Seward, Alaska.  A port city where many people either begin or end a cruise.  In fact, that is where I was hoping to be today.  Hopping on a cruise ship and sailing the Inside Passage to Vancouver.  Obviously, that is not happening now.  But despite being a cruise ship destination, Seward is a great place to explore in and of itself. And last summer, I enjoyed spending a few days there.

Seward is located about 2 and a half hours south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.  To get to Seward by car take the Seward Highway which starts by following the Turnagain Arm, part of the Gulf of Alaska, on your right and the mountains of Chugach State Park on your left.  The contrasting scenery is what makes this drive so spectacular.  Look carefully as you drive along, you never know when you might spot a beluga or a mountain goat climbing among the cliffs.  I have yet to see a beluga along this route, but have spotted some mountain goats. 

One stop to check out along the way is the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, about 45 minutes from Anchorage.  Here you can take an aerial tram up 2300 feet to the top of Mt. Alyeska where you have beautiful views of the Turnagain Arm as well as seven glaciers.  You can also eat lunch or dinner at the top before heading back down.

As you continue the drive you will enjoy driving through the mountains before arriving in Seward.

One of my favorite things to do in Seward was the Kenai Fjords Tour.  They offer multiple different tours as well as different times.  We chose The Kenai Fjords National Park Tour that allowed us to see both wildlife and glaciers and was approximately 6 hours long.  The boat has both inside and outside seating and although it is tempting to grab a spot outdoors when you first get on the boat, you are better off finding a spot indoors. First of all, it is a 6 hour cruise and it will be cold.  I recommend bringing a warm jacket, windbreaker, and stocking cap to keep warm.  Second, as soon as we departed, we were given a box lunch which they served indoors at our table.  As we enjoyed our lunch, we took in the breathtaking scenery heading out of Resurrection Bay.  The tour is narrated and we spent lots of time walking around the boat taking lots of pictures of everything including sea lions, sea otters, puffins, murres, eagles, and whales. 

Seeing the Aialik Glacier up close was also amazing.  We even saw the glacier calving!  As a result, there are lots of ice chunks in the water.  The staff grabbed a net and scooped some of the ice chunks out of the water.  After the obligatory tourist photo with the glacier ice, they take it downstairs and chop it up to make margaritas.  Yup of course I had to have an Aialik Glacier Margarita. 

As you start heading back towards Seward, the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafts through the air and before long the staff is passing out fresh cookies to everyone.  Between the beautiful scenery, wildlife, glaciers and yes chocolate chip cookies I would definitely go on this cruise again.

Another must do in Seward is to rent a charter and go out fishing.  There are many different charters to choose from that range from half day salmon fishing to all day salmon, rockfish, and halibut fishing. We chose the latter.  The day started early.  We had to be at the boat by 6am.  But when the sun rises at 4:30 in the morning, it makes waking up a bit easier!  Heading out of port it was a bit foggy, but as the day progressed, we had beautiful blue skies and calm seas.  After about an hour and a half ride out while passing spectacular scenery we started fishing for salmon.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any luck catching salmon, but I did manage to catch a shark! It was also about this time that we spotted whales, and so I gave up on the fishing and watched the whales instead.

After a couple of hours salmon fishing, we headed out even farther to try to try our hand at catching halibut.  After quite a few false alarms I finally reeled one in the boat.  No lie. You should probably work out a bit before trying to get one of those in the boat!  After everyone finally caught a halibut, we were on our way back in.  We took some pictures of our catch and walked around while the crew cleaned our fish. We then had the option to ship our catch back home.  This was super easy and convenient. We told them how much we wanted to ship and the day we wanted it to arrive.  A week later it arrived in Florida 5000 miles away still frozen solid.

Seeing glaciers in Alaska is one of my favorite things to do and just outside Seward is Exit Glacier, an easily accessible glacier by foot.  It is a beautiful 15- 20 minute walk and part of the trail is even paved.  Unfortunately like many glaciers, this one has receded a lot over the last few years and where once you could touch the glacier from the current viewing spot, it is now hundreds of feet farther away.  It is sad to think how these glaciers may not be around that much longer due to global warming.

Back in Seward check out the Resurrect Art Coffee House.  It is a former church that now sells coffee, tea and art from local artists.  Grab your coffee and then head up the narrow staircase to the choir loft which has amazing views of Resurrection Bay and the mountains.

Finally, the Alaska SeaLife Center is worth checking out.  It is a marine mammal rehab and educational facility that opened in 1998 using funds from the 1989 Valdez Oil Spill settlement.  It is very well done and very informative with lots of interactive displays including a Touch Tank.  Make sure you check out the Seabird Aviary where you will see a variety of birds including puffins up close and the Harbor Seal Habitat where if you time it right you can see the seals catching a meal. They also offer different Animal Encounters where staff interact with the animals, so check the schedule prior to arriving.

For most, this will be a summer spent close to home.  Maybe exploring our own backyards, a bit more than we normally would. But soon, we will start venturing out a little farther and exploring new areas again.  So, start thinking about that next great trip. It’s never too early to start planning a vacation for next year.  Maybe it will even be Alaska!