A day in Anchorage

[Suzanne123]

Maybe one of the locals can chime in, but I remember we went to a restaurant across the parking lot from the Wildberry store with the giant chocolate waterfall. The reason I mention it is because they had a shuttle that would take you from your hotel to the restaurant and back. I think we enjoyed it more for the local color than the food, but it was OK, and convenient if you don't have a car.

[VermeulT]

Suggestion: Visit http://www.anchorage.net they have a whole lot to do's in Anchorage.

 

There is an Anchorage Trolley- 1 hour leaves from the info center log cabin every hour. Goes to all tourist areas in Anchorage. ( you can go back afterwards)

 

Local day tours offered by: Salmon Berry or. 907 Tours - google them and visit there web sites. They cater to what you want in small groups.

 

Shopping downtown can be fun too.

 

Thanks for this... And the market info. Much appreciated.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[AKStafford]

Maybe one of the locals can chime in, but I remember we went to a restaurant across the parking lot from the Wildberry store with the giant chocolate waterfall. The reason I mention it is because they had a shuttle that would take you from your hotel to the restaurant and back. I think we enjoyed it more for the local color than the food, but it was OK, and convenient if you don't have a car.

 

http://www.sourdoughmining.com/

http://www.alaskawildberryproducts.com/

[Havinsnest]

If I had a day or two in Anchorage I would make certain to do 3 things...

 

1) Visit the market. We love it.

 

2) Drive to Eagle River Nature Center and hike and take pictures. The picture below was taken there in May 2008.

 

 

3) Stop in Eagle River and give my best friend, her husband and our goddaughters hugs and kisses.

 

Oh, wait. We'll be doing all those things in July once we get off the ship in Whittier on June 30. :)

[agru]

We spent our day in Anchorage with an Enterprise rental car. We drove along Turnagain Arm and would highly recommend it for many, many reasons.

 

You can read my blog post about our day here (which will give you much more information than I can post with a foggy morning head ;) ):

 

http://aprilbirding.blogspot.com/2012/07/alaska-anchorage-june-22-2012.html

 

Cheers!

[deladypilot]

Earlier this year we docked in Whittier and took the shuttle to the airport. We rented a car and drove to the Iditarod headquarters about 40 miles north. It was easy to get to and a beautiful drive. The museum was small but free and their was a short film. From there we drove about 25 miles north toward Willow, we could see Mt McKinley at different points and stopped and took photos. After that, we turned around and went to a Reindeer farm but it was pretty boring but sill nice to see them live.

 

We stopped and ate at a local dinner and met some great folks.

 

We did not have as long as you in Anchorage and I would have loved to go south a bit but time ran out before our flight

[bigmohes]

Snow City for breakfast was recommended to us and I am so glad we went! Get there early there will be a wait. We got there about 830 (later than I wanted) and we waited about 15 min but there is coffee at the door to help yourself to and it went really fast. Humpy's was good and definetly not anything you will find anywhere else.

 

We did the Market and it was enjoyable. Glacier Brewhouse was good as well. We also went in prior to our trip actually starting and stayed at the Marriott downtown and we were able to walk everywhere. Actually we walked 12 miles that day as well as taking the Trolley from the ulu factory back downtown. It was raining almost all of the day but that did not stop us or slow us down any. Also the F street station was an interesting place for lunch. It is located directly across from the Federal Building if I remember correctly. Have a wonderful time and be a little flexible in your planning so if something pops up that looks interesting you can make it happen.

[QuiGonJohn]

Trip is under 2 weeks away now. Just reviewing this thread for final preparation. I thought I read about an Anchorage Walking Tour, can't find that again.

