October 1 - Homer to Anchorage

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Good thing for planning and foresight. We over slept the hotel breakfast. I did have enough supplies for us to enjoy breakfast in our room. We enjoyed the view while we ate. The room really was just right. We were packed up in just an hour and off to Anchorage for the final leg of our trip.
Boy did it rain. The truck is clean as a result. The conditions made for lousy views. We were motivated by that alone to push on to our destination with a minimum of stops. We even ate lunch on the fly in the car. We used up the last of our lunch supplies with the exception of the garlic bread Vern gave us. We still have enough for another sandwich each. It’s the never ending bread. It still tastes good too.
We got to Anchorage in good time. About 3:30 PM. We were even able to settle-in in time for the Gator’s game after scrambling to get the truck unloaded. The thing about the fancier hotels is that a bell hop is standing by to unload you and move you on. We needed to unload completely and be sure we got it all for reorganizing later. We felt rushed and like the bell hops were hovering, but we got it all out and loaded onto a sizable cart.
We have come full circle. We had a “mac-daddy” 2 room suite in Long Boat Key and a string of hotels that fit the area and that we found comfortable. When we rolled up to our room there was a plaque on the door that said Governor’s Suite. We looked at each other and said “this is a very good sign”. We immediately whipped out the video camera to capture our first impression of the last hotel we were to say at in Anchorage. Two rooms, one the bedroom and bathroom with tons of space, the other an outer room complete with a wet bar and full living room with a nice desk; something missing from some of our other hotel rooms along the way. As soon as we settled in we scanned the TV channels for the gator’s game and our little slice of heaven in Anchorage was complete. Happy hour has begun.

After about an hour we were thinking about food. Dan had asked the concierge about a good local sports bar so we could go and watch the game and get some food. He recommended the peanut farm which required a drive or Platinum Jaxx which was about 6 blocks away (walking distance). We walked to Platinum Jaxx. Upon entering the place, it was filled with people younger than us and they were playing music that could be enjoyed by people younger than us. Upon our request, they had finally put on the Florida-Alabama game. While waiting, we chatted with a rather talkative southern gentlemen who also requested the game. After assessing the menu, the atmosphere, the man who would not stop talking and the fact that Florida was getting their butts handed to them, we decided to go to a place called Rum Runners which was one block from our hotel. It was a much better choice for food and atmosphere. They did chase us out as they were setting up for their own “night club’. We then retired for the night at the Governor’s Suite.

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