Alaska Trip: Day 4, Wildlife Conservation Center

 Monday July 26

I woke up around 6:15 and finished a book while I waited for Erik to wake up. For breakfast and lunch (brunch) we called in an order from Latitude 59. I ordered a Thai tofu wrap. It was just ok. Erik ordered the pulled pork burrito. We ate our meal across the street at table just outside Homer’s Goldmine gift shop. Inside was a bunch of overpriced junk, but we did find some fun syrups to try later.

Then we drove (and drove and drove) to the Alaska Wildlife conservation Center just outside of Anchorage. It was $34 for us to get in. We just walked around and looked at the animals. I think the bears were neatest thing to see. We saw bison, moose, musk ox, caribou, and a few other animals. It was nice to stretch our legs and see some animals we don’t normally get to see, even at zoos, but it wasn’t worth a penny more than $17 per person.

We spotted a moose on the side of the road.

The drive was long but pretty.

Muskox

Brown bear

Black bear

Elk

The caribou seemed to be shedding their winter coats.

Bison

Porcupine

Beautiful

Erik had made reservations at the Glacier Brewhouse at 3:45. We were a tad late but it thankfully didn’t matter. We mixed things up a bit and ordered drinks: house-made root beer for Erik and a Blueberry Crush (Blueberries, pineapple & cranberry juice, soda, fresh mint—too much mint IMO). For an appetizer we ordered the calamari. It wasn’t the typical calamari rings and legs but big steaks with aioli sauce, beaded jalapeños, and bacon as a garnish. It was pretty good. For the entrée we split the seafood fettuccine. It was delicious, cheesy, had plenty of seafood, and was packed with calories I’m sure, but good thing we split it because it was plenty of food for the both of us. For dessert we ordered the “World Famous” bread pudding. It was also very tasty and delicious.

My Blueberry drink

Erik and his rootbeer

The calamari steaks. So yum!

Plenty of food for both of us

Dessert

After dinner we strolled about downtown Anchorage and looked in a few shops but didn’t buy anything. Then we took the car in for a car wash and stopped at Walmart to get snacks for the upcoming train ride the next morning. From there, we stopped at Deal’s Bed and Breakfast where Erik had made reservations for us to stay the night. The B&B was someone’s old house that was ornately decorated. Our room was nice if not old fashioned.

I took a picture of this pictures because I'm almost positive my Grandma had this very same picture hung in her house.

The living room--old, but ornate

Our room, accented with lots of blue glass. The bathroom was trimmed in gold and was fancy but I didn't get a picture.