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Published: June 25th 2011
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Ahhh, Anchorage. Destination achieved. After sitting upright in my plane seat that reclined all of 1 inch, in a series of flights lasting over 12 hours, the bed in our little Anchorage Hotel felt like sleeping on a cloud. Today ,Cheryl, Mike and I rented bikes and off we went for a bike tour on the Knowles Coastal Trail that runs along Cooks Inlet. Mostly flat, so it was easy cruising But after the first hour, my butt hurt. Mike was kind enough to trade bikes with me after awhile and took the one that had two bricks for a seat…but by then the damage was done. Oooh, Ouch. Oh well, it’s good for me, it’s good for me.
After turning in the bikes it was time for lunch. Fish and Chips and a cup of fabulous seafood corn chowder. Delicious. Then we were off and walking. We booked on a one hour trolley tour of Anchorage at the Information Center in the heart of town. The tour guide was full of information. I bet you didn’t know that Anchorage is the number two spot in America to eat.…guess what. SPAM! That’s right, that hearty meal in a can that you
just can’t live without. The number one spot? No not Philly. Hawaii of all places. I guess it goes well with pineapple coladas.
Another not to miss food item is a spicy reindeer sausage. We tried ours from a street vendor in downtown. Perfect for a pre-dinner snack.
A few more tidbits of information:
Anchorage has 22 ½ hours of sunlight this time of year, but no midnight sun. It sets about 11:30 p.m. and is up again at 2 a.m. In the summer they only get 6 hours of sunlight between 10:00 and 3:00.
Anchorage is home to the second fastest tides in the world. The tide goes out in 3 minutes and a couple of times a year the tides are fast enough and large enough that it goes out in one big wave. It’s called a boretide and people actually surf it.
The coast of Cooks Inlet in Anchorage is all mudflats. The mudflats were formed from glaciers that ground down the rocks into fine particles. When the tide recedes it exposes the mud. They say if you were to walk out into the mud you’d start sinking and continue sinking for three thousand
feet. The mud is that deep.
In 1923, when President Warren Harding came to Anchorage to drive in the last spike of the Alaskan railroad, he swung and missed 12 times. How embarrassing!
In 1964, there was a 9.2 earthquake along the Aleutian Islands. It created a tsunami reported to be 225 feet high that washed over Anchorage and inland for several miles. It killed over 100 people and destroyed miles and miles of homes and buildings. The water and salt also destroyed trees and forests the results of which can still be seen today.
We did a little shopping after the tour and are just now off to see the AurorA: a digital photographic visual extravaganza of the Aurora Borealis. You can’t see the northern lights in the summer time of course, but a photographer, named Parkhurst has put together a 50 minute “movie” for those of us who just have to see the lights, but prefer to travel to Alaska when it’s not minus 20 degrees.
Dinner! Yummmm. Grilled salmon, Dungeness crab, baby shrimp on a sea of greens with kalamata olives and a deviled egg, with a lemon citrus dressing on the side.
Scroll down for more pictures.
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Deb
non-member comment
she's off and running...or biking as the case may be
wonderful start to your new blogging adventure! Brings back great memories. It's amazing what 22.5 hours of sun can do for flowers. Also loved the pic of your friend Heidi (presumably visiting from Switzerland?), and glad to see the bears as well as the humans getting served wonderful fish dinners. :))