The Alaskan Coast in 11 Incredible Days

By Tom, on August 5th, 2011
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Joyce and I went to Alaska years ago and swore we would return. Unfortunately, it took us 27 years to do so. This post provides: An overview of the highlights of the trip; The itinerary we used to pack as many experiences as possible into it; and Links to the posts that fully describe and [Read more …]

Juneau Downtown Experience

By Tom, on July 30th, 2011

While our trip to Juneau was broken up by a trip to Glacier Bay, we ended up with the equivalent of 2.5 days and three nights in the city. As always, we tried to make every minute counts. Some of the highlights of our time in Juneau included: Walks around and learning the history of [Read more …]

Juneau Salmon Experience

By Tom, on July 30th, 2011
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Salmon is a reoccurring theme in Alaska. We fished for salmon in Homer, watched real anglers prepare for a week of “combat” salmon fishing in the wilds of the Kenai Peninsula, watched bears stalk and devour them at Brooks Camp on the Katmai Peninsula. And we ate enough salmon–grilled, broiled, pan-fried, hot smoked, cold smoked [Read more …]

A Day at Alyeska

By Tom, on July 30th, 2011
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We left Anchorage mid-morning for a leisurely drive down Route 1, an beautiful scenic route that goes along the coat of Turnagain Arm, which separated us from a parade of glaciated mountains. We were so enthralled with the scenery that we drove straight past the turn for the reconstructed town of Girdwood, which was relocated [Read more …]

Juneau Nature Excursions

By Tom, on July 30th, 2011

Our previous blog on Juneau downtown, mentioned two out of town trips, a day trip down the incredibly beautiful Tracy Arm fjord and a shorter trip to the city’s primary nature destination, the Mendenhall Glacier. This blog discusses our trips to each.   Tracy Arm Cruise We took a ten-hour Tracy Arm cruise with Adventure [Read more …]

A Return to Glacier Bay

By Tom, on July 28th, 2011

Joyce and I visited Glacier Bay National Park once before, 27 years ago, to be precise. That visit produced indelible memories of steep fjord walls, iceberg-clogged channels, close-up views of beautiful, blue-white tidewater glaciers and especially the spectacle of calving—where what began as dull rumbles, turn into sharp cracks, loud roars and visions of huge [Read more …]

Visiting the Brooks Camp Bears

By Tom, on July 27th, 2011

Most people who have any interest in bears, wildlife or Alaska have seen the classic pictures of bears, with mouths wide open, standing atop walls, waiting patiently for salmon to fly into their mouths. Although you may not have known exactly where the pictures were taken, they were from the Brooks River’s Brooks Falls on [Read more …]

Kenai Peninsula—Where Alaska Goes to Play

By Tom, on July 27th, 2011
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The Kenai Peninsula is a relatively short, hour drive from Anchorage. It is a world away. Our primary destination was Homer, at the end of the west side of the peninsula; we wanted to get at least a flavor of the entire area. Our Homer Experience Our Homer Experience, as explained in our previous blog, [Read more …]

The Homer Experience

By Tom, on July 27th, 2011
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We had many plans for our brief, three-day trip to the Kenai Peninsula. As discussed in our Kenai blog, we had planned a range of stops in towns including Clam Gulch and Ninilchik and in the areas around Cooper Landing and Seward. Our primary objective, however, was Homer, for which we specifically planned two primary [Read more …]

Anchorage Restaurants

By Tom, on July 21st, 2011

Our time in Anchorage was short. In total, during one afternoon/night and one evening in the city, we had time for only three meals. How to explore the best of a city, even a small city, in only three meals? Particularly when the city has one of the world’s best supplies of fresh off-the-boat seafood [Read more …]

 
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