It took almost the entire day for our bus to get us from Denali to Anchorage ( with a stop for lunch at Talkeetna). Most of the trip was through very scenic and seemingly mostly uninhabited country.

Anchorage is the only real city in Alaska with nearly 300,000 people ,over half the population of the state

We checked in at the Anchorage Marriott and went off to find a restaurant for dinner. Our first choice, the Glacier Brewhouse, had a hour wait so we went next door and had a very nice meal at Orso.

After eating, we took a walk down to the waterfront. The weather was quite mild, sunny without much wind. Alaska is far enough north that during the summer the sund doesn’t set unti after 10:00 pm and it never gets truly dark at night.

Anchorage, like Baltimore, is home to many ravens, especially along the waterfront. We had them flying overhead throughout our walk.

The next morning we took our bus to the Alaska Native Heritage museum. It’s a fascinating place and we could have spent a day there but because we had to get to Seward to pick up our ship, we could only spend a couple of hours. What was particularly interesting were native artists and craftspeople working of projects in the museum. They were more than happy to talk with us. Some of their artwork is truly amazing. Laura could have spent the day just talking with them.

On the way to Seward we drove back through the city and stopped for lunch. At the recommendation of Mary, our guide, we ate reindeer hotdogs from a cart infront of the Federal building. Then back on our bus to get to Seward.