Most Memorable Meal in Alaska

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In 1997 the family took a trip to Alaska. We flew into Anchorage and spent a couple of nights before taking the train to Denali National Park to see Mount McKinley. We spent two nights outside Denali and then rode the train back to Anchorage to finish our trip.

We went to church in Anchorage and then after lunch, I dropped the girls off at the mall and I went to play golf. This was part of my quest to play golf in all fifty states. Later that afternoon we went to see the Saving Private Ryan movie. I noticed when we were waiting to enter the theater and the people who had just seen the movie were leaving, that it felt like you were leaving a funeral. The people were unusally somber and some were crying. After seeing the movie, I knew why.

We rode a train south to the bay where we took a boat ride among the glaciers. It was overcast, cold and gloomy. The crew got some glacier ice and gave us a chunk to look at. It seemed particulary dense and took a long time to melt. There was a old deserted building at the town where the boat departed. It reminded me of something out of the X-Files.

We rode an old train from the turn of the century up to Denali. We turned in our rental car to ride the train. The train took a slow and leisurely pace and the track ran parallel to the highway. I remember Susan commenting that she wished that we had kept our rental car and driven up to Denali because we could have made better time that the train. I guess I was the only one who enjoyed the train ride. The seats reclined and I just stretched out and relaxed during the ride. It took most of the day.
But the scenery was a disappointment. It was mostly tundra and not mountains and trees. The Rockies were much more beautiful than the ride to Denali.

We rode an old school bus into Denali the next day. On the tour we saw some grizzlies, but from a long distance. The bus driver had to point them out to us because we wouldn't have been able to recognize them otherwise. There are very few days in the summer when the clouds do not obscure the top of McKinley. We didn't get to see the top while we were there. On our last morning before taking the train back to Anchorage, it was raining and cold, about 38 degrees.

Before going to Denali and after our return, we ate at a restaurant in downtown Anchorage. I think the name of it was Glacier Brewhouse. I can't remember what I had but the food was so good that we went back the second time. It had an eclectic variety of food and had a very good presentation for the meals that we had there.

When we were leaving for the flight home we saw several men with their icechests filled with their catch of salmon and their fishing rods. Erin commented and Susan agreed that Alaska was a "Guy Thing" and that they didn't want to return. They would rather head to the beach and soak in the sun.

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