Day 7: Seward to Girdwood

We've decided to stay off the bike today because the road out of Seward is exceedingly narrow at points with no room for error. And it's raining. So we started the day at the Alaska Center for Sea Life. It was wonderful. They have a fantastic exhibit with sea birds, one with harbor seals, a huge stellar sea lion, jelly fish, crabs, salmon, and numerous exhibits on the wildlife throughout Alaska. We were told that this puffin on the left in the photo is 23 years old, which is pretty old for a puffin. He and his lifelong partner have an egg that she is sitting on. The joke was that the puffins at the center have better health care than those in the wild, so this is why they live longer.

After the Sea Life center, we headed for lunch at the Smoke Shack to enjoy some barbeque in an old train car. I had the pulled pork sandwich on doughy ciabatta roll, with beans and coleslaw on the side - delicious! They served 3 types of housemade bbq sauces. Bill chose the super-spicy pulled pork sandwich with carmelized onions, red & green peppers, and tons of jalapenos. Kristina got a bbq ancho-lime chicken sandwich. Patty opted for the special: halibut smoked fish tacos, which were also pretty spicy.

After chowing down on lunch, we headed to the Exit Glacier. It was on the way out of town, which made it easily to get to. In the parking lot and on the way to the trailhead, the Park Service has placed signs with dates indicating the location of the glacier at that time. It's amazing to see how far and how fast the glacier has receded. The rope in this picture is about the location where the edge of the glacier was located in 1998. As we were walking up to the glacier, we spotted two faraway bears that were crossing the glacier.

After our visit with the ice, we headed off to Girdwood. We stayed at the Hotel Alyeska in Girdwood and had an early birthday celebration for Patty at the resort's restaurant, Seven Glaciers, atop the mountain. We took a tram to the top. Before dinner Kristina and I took the opportunity to sit in the salt water hot tub at the health spa. It was delicious to sit in the warm water, looking out at the snow-capped mountain through the rain.



We took the tram up through the rain and fog for dinner. Once seated by the window, we started our celebration with champagne and appetizers of crab cakes with asian seasonings (peanut sauce, daikon); white truffle beef toast (garlic crostini, arugula); halibut two ways (hoisin sauce, cheeks with black sesame). Dinner featured elk for me and Bill, which had a smokey, beef-jerfy flavor plus cherries, with gnocchi and white asparagus) which was complemented by a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin. Patty had salmon served with pickled blueberries, potatoes and braised cabbage. Kristina had crab legs wth plenty of butter, potato puree, chard and orzo with a Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc. For dessert we shared baked alaska and a trio of apricot delights: beignets, apricot cardamon ice cream, and apricot crostini. It was a delicious meal!

Tomorrow we are going to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where the treat orphaned or injured wild animals; we will also try to see the bore tide as it crests through Turnagain Arm.