Two Days Prove Anchorage Is Not Your Typical Big City

Days 18-19, 2024 Ultimate Alaska

Wednesday & Thursday, June 26-27, 2024; Anchorage, Alaska

Friends make for the best port visits, and Anchorage was no exception.

We’ve sailed with Cleta and Ray on grand world voyages, where we’ve cheered on our Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl victories. They retired to Anchorage from Kansas City to be near their kids and grandkids (but wisely leave for warmer cruising in the winter).

After piling into Cleta’s van, we headed to the outskirts of Anchorage. I don’t know why I was surprised, but the suburbs look just about like any other medium-sized city, except for the snow-covered peaks surrounding us and totem poles standing in church yards.

We passed by big-box stores and familiar fast-food chains, heading for Earthquake Park. The second-largest earthquake ever recorded hit Alaska on Good Friday, 1964, and this park marks an area when an entire neighborhood slid into the ocean.

Our weather luck has continued, with highs in the 60s and mostly sunny skies. On a clearer day, we could have seen Denali (tallest mountain in North America) from here, but low-hanging clouds in the distance obscured any glimpse. Still, the nearby mountains made quite an impression.

From the park’s bluff we could see the mud flats begin to appear as the tide headed out. Cleta warned us to never walk onto the mud flats, which have quicksand-like qualities. Tragically, once a victim sinks knee-deep in the mud, there is little rescuers can do to break the suction and prevent drowning as the tide rises 26 feet.

We continued to see the giant mud flats as we headed up the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, which boasts the second-highest tides in North America (Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada has the highest).

At the head of Turnagain Arm the highway continues through a one-way tunnel to Whittier, a terminus for many Alaskan cruises. We passed a surprising (to me) number of recreational vehicles. Apparently driving your big rig all the way to Alaska – and not just the part near British Columbia – is a thing.

At Bird Point along the coastal highway, we saw few birds, but tiny iridescent-blue dragonflies swarmed around us.

We took advantage of Cleta’s transportation to stop at Target for a few toiletries we needed, as well as some spicy snacks for our cabin stewards. After dinner, we said goodbye for now – I will sail with Cleta and Ray on the 2025 world cruise.

On Thursday, we shuttled into town from the ship, which is docked in an industrial port blocked to non-shuttle traffic. We shopped some of the nicer stores, including Cabin Fever, a fabric and yarn shop that made me miss my days of quilting. Glacier Brewhouse had a great assortment of appetizers, but as with everywhere in Alaska, the prices are not cheap. Everything has to be shipped in. Still, it was worth a splurge.

It’s my third visit to Anchorage – one an overnight on a business trip 20 years ago. A number of murals adorn the buildings, and flowers are everywhere. When the winters are long, you celebrate the short summers.

When I looked up photos from my previous visits, I saw I had captured some of the same shots – such as the ubiquitous sign pointing at far-off places. Sadly, Nordstrom has left Anchorage. Mom and I enjoyed shopping and lunch there as we frequently did in Dallas.

I didn’t make it to any of the museums I thought I might visit. Right downtown is the Anchorage Museum, and a bit farther out is the Alaska Native Heritage Museum, which many fellow cruisers enjoyed. They caught a shuttle there from the “log cabin” visitor’s center in the center of town. The center also offers free postcards, as well as stamps for your first two. I jotted a quick “wish you were here!” note to Cleta and Ray – I think they will get a kick out of it.

Our last stop was a giant tourist store – where I continue to see funny t-shirts. Best to just take photos, as they won’t fill my suitcase.