South Central Alaska is amazing, even in the rain and fog of overcast days. The view even when it contained rundown old houses was breath taking, and the people were amazing.
Anchorage, well the Microtel tested even my standards and well they are pretty low. The end of the trip we drove up the Old Seward Highway (which as a warning ends kinda abruptly at an off ramp for the new Seward highway and can kinda get stuck). Saw the building boom different from the Kenai. Visited to tourist area shopping and seeing the earthquake movie, which is locally produced and well was a let down (it has promise but needs the work). Ate at the Glacier brewhouse, I didn't care for their brewed root beer (and skipped the real stuff since I was driving) but their fresh made soup was so good I regretted not ordering a bowl of it. Can see all the cook stations and there's a big fireplace in the middle, great place for a family or a few drinks with friends.
Girdwood, was a resort town and outside of some hiking and panning for gold one has nothing to do but relax. The views from everywhere from my room to the HOT tub were breath taking and wonderful. It's set up for easy walking or biking from the resort to town. Take the tram to the top of the mountain the round house museum and view re worth it. In town stop by the Jade shop to look at the amazing creations and the big hunk of jade in the workshop. Need something to eat, sadly I have to say skip the resort restaurants. But try Chair 7 for a relaxed family friendly meal or go local and try the silver tip bar.
Seward, I have to say was the low light of my trip. Socked in by fog and flooding/mud slide issues just a day after I left maybe they were just not at their best. The Harbor View was clean, friendly and convenient to both town and the boat harbor but nothing too special. The sea life center is a small glimpse into the animals of the area and well worth the visit, kind of place kids are fascinated in lots of stuff to touch. Exit glacier is quite a hike for most out of shape tourist, but worth every step up. The Kenai Fjords tour was a rough trip the water rough and fog everywhere. The staff were great, making sure I made it to the back of the boat where it was the least rocky and checking on those of us back there. Offerin
g blankets and drinks. The food was passable lunch of wraps and a buffet of salmon and prime rib. Crab legs extra, which I skipped, but nothing was amazing except the views form the decks on Fox Island where you eat. Other restaurants of note are the Roadhouse at Windsong lodge, great views and good food. Had a Alaskan Raspberry wheat beer here that was amazing as was the food, save the key lime pie. And The Seabean, a homey coffee shop downtown. One of the few places open early, and family run. The owner took our order as his young daughter played. Quirky thing on way in and out is the highway narrows to a one lane bridge, controlled by a stoplight system. Real shocker for us not even sure I've seen a one lone bridge in years.The trip to and from Homer as I seem to be ordering this a little randomly, was beautiful even in the rain. A glacial blue river flows on one side of the road or the other for most of the trip. And there isn't much of anything going southbound till Soldotna. There we visited the Loose moose where they had huge donuts and other baked goods. There is the biggest store we saw outside Anchorage here Fred Meyer, a really nice super walmart type place (nicer than walmart though). On our way north we stopped in Sterling at Suzie's Cafe in Sterling, a packed place that was really popular with the locals. Good food and the type of place I'd love to have breakfast. Another interesting thing is the coffee shacks (for lack of a better term) that are everywhere. Little things that remind me of the old drive up photo booths with service windows on both sides, selling coffee.
if you're lucky the ferry will come by. Two sisters, a fun bakery with good soups and sandwiches. Not to mention sticky buns and other baked goods to kill for. Cosmic kitchen, we tried to go to the one in town and it was just stuffed. But tried the one on the Spit not as big a menu as the one in town but pretty good Mexican food. Boardwalk fish & chips, home of fish on a stick. And it's good, i also loved the calamari even ate the lemon slices they battered and fried with it. Duggan's Waterfront Pub offered a steak night, and where as it was no outback the food was good. Was also primarily a local crowd, my favorite part was the dog who laid down just outside the open back door waiting. Latitude 59, a coffee shop with lots of local art hanging and daily specials worth checking out. We were in a soup mood for most of the trip and they offered a spicy navy bean that I'd love another cup of. Fresh Sourdough Express, is a nice little restaurant. Their sandwiches were ok, but their milkshakes were the best(I'm a fan of a great raspberry milkshake and there guys have it). For crab lovers the do offer all you can eat crab at certain times (sadly I just wasn't hungry enough for the price).
The people were great, especially haveing family to show us around, seeing a few sites not normally on tourist maps. And the cherry on the top of homer was the amazing Majestic View B&B. The room was very homey, with an amazing view of the spit. The beds were comfortable with soft flannel sheets. And the breakfasts were amazing, I am not a breakfast person and I was hooked. I still crave stuffed french toast, fireweed jelly, smoked salmon, and all the other wonderful dishes. Maria and company really make you feel at home, she also has books and brochures on hand to help you plan things, as well as plenty of personal knowledge. And yes moose do really wonder through the backyard.
As with any trip there were some problems and draw backs, but all in all it is an amazing place and I still have so much more to see. It hurt me to leave Homer, but I looked forward to my other stops at that point. Getting on the plane home was truly hard to do, I feel in love with the town of Homer and had to leave it behind.
