What to do in Alaska's Largest City: Anchorage - Season 10 (2023) Episode 30

Today, we're going to Alaska's largest city, Anchorage. We're going to explore downtown and its many restaurants and breweries. We'll do a section of the Flat Top Peak Trail, see all the anglers fishing for salmon at Ship Creek. We'll make some day trips like the Alieska Aerial Tram, and we'll get to see a bore tide. A small one at that, but still cool. We'll get to walk on a glacier and fly to the northernmost point in America. So let's explore the city from where you can see Alaska. ♪ I'm riding, riding, riding, riding in my RV, my RV ♪ ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ ♪ Because I'm free in my RV, yeah ♪ Busy little town. At last, a modern gas station with tap to pay and all that. To be fair, there were modern gas stations in Fairbanks as well, Fairbanks. And I'm sorry to report, Talkeetna didn't quite turn out as expected, but, you know, the weather is unpredictable now. Today, we're getting a little bit of blue skies, but the main thing we wanted to do there was the plane ride, you know, that lands on the glacier, and that didn't work out. There's construction on Alaska Three. Ryan, the RV technician from Fairbanks, told me that Anchorage is a place where, well, you can see Alaska from there. And as soon as we start getting close, I totally get it. This doesn't really feel like the last frontier anymore. Even Fairbanks has a little bit of that life is rough here feel to it. But as soon as we start getting close to Wasilla, we've got a four-lane road and all the chain restaurants and shops you can think of. It almost feels like we're back in the suburbs of any mid-sized city in the Lower 48, which, believe it or not, is a welcome change. It's been a whole month to the day since we crossed the border between Montana and Alberta. So besides Calgary and, to some extent, Fairbanks, we haven't enjoyed big city amenities all this time. I see some mountains up ahead. Unfortunately, I also see some low-hanging clouds encasing the summits. It is still a beautiful drive as we get closer to Anchorage, crossing the Matanuska River and the Knik River. And check it out, the Alaska Railroad, probably the Denali star taking cruise ship passengers to Denali. I bet you this RV in front of us is going to the same place we're going. What is this place? Well, as you probably know, many RV parks tend to be in industrial areas next to railroad tracks. And this one is not going to be the exception. Oh, bummer, no Starlink. We are within walking distance to downtown and I've been told it is safe. So let's do it. Let's go find something to eat. Well, this is the trail out of the RV park. I'm only taking my phone just in case. It feels pretty solitary in this area. Downtown Anchorage. There are several places we want to sample during our stay here, including 49 State Brewing Company, which comes highly recommended. Ooh, I hear music. There's some kind of festival going on and the band sounds pretty good. All right, Georgie. Apparently it is the Alaska Jazz Workshop. They are a nonprofit promoting jazz music. I love it. And I'm assuming some of these musicians are jazz students. As a lover of jazz, particularly Latin jazz, I really enjoy and appreciate this. We're going to continue walking around and maybe find something to eat. Here's the Visitor Information Center. Nice art. And there are several souvenir shops. Well, hello, bear. This part of downtown is a little livelier. Lots of tourists. Here we have 49 State Brewing Company. Nevermind, super long waiting time. Well, we can't find a place to eat. Our final choice is Humpy's Seafood Grill and I'm feeling lucky. Cheers. We found some room at the bar and ordered the salmon chowder, the smoked salmon spread, and king crab nuggets. Yum. Pretty good food and it seems to have more of a local vibe, which I like. We continue walking around now that we have a full tummy. And the jazz band is still going at it. I think it is a great way for locals to spend a long summer afternoon. And I can tell, whoever is choosing the music is a mambo aficionado. We're gonna start heading back to the RV park. What is that noise? Here we have some street art, perhaps an Inuit person. And that's all I filmed. As we got closer to the campground, there was an area overrun by homeless people, which is very sad, actually. So I thought it would be prudent to put the phone away. I want to thank Magic Spoon for sponsoring this video. Serial Reinvented, as you know, and they are launching a new product. Allow me to introduce you to Magic Spoon treats. These are the perfect high-protein snacks for on-the-go. It's the same magic, but in a convenient, travel-friendly package. Marshmallow and chocolate peanut butter. They're just like the chewy, sweet, nostalgic treats you might remember as a kid, but all grown up. 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So click the link below and use the code traveling for $5 off, or go to magicspoon.com slash traveling to save $5 off your order today. And don't forget to add marshmallow and chocolatey peanut butter treats to your order. Also, for my Canadian and British viewers, Magic Spoon also ships to Canada and the UK. Now back to Alaska. Well, good morning. It's a beautiful day. We're enjoying almost perfect weather here. There are a few clouds towards the mountains, but let's head that way. Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to take the Seward Highway towards Girdwood and the Alieska Resort and take the Aerial Tramway. We've got perfect weather for that. There's a little bit of traffic, but it is flowing. This body of water, the Turnagain Arm. This, by the way, is considered one of the most scenic drives, and we're gonna take it all the way to Seward in a few days. This very popular spot here on the right is called Beluga Point. It is supposed to be a great place to view Beluga whales. This would probably also be a great trip to take by train. We're right next to the railroad tracks. These turnouts are some of the best spots to experience a phenomenon called a bore tide. There is one happening tonight, so we may come back to see it. This is definitely the most scenic drive I think we've done so far. The combination of all these towering snow-capped peaks coming down to sea level is just magnificent. This, by the way, technically part of the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean. First time we see the waters of the Pacific on this trip. These snow-capped mountains on the left, that's where we're going. Lots of traffic going towards Girdwood because this weekend they are celebrating the Forest Fair. It would be cool to visit it. One of those things you can't really plan for, but today we're more in the mood for the aerial tram. So many people coming this way, walking miles and miles. Let me tell you, if parking was easier, we might have stopped by the fair, but hey, maybe on the way back. Here we are at the Alieska Resort to the left. Well, here we are at the Alieska Resort, and that arrow pointing to the right seems to be wrong. Let's go that way. Yeah, we found our way to the resort, and it is very nice. Now we need to find the tramway. Here we are, we found it. Regular price is $48, but we got a special $60 package that includes food and drinks at a discount. I think this is the best combination of weather and scenery we've had since we arrived in Alaska. Of course, we got in the car with all the rowdy teenagers. Our luck, but what a view. It is just wonderful. Let's go into the Boar Tide Deli and Bar. Boar Tide Deli, here we are. We're getting drinks with a view. Eventually, we got some food, Italian melt and mortadella. Well, this place here, the Alieska Tram, obviously the main thing here is location. Look at this place. I mean, the views all over, and then you have all the other glaciers. Let me see if I can get you a view to this side. And you can take the tram, or there's actually people hiking up here, which you have glaciers all over the place. Unfortunately, the Seven Glaciers Restaurant wasn't open today. That would have been our first choice. Otherwise, the Boar Tide Deli, if you're hungry, no. I mean, it's not that great an experience. The bar, however, was very good. And yeah, when it comes to communication information or that kind of thing, they're lacking a little bit because, for example, nowhere it says that you can order food at the bar. There's like food at the deli and drinks in the bar. But other than that, I mean, I think the main reason you come up here is for these views, and the views do not disappoint. And I imagine when the Boar Tide comes in, that's why the deli is called Boar Tide, right? When the Boar Tide comes in, you could see it from here. And I imagine the Seven Glaciers Restaurant is because you can see, I mean, I counted three, but there's probably seven glaciers all around. Very cool. Now we have nowhere to go but down, back down, but actually, coming up here has definitely been one of the highlights of our entire Alaska trip. Let's go back to Anchorage. It looks like the Girdwood Forest Fair is still going on. A lot more people, though. I thought about it for a split second, but finding parking and walking all the way here is not something I want to do right now. Let's go back to Anchorage and explore a little more, and then we'll come back for the Boar Tide. We're back by the Turn Again Arm, where the Boar Tide is going to take place at around 8 p.m. tonight. Did I mention what a beautiful drive this is? We're driving by Ted Stevens International Airport because we're going to this park where you can see the Plains Land. And maybe we'll go for a hike. Let's go for a walk. Lots of people hanging out here. Well, we parked at this place called Point Wurunzov. I believe that's how you pronounce it. And then we came to the place that is aligned with the runway. We're in the shadow now. And we're gonna go to, maybe, maybe we'll make it, maybe we won't, to Earthquake Park, but at least to an overlooked, and I don't know what it's called, that overlooks downtown Anchorage. Okay, this is all part of a planet walk that there is here. And we're right now at Point Uranus. And they're kind of to scale to their actual distance between the planets, right? So Pluto is like, well, Pluto is not a planet anymore, but you get, all these are kind of far away, but then Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury, and the Sun are within a few blocks in downtown. So that's really cool that they have here. I don't know if we're gonna make it to Saturn, but it's a cool way to get a sense of the scale of the solar system. We've got these flowers here, pretty much