Arctic Bound Alaska — Anchorage

 

It’s true, I am in Alaska in the middle of the winter.  What is a sun worshiper like myself doing here?  I am someone who thinks of heading to the lands where the coconuts grow when it gets yucky in Oregon.  But I have always wanted to see the Northern Lights.  I just think it would be an experience of a lifetime (but I say that about so many things, don’t I?) to see the sky light up in a psychedelic show.  Sort of like going to a Pink Floyd concert minus David Gilmore and Roger Waters.

I was in Alaska two springs ago, camping on the Kenai Penninsula with a couple days in Anchorage with my friend Stella.  I recall before I went on that trip, a friend who used to live in Alaska had mentioned to me that one of his favorite places to visit is the Kenai River.  His words to me that the river is turquoise and he almost cried the first time he saw it rang in my head and I made sure to put rafting the river on my must do list.  It was breathtaking and I made sure to alter my itinerary (which is always fluid anyway) to include an extra day hiking the river.  When I got back, I reported to him that the two river days were highlights of the trip, which is saying a lot, as I also did two flights near Denali in Stella’s boyfriend’s bush plane.

Anyway, I had an amazing first visit to Alaska and since Alaska is SO vast and I was heading out here in the winter instead of the late spring, I would be able to create an entirely different trip, with practically no overlapping of activities.  I mentioned my crazy idea to my friend and traveling buddy Dan and, while at first he was not into it, he came around and to make a long story short, we decided to experience this together.  He has had occasion to come to Alaska on business through the years, but he had never taken the time to explore it as a tourist.  Soon enough, we were in trip planning phases and it was a collaborative effort.

One of the reasons we picked this week is that I looked for going on’s in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and found an annual Folk Festival in Anchorage the end of January and the Yukon Qwest dog races in early February and, in addition to that, it was timed pretty well with the new moon, which come sources say increases one’s chances of seeing the northern lights.

We both checked into the airport a few hours before the flight.  I went early, so I didn’t need to contend with rush hour traffic in Portland.  We chit chatted at the gate and walked around a bit before getting cooped up on the plane.  The flight was uneventful, as it should be.  But even better than uneventful, the four hour flight was done in just over three hours – we had a tailwind on our side.

We got our bags and car and soon enough were on our way.  The airport is in close proximity to the city.  We stopped at REI and I knew that there was a great bookstore and cute little cafe in the same strip mall.  A note on Anchorage – LOTS of strip malls.  If you love strip malls, you’ll love the city of Anchorage.  If you don’t love strip malls, you will love the fact that Anchorage is so close to Alaska.

We stopped in the cafe and I was so happy to see Townshend’s Kombucha there.  It’s brewed in Portland, and when I travel and kombucha is noticeably gone from my diet, I miss it, and my body misses it.  Tidal Wave Books is very large, especially considering it’s an independent book store.  There is an impressive section on travel and a few aisles just on Alaska.  Again, Alaska is so big, there is so much history, and so many perspectives a writer can take.  A lot of the writings are about the land itself and the story the land tells.  Just for fun, I got a fictitious story about a murder in Alaska, as I knew it would have a lot of history and lore and culture.

We had selected staying at a hotel downtown, Captain Cook.  It is independent and full of Alaskan character.  If you can picture the Alaskan aristocratic look, you have got Captain Cook.   The doorman wore a black top hot and immediately opened the door for us and told us that he would call the bellhop to get our bags, once we checked in.  Since we were staying for four nights, we were automatically upgraded to a junior suite, which was a generous token of appreciation on their part.

The hotel has a few things going for it.  Firstly, it oozes with charm.  And secondly, the view is awesome.  We were on the 14th floor of a 20 story building and the perspective of the city and the Chugach Mountains were something to note.  The snow that didn’t start until more than halfway up the mountain is another thing we took note of.  To put it in perspective, Anchorage was just a bit cooler than Portland – mid 30’s.

After taking in the view, we went out to stroll through downtown.  The downtown is a mix of old Alaskan charm and newer development.  For the most part, we didn’t have an agenda, but there were a few things on my list that were of interest and Dan expressed interest in visiting some familiar places.

Close to where we parked the car was a place called Snow City Café  and I could tell it was the happening spot and we should go there for breakfast.  Outside of it, was an ice sculpture of a snowman.  I had read about the ice sculptures in Fairbanks and thought it was great that they were in Anchorage too.

There is an old time Anchorage character named Perry Green (I read about him beforehand) and when I googled him, I saw that his furrier store is now called David Green’s.  We moseyed down to furrier and went inside to see the most beautiful display of furs my eyes have ever seen.  All sorts of colors and patterns and textures.  It was just the perfect place to host a PITA strike.  Alaska is not for the faint of heart, nor the politically correct.  Dan was chatting with David about being a furrier and discovered that Perry Green is David Green’s uncle.

And I was in seventh heaven feeling all the fury items in the store.  I recalled how much I loved fuzzy things as a little girl.  I have distinct memories of being in museums in New York City and being carried on my dad’s shoulders and barking orders to go here and there, so I could touch people’s fur hats.  I was wearing a fur coat actually that I picked up at an antique store a couple years back at home.  I asked David what animal it is from and he let me know I was wearing fox.  Foxy lady.

