As we left the Kenai Peninsula heading for Anchorage, we made a quick stop in Girdwood.
As it happened, we hit the last day of a craft fair. This turned out to be a quaint little display of 60’s tie dyed clothing, dangle jewelry, crocheted hats, the occasional flower necklace and live Beatles music played by guys in overalls. Yep, this place belonged to the hippies. The posh Alyeska resort and ski area is the big attractions and the life blood of this community.
Anchorage itself is a modern city, but high rises are non-existent. You see, this is a high risk area for earthquakes and in 1964 a large portion of the city was “relocated” by an 8.9er. It was rebuilt and we found it to contain everything a person could need (2 WallyWorlds, 2 Sam’s Clubs, and a Costco). Nearly half of Alaska’s population lives here, giving the city a population over 300,000.
However, you can find the salmon fishermen everywhere, including here on Ship Creek just a few blocks from downtown.
We also toured the Anchorage Botanical Gardens, which turned out to be very disappointing. I was expecting lots of flowers, but the gardens were small and mostly tended by volunteers without much skill. I did find this beautiful blue Mongolian Poppy.
Here’s a teaser. This is Mt McKinley from quit a distance. Unfortunately the peak is covered in clouds, which is the way it is 80% of the time. By the way the peak was originally named Denali by the Indians, meaning tall one. Because of poor name recognition of then congressman McKinley (a Presidential hopeful), his advisors decided he needed a mountain and a park named after him. They bullied their friends in congress and there you go, a perfect example of the way congress wiles away their idle hours.
As it happened, we hit the last day of a craft fair. This turned out to be a quaint little display of 60’s tie dyed clothing, dangle jewelry, crocheted hats, the occasional flower necklace and live Beatles music played by guys in overalls. Yep, this place belonged to the hippies. The posh Alyeska resort and ski area is the big attractions and the life blood of this community.
Anchorage itself is a modern city, but high rises are non-existent. You see, this is a high risk area for earthquakes and in 1964 a large portion of the city was “relocated” by an 8.9er. It was rebuilt and we found it to contain everything a person could need (2 WallyWorlds, 2 Sam’s Clubs, and a Costco). Nearly half of Alaska’s population lives here, giving the city a population over 300,000.
However, you can find the salmon fishermen everywhere, including here on Ship Creek just a few blocks from downtown.
We also toured the Anchorage Botanical Gardens, which turned out to be very disappointing. I was expecting lots of flowers, but the gardens were small and mostly tended by volunteers without much skill. I did find this beautiful blue Mongolian Poppy.
Here’s a teaser. This is Mt McKinley from quit a distance. Unfortunately the peak is covered in clouds, which is the way it is 80% of the time. By the way the peak was originally named Denali by the Indians, meaning tall one. Because of poor name recognition of then congressman McKinley (a Presidential hopeful), his advisors decided he needed a mountain and a park named after him. They bullied their friends in congress and there you go, a perfect example of the way congress wiles away their idle hours.
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