through the outdoor Anchorage Market and Festival conveniently located in downtown Anchorage. It was a good introduction to Alaskan fresh produce, goods and craft items. The festival consists of more than 300 vendors on seven acres selling unique Alaska products.

Sunday was our friend Gracie’s day for church service, allowing Sue and I to drive into Anchorage for a full day of sightseeing. Our first stop was the Anchorage Trolley Tour. We highly recommend it and hope you are lucky enough to get Alice our singing tour guide.

 

We boarded the tour at the Anchorage Visitors Center, a log cabin surrounded by the gorgeous flowers that are everywhere in Anchorage. There were lots of sights to see on the one hour tour; Earthquake Park (site of the largest quake in North America), and Lake Hood Seaplane Base (where we saw planes taking off and landing on water).

We passed the architecturally stunning Anchorage Museum where a visit to the museum store is a priority on anyone's list. It is the largest museum in Alaska and the store contains objects from all Alaska Native cultures. We decided a return visit was definitely a must.

Continuing our journey to shop uniquely Alaskan products, a must on the list is fur and fish, which are staple Alaska products. A quick visit ensued to the venerable David Green fur shop to drool over the hats, scarfs and coats. We ended the day with a late evening viewing of the salmon run at Ship Creek in downtown Anchorage. People lined the banks, catching fish and cleaning fish on the dock!

To see Alaska products up close and personal, we visited the Oomingmak Co-operative where a Native Alaskan woman was knitting an exquisite Qiviut scarf. Qiviut (kiv-ee-ute) is the underwool from the Arctic musk ox. Stay tuned, we are visiting the Musk Ox farm tomorrow to see these prehistoric looking animals!

 

Lots of fishermen and women standing on the banks and in the water casting about for the many salmon swimming in the water. We stood on a bridge overlooking Ship Creek watching schools of fish. Whatever was caught could be gutted and cleaned right at the cleaning station on the bridge. All within sight of downtown hotels. Rent a room and walk to your fishing hole. A busy day and really exciting!