 

I tried on a hat just for fun and for sure I took a liking to the beaver scarves.  They were all patchwork style and David explained that they were made from scraps, so no two would ever be exactly the same.  I was curious as to if the fur was local or global and he let us know that they buy furs from all over the world and the products are made all over the world as well.  Some of the higher end items are made in New York and Europe.  And the less creative, but still high quality items are made in China.  He went on a bit of a rant about how some people don’t want to by the items, if they are made in China.  And that while some of the work is made just above the shop, the employees are Chinese, as Americans don’t really want these types of job.  We assured him we weren’t bleeding heart liberals and just asked to get a broader view of how the industry worked.  As much as I loved immersing myself in the fur store, I didn’t buy anything and we carried on.

We wandered inside the Visitors Center, which also had an ice sculpture in front of it of a moose.  It was a little log cabin and inside there was fireplace and a wooden table with a puzzle on it for visitors to work on to their hearts content.  The two women were very happy to talk to us and we suspected that in the off season, they are twiddling their thumbs a lot waiting for anyone to visit them.  We spoke to them a bit about Alaska in general and more specifically, about the Iditarod.

Just down a bit from the Visitors Center is a park, which was hosting an ice sculpture contest. There were lots of sculptures, each one prettier than the next.  I suspect some of the finer details of the sculpture were lost because the days had been and were currently getting up just above freezing.  So the ice would begin to melt, and then at night, it would refreeze.  Some of the sculptures were quite elaborate.  I think my favorite was the scene of the pearl oyster with other sea creatures in the background.  I believe the artists must be at peace with the fact that their art is temporal.  Just like those who create art from food, or art in the sand – I can only guess that the satisfaction must come from the creation aspect, with little or no attachment to longevity.

 

Oomingmak Co-op was another place I had read about beforehand and wanted to visit.  It is a cooperative where the women make garments out of qiviut, which is otherwise known as musk ox.  About 250 Native women who all live in Alaska are the owners.  A lot of the fur is gathered wild, as it falls off of the musk ox and some of it comes from farms, where the animals are combed for their fur.  They do not get sheered, the way sheep do.  Also, the fur doesn’t have barbs the way wool does, so it’s not itchy, it is actually extremely soft.  And eight times as warm as wool!  The wool is naturally an earthy brown color and then some of it is bleached to beige.  This allows patterns to be made with two tones.  The garments are not flashy, they are very modest looking, but upon close inspection, it is obvious what works of art they actually are.  What was the coolest part of the experience was observing the native women sitting at the table, knitting away.  On the wall were the names of the top producers at the coop and some of some them had knit well over 2,000 items.  What I am trying to convey here is that these are very salt of the earth people and they seemed to have a deep sense of purpose and contentment around knitting qiviut garments.  They come from a culture that is based on surviving on a subsistence level and are not entrepreneurial by nature – and yet, they have found a way to incorporate their knowledge of the earth and their traditional ways, into earning a living and offering something of service to the broader community.  I am sure if I went back to Oomingmak Co-op in five years, I’d see the same women sitting at the table, happily knitting qiviut hats.

 

 

 

Wandering toward the water, we stopped in another place and inquired as to what it was.  It was a cozy and simple space that serves as a center to aid foster families that had been separated or forced apart, to have a safe space to be reunited, even if only for a few hours.  It is run completely privately – and it scrapes by on grants and donations.  Wherever I travel I am always struck that I find and meet dedicated individuals who give themselves so willingly to a humanitarian cause that is near and dear to them.

It was getting close to sunset, and we walked to the edge of downtown, which borders the Cook Inlet.  Looking north, there is the Alaskan Mountain range, different from the Chugach Mountains that surround the east and south of Anchorage.  We could tell they are of different geological origins and forces, due to the shape of them.  Denali sits in the distance, although we were not able to see it.  When I was in Alaska in the summer, the sunsets were awesome and long lasting, which was to be expected, since the sun sort of just dips below the horizon and comes up again.  And I was actually surprised to see that the sunsets were awesome in the winter too.  The Chugach mountains which are snow-capped turn a shade of pink this time of the evening and even once the sun drops below the horizon, the sky remains twilight for well over an hour.  The light in these northern latitudes is really something special.  Perhaps people who live here get used to it, but as a visitor it is noticeably different from lower latitudes.

Dinner was calling.  On our walk earlier, we peeked at the menus of some restaurants I had researched before arriving.  Some looked moderately enticing, some not so much.  We decided on Kumagoro, a Japanese restaurant.  Assuming the fish is good, sushi is always a winner for us both, so in we went.  The fusion of Alaskan décor (which tends to be dark wood and heavy) and Japanese art on the walls made me smile.  The sushi was not the best I have ever had, but it was pretty good and it sure felt nourishing, after a day of travel.

Our evening walk was chilly and refreshingly brisk.  The sidewalks had since frozen and we carefully navigated the streets to find our way back to Captain Cook.  Tomorrow would be another day and, if the weather was as nice as predicted, we wanted to hit the Kenai.