We decided to explore Anchorage and try to get a feel for the culture of this unique city. Our first stop was downtown Anchorage to a market festival that they hold every Saturday. It’s a great place to find Alaskan souvenirs. I would suggest an Alaskan ulu (oo-loo). The ulu is a knife and the design comes from the Inupiat, an Alaska native group of North Western Alaska. Just down the street from the festival is The Ulu Factory where you can watch them make ulus and pick up one for yourself that even comes with an instructional video! Plus the ulu factory offers free rides to and from the factory making stops in downtown Anchorage.

After a lunch of reindeer sausage (apparently you can’t go to Anchorage without eating reindeer sausage) we walked to the Anchorage Train Station, because I really wanted to buy my dad a model Alaskan Railroad train caboose. The next time we come back to Alaska, I am definitely going to take the train. It’s pretty expensive, so definitely not for the cheap traveler but I think it’s probably worth it for the ambiance. The trains follow scenic routes and the tops of the trains are windows. However, I did like the ability to stop wherever we wanted to take pictures, to go hiking, and also to be able to go off the beaten path and explore new things.

After the train station we headed over to the Tony Knowles coastal trail. It’s about nine miles long and wraps around the Anchorage coast. I would suggest renting a bike- it’s long and it would make it easier to see more. We made the mistake of walking, we got about two miles and decided to turn around. There are a few places to rent bikes pretty close to the trail.

Downtown Anchorage reminds me a little bit of San Francisco, a bunch of cute little stores and souvenir shops. It was fun to explore the more metro side of Anchorage. Afterwards we decided to go for a little drive, and this time headed north from Anchorage. We found some really neat camping grounds; saw a few more moose, and some nice looking suburban neighborhoods.

We ate dinner at a local themed restaurant and then sadly it was time to go to the airport. It was a quick trip, but definitely a once in a lifetime must. If you have ever thought about going to Alaska- you need to. There is just something about that place, I think about it a lot now that I am back. It’s enchanting. The beauty in Alaska is unlike anything else.

Tags: Anchorage, Coastal Trail, Ulu

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 8:27 am and is filed under My Trips, Popular Posts, Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.