Recovery

Just a short note here to catch up on our stay in Anchorage.

Ann and I were up early this 16th of June and headed off to explore.  No telling why -- we got in late, but are excited about being in Alaska -- that and I'm sure we're still on EDT.  It's still a bit overcast this morning, perhaps a bit more than when we turned in last night.

Kudos to Alice who suggested tacking an extra day on either end of the trip.  I could only imagine how interesting (and tired) it would have been going to bed at midnight, getting up by 0400 to be ready to have bags outside our rooms by 0500, then off to the train yard for an all day ride to Denali.  Instead, on our way out to explore we got to watch today's batch of tourists heading for buses and the train yard.  

At 0630 it's also apparently way early by Alaskan, or at least Anchorage standards.  As we moved about the downtown area we did a lot of window shopping because that was nearly all that was available -- good for getting our bearings before breakfast.  We weren't out more than 10 minutes when Ann found a quilting place I somehow knew we'd visit again.  We also ambled down to a small terrace overlooking the rail yard from which we'd depart for Denali tomorrow. 

 

To this day we have no idea what the people in the pic below are doing.  I got them in the telephoto of my camera and initially concluded this was some kind of art, a set of statues in the water, because I could not see any movement at all.  Ann took a look as well and agreed.  Later we made a close comparison of two photos and found some movement, so the statue theory went out the window.

 

The McKinley Explorer above will be the kind of touring car we'll be taking tomorrow.   

The one place that was open early was Trader Jack's.  While on the outside it had the look of a junky tourista place, it had an eclectic range of gifts, generally of good to excellent quality.  While the low end was covered by fairly typical post cards and tee shirts, the high end of the spectrum was an Eagle with maybe a two foot wing span on a pedestal.  You could pick that up for right around $30,000, including the pedestal (or so the sign said).  (We didn't.)

By this time the rest of our group is making their way down.  After gathering for breakfast, it's still somewhat overcast as we make our way around to many of the same places Ann and I hit earlier. 

Ann finally got to buy a package of Alaskan fabric from the quilting place for a future project.  

Yes, that is a Wyland Whaling Wall right there in the middle of Anchorage.

Eventually we take our driver - the former state trooper - of the night before's suggestion and go to the Alaska Museum. 

Someone spends some money on this place.  It features excellent exhibits of Alaskan history and native Alaskan culture.  It starts thousands of years ago with glaciers and the land bridge between Asia and North America, covers various migrations and the Russian and American eras, and culminates in the Alaskan pipeline. They have some excellent maps showing the various tribes who've inhabited the state, and both artifacts and movies of various eras.  They've done a good job of capturing the sweep of people and lifestyles.  

If you go to Anchorage, it's worth the time to visit.  Among other things, I picked up a copy of a Rand-McNally map of Alaska in the gift shop.  This turned out to be useful in getting my bearings for the following days as different guides .

Around 1430 we ended up at the Snow Goose, one of what we were told were four breweries in Alaska, and one of two in Anchorage.   Nice place to have a drink and some appetizers while watching aircraft take off from Merrill Airport.  

To get ready for dinner we headed off on a nature trail for about an hour before returning to the hotel to clean up. 

The Brewhouse, one of the other breweries in Alaska, is right across the street from the Westmark so it's an easy choice for dinner.  Quayla took good care of us to round out a relaxing day.  Very good food and service.

I'm still getting used to the idea of broad daylight at 2300.  After a lot of walking, eating and sociable amount of drinking, though, it's pretty easy nodding off for the night.