everywhere. I've seen them everywhere in the southern half of Alaska, pretty much. Do you know what they are? This is Earthquake Park, commemorating the 1964 earthquake. It was the most powerful earthquake of the 20th century, lasting four minutes, 9.2 on the Richter scale. An entire neighborhood slid into the ocean right here. Well, we're heading back. Apparently, this topography here was formed by that 1964 earthquake, and yeah. It's a nice coastal trail here, a couple miles. And we're having such perfect weather today. Probably in the 60s, sunny, which I hear is rare for this part of Alaska. That puts it in perspective, doesn't it? Alaska is big. So much pollen everywhere. It's incredible. From the trail, we get some great views of downtown. There comes a plane. Let's go see that boar tide. Kind of cool to take the same road we took this morning, but now in a totally different light. It is still a gorgeous drive. You can tell it is low tide. Here's where we're gonna stop. Now we wait. So beautiful, those mountains. So striking with the sun hitting them in a certain way. There's a lot of traffic going back to Anchorage, so I don't know how we're gonna get back. But anyway, we get to this spot once again here on the Seward Highway because we wanna witness a phenomenon called a boar tide. And I'm sorry if you get a little bit of wind noise here. It's very windy. Apparently, it is always windy here. And what I expect is when the tide goes up, there's gonna be like a wave, tsunami-like, you know, coming from the ocean. And after that, we might even be able to see beluga whales. So I have high hopes. Here we have some information about beluga whales. And the boar tide should be coming from that general direction. While we wait, let's admire this incredible scenery before our eyes and these strange-looking clouds. There goes the train. Maybe we can hitch a ride back to Anchorage. All kidding aside, the next time we come to Alaska, we're definitely taking the Denali Star, or who knows, maybe the Aurora Winter train. That looks pretty bad. An accident, maybe? And the boar tide should be coming any minute from that direction. Oh, I think that's it coming. Today's tide is supposed to be moderate, which is not the largest, but not the smallest one either. It is coming slowly, but it is coming. Ooh, it is getting dark and cold now. And there it is. Not as impressive as other boar tides I've seen on YouTube, but still very cool to see. I mean, I've seen people surfing on these boar tides. I guess this one wasn't large enough. Boar tides, or tidal boars, as they are also called, are pretty rare. They only happen in areas with a large tidal range, and it has to be a shallow, funnel-like bay or river, like this one. Actually, it is pretty impressive, even if it is not the largest possible. And here we can see the strong current entering the Turnagain Arm. Take a look at that rock. Within a few minutes, the rock is submerged. There it goes, breaking again, going farther and farther into the arm. So much traffic on the Seward Highway. Anyway, tomorrow we'll continue exploring. All right, let's try this again. It's a Solstice IPA. Salmon burger, and world-famous yak burger. Yeah, we came early, and we were able to get a table. And we got the award-winning bread pudding. All right. I guess this is the way to do it. Come early on a rainy day, and the place is still packed. That's all we did today. Well, good morning. Greetings once again from Anchorage. Yeah, sadly, there's a pretty large homeless encampment here. Unfortunately, it seems to happen in almost every big city. Changing the subject, today we're going for a little hike, even though I must say the weather conditions are not ideal for the hike that I want to do. We have some low clouds to the east. Some of these houses up here have great views. It is a very popular trail, I see. Well, here we are. Let's go pay our entrance fee, and I don't know if we're gonna do the whole hike because we have some very low clouds, but at least to see the views, right? Oh, there you go, they have a credit card machine. It's $5, and you place it on the dash. Well, first, there seems to be an overlook here that overlooks the city, and before it gets any cloudier, let's see if we can do that, and then we'll go as far up as the clouds. I mean, it looks like the weather is deteriorating quickly here. This, by the way, is the Gleng Alps Flattop Trailhead, but first, we're gonna do the Short Anchorage Overlook Trail. Oh, yeah, that's gonna be a spectacular view. If the clouds don't cover us first. Going all the way up to Flattop might not be worth it today. It is completely encased in a dark cloud. What a view from this vanish point. There are mountains back there, we just can't see the peaks. We can see the wind turbines on Fire Island. There's the airport. We'll be going there the day after tomorrow. It is a spectacular view of downtown down there. Now, since I already paid my five bucks, I'm gonna try to go up a little bit, but are these what they call snow fences? Here's the trail map, so let's go all the way to the clouds. Here we go, Flattop Trail. I guess we'll do it until we hit the clouds, right? That was a steep section right there. Here's the fork on the road. I think to the right, it's supposed to be a little steeper, but I have a feeling the views are gonna be