North to Alaska VII

The last time around I left us on the train to Talkeetna AK. Talkeetna is a small town with a year-round population of about 800. It's a popular tourist destination and it's other claims to fame are as a jumping-off point for expeditions setting out to climb Denali (Mt. McKinley) and as the town which was the inspiration for the quirky little Alaska town in the 90's TV show "Northern Exposure". That show was filmed in Washington State, but having been an occasional viewer of the show and having seen Talkeetna, I can see where they captured the atmosphere of the town pretty well, including the community radio station. Well, we pulled into the Talkeetna RR station and our faithful bus and driver were waiting for us. The next stop was our hotel: the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge.

It was a very nice hotel with two restaurants and a huge wood-burning fireplace in the main lobby. But it's main claim to fame is that from the patio in the back of the lobby, you can see all the way to the Alaska Range and, weather permitting, get an excellent view of Denali itself. Well, the weather only permits on the average 60 days out of any given year.

Here is a picture I found of Denali from the Lodge on a perfect day

Here is the view we saw. If you look hard, you can sort of see a bit of the mountain poking through the clouds above the dark, saddle-shaped mountain in the center.

That evening, we took a shuttle bus into the booming metropolis of Talkeetna in the pouring rain. We ended up at what I would consider the ultimate Alaska wilderness dive - a bar and restaurant called the "West Rib". We loved it. Contrary to what you might expect from the name, they did not serve ribs of any kind. The name refers to an approach route to Denali used by many climbers. What they did serve was an amazingly good seafood platter of salmon, halibut and Dungeness crab. I also tried an ale called "Ice Axe" which was around 9% alcohol. It tasted like regular ale with a shot of vodka in it. After one, I switched to Alaska Amber.

Michelle and her sister in the "West Rib"

The next day, we pretty much had to whole day to kill in Talkeetna before our train left in mid-afternoon to take us to Anchorage and the end of the trip. We went back into town and ate breakfast at a place called "The Roadhouse" which is a restaurant and bakery. Their breakfasts are so huge we were advised to order a half portion which was plenty big enough even for my appetite. Afterwards, we wandered up and down Talkeetna's two block long main street and checked out the various gift shops and galleries. There were some nice but expensive things; however, nothing jumped out and said "buy me". In the end, Michelle found a neat miniature mask in the hotel gift shop of all places. It is by a Native American artist and depicts a wolf with its prey in its jaws.

Main Street Talkeetna with the "West Rib". The "Roadhouse" is down the street to the right.

Eventually, we returned to the hotel and hung out in the lobby until it was time to get on our bus and go to the train station. It was during this time that we got the (very) partial view of Denali from the back patio.

We got on the train and headed for Anchorage. Dinner was served on the train and we saw some more scenery and eventually we wound up at our last hotel, the Marriott in Anchorage. The next day we were up at Oh dark hundred to catch our flight home via Seattle.

Well folks, that concludes the story of our Alaska adventure. I'm sure I left a lot out, but that will be stuff to bore family and friends with. Generally speaking, I would say that the cruise/land tour is the best way for the average person to see Alaska. My only recommendation would be that anyone who does this reverse the order. That is, arrange to do the Alaska interior land tour first, and then get on the ship in Seward and cruise to Vancouver. The trip can be booked this way and has the advantage that after the fairly hectic schedule of the land tour, you can look forward to the relatively relaxing cruise portion. Other recommendations (some of these are based on an earlier cruise-only trip we took): try to make it to a Dungeness crab dinner, gold-panning is fun, the WP&Y railroad is great, whale watching is very enjoyable, if your ship happens to go to Sitka (this trip didn't) there's a wonderful raptor rescue center there with close-up views of bald eagles. Also, see Denali Park, don't miss river rafting, and be sure your tour takes the riverboat in Fairbanks. Oh, and if you like beer, don't miss the Alaska Amber.