Anchorage Again?

Somehow I house sat in Anchorage for 2 weeks and didn’t do much exploring in actual Anchorage. The weather waylaid my plans to visit the Botanical Garden and Alaska Native Heritage Center. It rained buckets for most of August. I heard so many locals complaining about the unseasonably fall weather they had all summer, and everyone was convinced we were going to need an arc before too long. So I worked a lot to catch up from my VanVenture and when the sun came out, we wandered a little farther for day trips to nearby towns and hikes.

We made it to the Anchorage Museum one dreary evening, and it worked wonders for my spirit. There were fascinating exhibits on being Black in Alaska, a Smithsonian gallery on native history, an exhibit on feminism, an entire wing on what makes Alaska unique, and some really lovely art. We thought 2 hours would be enough time, but we really could have used another hour or two. Leave plenty of time to explore this one, it’s a gem.

We went for a couple of great walks, hikes and drives with the dogs. We even popped into a couple of cute shops and galleries, but everything closed pretty early and we didn’t have much luck exploring before dinner on the few occasions we stopped working our way through the incredible CSA bounty our homeowners had left us.

We did explore a few local breweries after our delicious dinners at home. Keep in mind that the liquor laws in Alaska are a little bizarre. All of the breweries have to close by 8 and can only serve you 36 ounces of beer per day. That’s usually a flight (and a pint, if you find something you like.) I really enjoyed an excellent and exotic flight from Midnight Sun Brewery, an amazing spread at Glacier Brewhouse, and Double Shovel Cidery for a trip planning session on a Monday when the breweries were closed. The selection was a little weird at Anchorage Brewing Company, they only offer IPAs and high grav barrel aged beer. They don’t do flights, but do half pours, so if you don’t like either of those you’re pretty much out of luck. I didn’t love either of my samples, but it’s definitely worth a visit to their beautiful taproom because we got to enjoy them in our own personal barrel. It was a unique experience, and one we thoroughly enjoyed.

Brewpubs can stay open a little later, so we went to 49th State Brewing (a second time just because they announced they had restocked their grapefruit beer and cracktastic popcorn.) I’m pretty sure pizza is Alaska’s state food, because it was unbelievably abundant. No complaints here, Wheatons are famously fanatical about pizza. Matanuska Brewing has fantastic pizza and beer, but my favorite stop was the iconic Moose’s Tooth for perfect pizza and fabulous flights.

Please remember that COVID is hitting Alaska hard in hospitals AND restaurants, both industries are tremendously understaffed and overwhelmed. I included a photo of the banner outside of 49th State Brewing Anchorage just so you could see the sheer quantity of people they were looking to hire. I almost never ask to speak to a manager, I’m not a Karen, but I had to ask for the 49th State manager to be sent to our table. I thanked him profusely for the hustle and positivity I saw from a staff that never got out of the weeds. Everyone was gracious, kind, efficient, and working their tails off. We watched the management team running up and down the stairs with massive trays of food just trying to help out. I like to think I’m good to food service people everywhere, but I know it’s particularly important in Alaska. Their tourist season is so short, please help out where you can with your wallet and your attitude.

Somehow my journey out of Anchorage was every bit as dramatic and interesting as my arrival. A lengthy flight delay left me with an unbelievably short layover and a run through the terminals at SEATAC. I didn’t even realize how little I did in actual Anchorage until I started pulling photos for blogs. Good thing the homeowners have already invited me back, looks like I have far more to see and do!