[Halehuaka_i]

Here's what we did today in Anchorage:

 

Alaska Heritage Center from 9 to 2. Lots of demonstrations on games and dancing. Stopped in WalMart (across the highway off of Muldoon) for last minute snacks and wine to take on board. Dropped our bags off at the Marriott Hotel to store for tomorrow's train trip to Seward. Walked over to Glacier Brewhouse for dinner but the wait was over one hour! My mistake as I heard reservations are recommended. So we walked over to Humphy's Brewhouse and lucked out on a booth. After a few beers and some food, we rolled back over to Duke's 8th Avenue Hotel.

 

What I would do better:

At least one more day in Anchorage. We didn't see Earthquake Park, Anchorage Museum, Tony Knowles Trail or do any tourist-trap shopping. Also, there is so much hiking around the Anchorage area that we missed. Walking around downtown is nice and easy, a good thing to do to work off the Halibut and Chips!

Not necessary:

The stop at Walmart saved money, but used up time. There's a Brown Jug liquor store downtown with a great selection of wine. A little better planning on a place for dinner would have also saved time.

 

Lei

[SPacificbound]

There is a family owned trolley that you can take and get a lot of information along with some history. We did that today.https://anchoragetrolley.com/

 

For things downtown http://www.alaska.org/destination/downtown-anchorage/things-to-do

 

Check here http://www.alaska.org/destination/anchorage/attractions

 

There is a walking tour, a ghost tour, and various other things.

 

The one thing I most wanted to go to is the Alaska Native Heritage Center but we were told today that they are now closed for the season.

 

For local info take a short walk to 5th & F street.

 

 

 

[QuiGonJohn]

The one thing I most wanted to go to is the Alaska Native Heritage Center but we were told today that they are now closed for the season.

Is that the same as the Anchorage Alaska Center, run by the NPS?

 

http://www.alaskacenters.gov/anchorage.cfm

 

Because I thought, from their website, they were now closed, but they are open, just not on weekends.

 

I looked it up and apparently these are 2 different places. I find it strange that a lot of attractions in Anchorage, many of which close for the winter season, do not have the exact dates easily identifiable on their various websites. For example, the Anchorage Alaska Center I found a few references to dates, some of which seemed to contradict others, or seemed to refer to only 1 particular function. An email to them cleared up that they are still open, just not weekends, starting Sept. 6, 2014.

Edited September 3, 2014 by QuiGonJohn

[Ronneeaght]

I'll chime in with another recommendation for the Saturday-Sunday market. We spent a few hours browsing the shops and bought many things that I can't wait til Christmas to gift to our family and friends. Also, all the food options were unique and tasty. The corn fritters from the fish and chips shop at the southern end of the food strip were delicious!

 

If you are into biking, I'd also highly recommend taking a spin on the Tony Knowles Costal Trail. We rented our bikes from Lifetime Adventures in the courtyard of the Copper Whale Inn. They are right on 5th and L, one block from the trail. We did the two hour rental for $10 per person (from their website, their posted prices are higher, so be prepared to insist on the website price - I've copied the link below). That gave us enough time to get to the airport and back with just a few stops for pictures. We would have liked to get further because we heard that you might see moose on the trail past the airport, but dinnertime was approaching.

 

http://www.lifetimeadventures.net/anchorageCoastalTrail.html

[laughing husky]

Not sure if you have left for your trip yet, but the national park federal building is open and has free movies about Alaska every half hour...they do not do there walks in September. The Alaskan Native heritage cultural Center is now closed for the season. School is back in session and it is kids who do most of the performances and explanations of the sites...the trolley runs until the end of this month every hour on the hour...this weekend is the last day of the Anchorage market..the zoo is open, and has a free shuttle from the visitors cabin, the Anchorage Museum is open year round....UAA has a planetarium that frequently has shows in the weekend..the Botanical Gardens are open all year round..tour companies do their tours all year round. Everyone has been seeing Belugas in the water.....more than usual....still lots to do....a great little restaurant is call the bubbly mermaid...between 4 and 5th ave on D st. I think.....or maybe the next street over. All they serve is champagne and oysters.....nice place to spend an hour or two...and the northern lights are giving good displays...although not from the city....too much light pollution....