We had a long day of travel to reach Alaska. We flew from Hartford, CT to Atlanta, where we had a 2 hour layover, and then on to Anchorage. Thankfully, both flights went smoothly, and our luggage also safely made it!
We arrived in Anchorage on Friday July 10 at 7 pm, gathered our checked bags, picked up our rental car, and drove over to Courtyard by Marriott and checked in. After unpacking and relaxing for a few minutes, we decided to head out to Moose's Tooth to check out their pizza and beer. The host told us it would be an hour wait for a table, so we grabbed some pints (Raspberry Wheat for me, Bear Tooth Ale for my husband) and waited for our name to be called. I think we were seated faster than an hour, so that was good. All the pizzas on the menu looked good, so we ended up ordering two small pies: one BLT and one pepperoni supreme. They were both delicious, and I can see why this place gets so much hype! As my husband proclaimed, "My taste buds are happy!"
We headed back to the hotel around 10 pm, with the sun shining so brightly we had to put down the sun visor in the car, and tried to get a good night's sleep.
Day 2:
Despite being tired, I woke up bright and early at 6 am, most likely a combination of jet lag and excitement! Patrick woke up soon after, so we decided to hit the road. Today's final destination was Healy, just north of Denali National Park, and we planned on stopping in Wasilla and Talkeetna along the way.
We were on the road around 8:30, and drove through downtown Anchorage. Not much to see so early on a Saturday morning! Our first stop was north of Anchorage, in Wasilla. We went to the Fred Meyers to pick up breakfast, some snacks. and a small cooler. Since we were in Wasilla and had some time, we decided to check out the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Museum. This is a free venue, and worth a quick stop if you are in the area.
After our short stop at the museum, we continued north to Talkeetna. We had booked a 3 pm Mt. McKinley flightseeing tour through K2 aviation, but we had some time before then so we decided to check out downtown Talkeetna.
It was pretty busy...lots of tourists and shops and restaurants. We decided to have lunch at Denali Brewing. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside to soak up the sunshine while we enjoyed our beer and sandwiches (the Coppa was really yummy, and Patrick loved the Cod).
After lunch, we headed over to K2 Aviation to check in for our flight.
We had booked the Grand Tour with Glacier Landing, but the visibility was not that good, so they decided to do a shorter flight, and refund us the difference. This didn't bother me, as we were still going to get to do the glacier landing.
I was a bit nervous about flying in such a small plane, but the take off and landing was incredibly smooth, and the pilot (also named Patrick) warned us the one time we were going to be descending quickly. On the first part of the ride, I got to sit in the co-pilot seat. I don't think it gave me a better view, as I'm so short I could barely see over the control panels! But I was able to enjoy the views from the side window.
The highlight of the trip was definitely the glacier landing. We landed on Ruth Glacier, which was covered with a layer of slushy snow. Thankfully, K2 provided boots to wear over our sneakers so we would stay dry. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Overall, an amazing excursion! If you decide to go, take the advice I got on TripAdvisor and do it on your way up to Denali. That way, if the flight is cancelled due to poor weather, you have a second chance on your way back down to Anchorage.
Once we landed around 5 pm, we hit the road again, and headed to Denali. The weather got progressively worse throughout the drive. Not horrible, but drizzle, and later heavier showers. So we didn't take in any of the scenic stops along the way and we definitely didn't get to see the mountain!
We arrived at our lodging, Aspen Haus, around 8 pm. The owner, Ann Marie, had left us a note with instructions on where to park, which room was ours, etc. After bringing in our bags from the car and freshening up, we decided to head out to dinner to, you guessed it, another brewery! This time, it was the 49th State Brewery in Healy. As we were heading out, we saw that Ann Marie was now home, so we stopped to say hello and chatted with her for a few minutes, and she gave us some tips on our trip into the park the next day.
Dinner at 49th State did not disappoint, and neither did their beer! I opted for the beer sampler and fish tacos...yummy on all counts!
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