Most Anchorage visitors are generally passing through, either before or after a one way cruise. Many cruisers add a night in a hotel so they can see a tiny bit of Alaska’s largest city. The hotels are primarily located in the middle of downtown, within walking distance to shopping, dining, biking/walking trails, entertainment, and parks.
The “Anchorage” that overnight guests see is exactly what the city wants them to see. I was impressed with the hanging flower baskets lining the streets and the beautiful flower gardens throughout the city parks. Due to more hours of daylight in the summer, the plants and flowers grow really well. Add the average summer rainfall, and they are very self sufficient. Something we don’t get in Texas.
The plants and trees are so green here and the flowers are spectacular for a few months out of the year.
When you hear the saying “The good, the bad, and the ugly”, the downtown area is definitely the good. I will be writing a future post about the bad and ugly, which most tourists do not see during their Alaskan cruise vacation.
We were able to walk from our campground to the downtown weekend market. Booths were set up to sell jewelry, art, clothing, souvenirs, and homemade goodies. I got a kick out of some of the food vendors and here are some of the more interesting ones.
And this was my favorite. No, I would not eat anything on that menu!
The market had some enternainment throughout the day and this group sounded pretty good. The tables in front of the stage were full of people enjoying the music.
Another funny entertainer was the human juke box. There’s a guy with a guitar sitting inside. I caught a glimpse of him with the flap open. We didn’t spend a dollar to stick around and hear a song.
These statues were spread out amongst the booths at the market. They were hand carved out of wood. Many that we have seen around the state have been carved with a chain saw.
I chose the eagle nest. It was not as intimidating as the bear.
Down the hill from the market, closer to our campground, was the big train depot. The Alaska Railroad can take people all over the state and to the many national parks. It is definitely an option if you don’t want to rent a car or RV. They have a brochure and website describing adventure tours that you can book and the train takes you to each location.
Beside the depot was the Ulu Factory. It is the home to the famous ulu knives that are sold all over the state. We stopped in the store to see what they had for sale and you can also see how the knives are made. Behind both of these buildings is Ship Creek. Notice my spelling – SHIP Creek. This creek is one of many that the salmon will run during spawning season. You can rent fishing equipment or bring your own.
The creek dumps out into the bay and the salmon swim against the current to go back to where they were born, after spending 2-5 years in the saltwater ocean. Lots of fish swim back up this creek. Why? Because there is a hatchery about a half mile up the river from here. We took a tour of the hatchery and all of the fish tanks were indoors.
Everything I mentioned in this post was within walking distance except the hatchery. Well, we probably could have walked to it, but the route goes through some rough looking industrial areas. Oh, and those scary bears could be along the shore to catch some dinner!