Anchored Down in Anchorage

Our air miles have surpassed our land miles! Anchorage is Alaska’s biggest city with something like 250,000 people; Fairbanks is ½ the size and Juneau is 1/3 the size. We expected something special – a nice waterfront, interesting historic district, some sort of groovy Alaska fashion.

Well, the waterfront consists of a train track and a lookout point where on a clear day you can see all of Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm (which has a 35’ tide!), Mt. McKinley and the Sleeping Lady. It’s interesting for about 10 minutes. The historic buildings mostly fell into the sea during the nasty earthquake* in 1964; interesting architecture clearly hasn’t been a priority. And even though we’re freezing, it’s technically summer here, and most people are decked out in flips.

*About that earthquake: It was the worst earthquake in the history of North America. It registered 9.2 on the Richter scale. Wow, huh?

We all tried to like Anchorage, but it was such a boring city. We’re used to the rainy Pacific Northwest and let me tell you, when the sun comes out there’s an energy that can’t be beat. Everyone is illuminated. Everyone is outside. Everyone is gardening and talking to their neighbors. The sunny buzz is infectious.

Here, the sun was out, but everyone still seemed droopy. Drivers actually honk as if we were in some bustling metropolis! There was no color, literally or figuratively. Anchorage is like any town U.S.A. in 1970’s suburbia – a bowling alley, miniature golf, plenty of Denny’s style restaurants and a church on every corner. Apparently, church is the first stop for new residents. Even those you’d least suspect are regular church goers. We were told when there’s an emergency up here, you rely on your community and that’s what church is for the people here – their community.

And we had fun at the Bear & Raven Theater – a little place with an excellent movie on the Iditarod and how it got started. It also had fun effects for the kids, like snow falling on you, and the Aurora Borealis appearing on the ceiling. The best stop we made, was the Seavey Family Iditarod Rodeo. Besides being allowed to play with the puppies, we all learned so much about Alaska’s huskies and their commitment to the dog-sled races. If you have an Iditarod belt buckle (meaning you finished the race), you receive immediate respect and it’s pretty easy to get a girlfriend/boyfriend.

Food in Anchorage was good. Breakfast at the Snow City Café was incredible and dinner at Orso Ristorante was funky and delicious. Copper River Salmon is running for another couple of days so it was my #1 must-have. Our server (from Florida!) told us she loves it here. Her husband is from Fairbanks and she said the people here are somehow naïve and very trusting. I liked that and tried to see it. Unfortunately, the expression I’d learned a long time ago about Alaska men kept running through my mind: “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”

One of my favorite Michelle Shocked songs kept running through my head, but even that didn’t help. Suffice it to say that being Anchored Down in Anchorage pretty much sucks.