better, so let's do the right. That's very steep. I think I'm gonna go up to that ridge, and that's it. We're going back. We're really getting into the clouds now, so I don't think there's much point since we're gonna have a view. Yeah, I'm not too crazy about being inside a rain cloud, on top of a mountain, and I think the clouds are getting lower. Right there on the edge of the clouds. That's it for this adventure. And those mountains, now that we are a little lower, we can see them. I had no idea they were there. Let's continue exploring here by Ship Creek. Someone recommended I check out the Yulu Factory. The yulu is a type of knife used by the native people of Alaska. So let's go inside. This seems to be a traditional sled. They have some very cool-looking yulus, some artifacts as well. I am not currently in the market for one, but they are very cool. Someone also recommended this restaurant. Yeah, apparently the bridge is not open this season. They're only doing catering and big parties. And I didn't know what the ulu was. I had to Google it. Let's cross the bridge over Ship Creek. Here's an Alaska thing for sure, all these anglers fishing for king salmon. There seems to be a lot of salmon in these waters, but apparently not today, evidently. Well, there, he caught something. So they are running, just not as many right now. It is kind of hard to see, but there's one lone salmon struggling to swim upstream, following that windmilling instinct appropriately. Yeah, that was very interesting seeing everybody down there fishing. We only saw one fish coming upstream, but there's more people fishing over there, so let's see. This is, by the way, the Ship Creek Trail, that being Ship Creek, of course. They have some of these stairs in order for you to access the river. And here's the view from a little farther upstream. Apparently, timing is everything. I read that your chances of catching a fish are highly determined by the tides on Cook Inlet. Who would have thought? The main peculiarity here is that Ship Creek is right in the middle of downtown. Oh, it looks like someone got lucky. Oh yeah, that looks like a great catch. I was tempted to get an ulu, you know, the legendary knife of the Arctic, but I probably have no use for that, so we're gonna continue. We're going to have a late, light lunch because tonight we're going to dinner with viewers Alex and Stacy, who live here, and they were able to get one of those coveted reservations at the Glacier Brewhouse. Here we are. Someone recommended this place, the Fancy Moose Lounge at the Lakefront Hotel. The coolest thing about this place is the location. It is right on the shore of Lake Spannard, right next to Lake Hood, which is a seaplane base. Let me tell you, it seems like float planes are a way of life in Alaska, since there are so many places only accessible by them. There are float plane docks all around this lake. They are coming in and out all the time. You can see the planes take off from right inside the lounge. Very, very cool. And here we're just gonna have some hummus so we can be hungry again in a couple of hours. This must be that Fancy Moose. And we've got a polar bear and a bison. This is a cool one. It's got two motors. In a different life, I might have been a pilot. Let's go downtown. Oh no, we drove into the airport by mistake. Pretty good looking airport, by the way. As I was saying, let's go back to downtown. We still have about two hours before dinner, so we may have time to see a couple more things. Here we are. Let's park for a few minutes. This is called Resolution Park, and there's supposed to be a statue of Captain Cook. And there it is, Captain Cook. This whole body of water west of the Kenai Peninsula is called Cook Inlet, in honor of the famous British explorer who mapped this whole part of the Pacific coastline in 1778. On a clear day, the views from here must be spectacular. Let's go and try to park closer to Glacier Brewhouse. And I forgot the GoPro was up on the roof. Luckily, I remembered in time because at a busy downtown like this, someone might steal it. Well, remember your anus when we were at the Coastal Trail? Well, we skipped the rest of the planets, but here we have Mercury. Now let's look for the sun. The sun should be like, remember those were like a mile away from each other? The sun should be like a block away. I think it's on that corner over there, so let's go. Funny thing, we have to be back here like in 45 minutes. And here we have the end, or shall I say the beginning of our solar walk. Here we have Sol, our star. And here's a graphic talking about the whole, you know, planet walk, which it puts it in perspective, as I said, you know, all the great distances between the outer planets. And once you get past Jupiter, all the other planets, you know, from Mars to the sun are just a couple of blocks here in downtown. That's pretty cool. Now, instead of the signs, they should have like a sculpture, you know, depicting each of the planets. But that's just an idea. Now we're going to dinner right there. Glacier Brewhouse. Well, dinner was great, but I didn't record any video. And I think this is all we're going to do here in Anchorage. I'm going to save Matanuska Glacier and Utqiagvik for future videos. Until then, thank you so much for watching, and see you on the road. ♪ Riding, riding in my RV ♪