So with things starting to run smoothly at work, Jean and I wanted to further explore Alaska and took a weekend trip to Seward. Seward is 2 ½ miles south of Anchorage. It’s a touristy town near the Kenai Peninsula. It’s very beautiful there. We rented a car because the tempo wouldn’t have made it that far. They gave us a PT Cruiser. One thing to note about Alaska is that the streets are kept up well. They are also quite flat. So there are mountains or flat land, not much in-between. We took the Seward highway all the way down which again is very beautiful. On the way down I saw a guy along side the road walking his two alpacas which are like llamas. We also saw a Dall Sheep which live in the mountains.
Seward is a two road town. It is very small in size and population. We went down the road and went from mid town to down town in two minutes.
We had reservations for a guided sea kayaking tour with Sunny Cove Kayaking that was at the end of a dirt road off of the main road. It had been raining and the road was very narrow with a mountain on one side and a cliff on the other so driving was a little nerve wracking. But we made it and joined our group. We were in tandem (2 person) kayaks. The four other kayakers and two guides and us went from Lowell Point in Resurrection Bay in the Gulf of Alaska area. We did the half day afternoon trip. It was a little rainy but the water was warm. The view was breath taking and the water was like glass. We didn’t see much wildlife other then the head of a sea lion from a far distance and two bald eagles. I have our kayaking pictures on my water proof disposable camera, so you’ll have to wait till I get them developed to see them.
Next we headed to our hostel to shower and get dry clothes on. It was my first time staying at a hostel and well um it was okay. It was clean but it was old and rustic, yeah rustic is the word, we’ll use that. It strongly smelled like gasoline so I was a little concerned the place was going to catch on fire. The first floor was a kitchen a couch and an old little TV. The upstairs opened into the Men’s room with seven beds and the door to the women’s room which had five beds. There was one bathroom in the whole place and the toilet had issues so we were afraid to flush it. Although we were told when we made the reservations that the place was booking up fast, there was only two other people staying there: a girl who came in after us and before us that we didn’t get to meet, and Art, an old man who probably doesn’t have any family and who stays at hostels a lot. Art seemed nice enough although he was probably wearing my underwear when we left.
We ate dinner at Terry’s Fish and Chips, which had five different types of deep fried fish. Then to kill time we were looking for a nearby lodge to sit in their lobby by their fireplace. We drove all around Seward, (took five minutes) but all the hotels we came across didn’t look ritzy enough to have lobbies. In our travels we did discover a coffee house/ fine arts museum in this small church. We checked it out. As we are approaching we hear piano music. There was this high school student playing the piano at the front of the church, paintings hung up behind her and along the walls, four rows of seats (some of which were old pews, others were folding chairs), tables on the right with craft fair type items for sale, and a coffee bar in back. It looked like something out of the Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow. We entered and the lady asked if we were here for the show. We replied that we wanted to look around and might grab some coffee. After looking around we sat down and listened to the girl play piano. She played a variety of music from today’s pop hits to classic wonders. She hit most of the notes but the thing is if you are playing in front of people you should probably hit almost all of them.
After Mozart got done they started this one act show about Alaska Nelly, this pioneer chic who wrote a book about her boring little life, housed railroad workers and told stories for money. It was pretty boring but we didn’t want to be rude and walk out early so we stayed for the painful hour. As we made our escape a different lady then before asked where our tickets were. Apparently we needed them. First I was robbed of an hour of my life and now she wanted me to pay for it. So I pulled out my wallet looking to make a donation to the performing arts and she informs us that tickets were $10 a piece. WHAT!!!! That’s almost another night’s stay in the hostel and two and a half beers I could have had that weekend. Unfortunately I actually had cash on me so I reluctantly paid. Jean and I were bitter for the rest of the night about it. Oh well the money can go to buying her daughter music lessons.
All became better soon when we went to the local bar the Yukon Bar. It’s a townies meet hippies type place. The ceiling is covered in one dollar bills. The people were very friendly and nice as anywhere in Alaska (minus the stupid church/art/coffee/ one-act crap lady). And who was playing……Lulu and the Aqua Nets. This Alaskan band is the best I’ve seen in a while. Lulu I swore was a cross dresser but local fans claim she is a chic. They were very funny and entertaining, Lulu would crack dirty jokes, play parody songs they created, and encouraged audience participation. People any age would go up front and dance, didn’t matter if they were alone or not good. It was just a fun atmosphere. A guy Jean and I were talking to even spilled beer all over me and I still had a good time.
The next morning we went to the Sea Life Conservation. Unlike the zoo, this place didn’t suck. In fact, it was great. We saw puffins, seals, seal lions, jelly fish, anemones and a variety of different fish. The center is a rescue and release center so animals are only temporarily on display until they are well enough to go back into the wild, or not entertaining enough to keep.
We grabbed amazing gelato from this nearby shop. I had also bought some fudge which Jean accidentally through away in the car ride home not knowing it was my fudge, sigh. Again Seward is only really one, two roads of stuff. On it was three Chinese restaurants so that’s where I grabbed lunch and then we headed on the road.
On the way back we stopped in Girdwood. If you wanted to go skiing in Alaska you would go to Girdwood. It’s where Arnold the Governator broke his leg that time he went skiing. You can go skiing up till June there. Anyway there is a multi hundred dollar a night hotel there, the Alyeska Resort. So we stopped in, took a look around, and made ourselves comfortable. Then on the way back to Anchorage, we stopped off at Beluga Point. No whales out today but the sceneary was pretty, we climbed the little rock mountains to get a better view. Then we made it home safe and sound after our first real Alaskan adventure.
