Grey heavy skies and intermittent showers were the order of the day for Anchorage Monday morning. We had slept fitfully, woke up often, and found ourselves up and showered by seven local time. Of course it was nearing lunch time, so we went down to the breakfast buffet where we kept it healthy with oatmeal and fruit, We spent the morning with little organization chores, email, and finishing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. At noon, we checked out and took a cab to the Westmark Hotel where we stored our luggage and set off to walk around downtown Anchorage. The rain was falling lightly, but it wasn’t enough to bother us.
The flowers are so beautiful here with huge and prolific blooms. Hanging baskets of petunias down 4th Street measure well over a yard across. When summer comes, this northern area is blessed with bountiful colors of red, blue, pink, and yellow. We stopped at a couple of shops and a Visitor’s Center before heading indoors for a late lunch. I had a seafood chowder that was second only to that which I had on the Bay of Fundy last year. I really liked the bits of crab and the small bits of fresh salmon that I found it. The grilled grape bleu cheese salad was also good as was the fresh bread that we enjoyed with olive oil. Klep opted for the fish and chips. As usual, there was quite a lot of sharing back and forth across the table.
After lunch we walked over to F and 4th to catch the sightseeing trolley for a hour long riding tour of the city. The driver was a native Alaskan who was born near Wasilla on a farm but who moved to Anchorage during his childhood. The three most interesting things on the tour were the Earthquake Park, the moose we saw grazing by the roadside, and the planes parked in the lakes.
In 1964 Alaska had an earthquake which measured 9.2, the worst the Western hemisphere has ever had. Over a hundred homes near the water were destroyed when the quake actually liquefied the soil under the homes during the five minutes that the quake lasted. This was the same quake which virtually destroyed Sitka with its tidal wave. Since the quake happened at high tide, Anchorage was spared the tidal wave. The park is built on the site of the destroyed housing development.
The mother moose and her two young were grazing along the road side across from the park. They were quite large and round fat.
Near the Anchorage International Air Port are a series of lakes and lagoons where the float planes are docked. There were well over a thousand small planes there. We were told that the planes were generally about twenty thousand dollars each and were about as common as cars for travel in Alaska. The roads had “Yield to Air Plane” signs since the planes always have the right away. It usually takes about nine years to acquire one of these parking places after you sign up for it.
By the time we walked back to the hotel, it was time to pick up our tour packets and check in. Our room has a balcony overlooking the city and the mountains, I was in bed before the sun set.
This morning the clouds are still with us as we prepare to take the Alaskan Railway to Denali. It is six-ten and I see the sunrise reflected in the tall office building across the way.
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