Anchorage, among the three Alaskan cities we explored, fell to the bottom of my favorites list.
However, this is primarily because I’m not particularly fond of larger cities, and Anchorage, with its population of around 290,000 in 2021, was significantly bigger than the charming towns of Fairbanks and Ketchikan, and my preference is a population of 20,000 or less. The other reason Anchorage was ranked lower for me is because it was less packed with adventure, as most of our adventures were planned for Fairbanks. This is not to say adventure opportunities are difficult to find in Anchorage; they are bountiful, actually, ours just happened to be in Fairbanks instead. Nonetheless, we kept ourselves busy in Anchorage and managed to squeeze in a glacier hike, by far the highlight of our time in here.
Our first adventure in Anchorage was roller skating, a choice driven by the absence of roller rinks in Hawaii and Tiff’s desire to try it out. Roller skating turned out to be quite the workout. While we didn’t last long, Tiff can now proudly check it off her bucket list. Afterward, we ventured to Chilkoot Charlie’s, which can only be described as the largest dive bar you’ve ever been in. Made up of multiple rooms, Chilkoot Charlie’s really does offer something for everyone. It was a Saturday night, and we were there kind of early and not really feeling like waiting around for the action to get going, so we headed home a bit early, only to be greeted by the sweet stench of pakalolo wafting up from the basement of our Airbnb. We all slept well that night.
The following morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Snow City Café, where our waitress recommended some lovely parks to explore, and that’s how we spent the rest of our day – playing in snow and looking for moose. We visited Elderberry Park, Kincaid Park, and Suzan Nightengale McKay Memorial Park. Elderberry Park is one of Anchorage’s oldest parks, located along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Kincaid Park is one of the largest parks in the city, consisting of 1,400 acres located at the southern end of the Coastal Trail. Named after a local writer, journalist, and teacher, the Suzan Nightengale McKay Memorial Park is a small neighborhood park with spectacular views of the Alaska Range. At these places, Tiff built her first snowman, shoveled snow, and walked on a frozen lake…all very exciting for a Hawaii girl! We concluded this relaxing day with dinner and drinks at the 49th State Brewery.
While our initial two days in Anchorage we quite laid-back, our final day proved to be nothing short of epic. On our last day, we set off on a scenic drive to Matanuska Glacier, setting the stage for an unforgettable glacier hike. We stopped at the Rustic Goat for lunch on the way and dined with one of the most beautiful backdrops. For more detailed information on our remarkable glacier hike, please refer to my Matanuska Glacier blog. After our glacier hike, we made a quick stop in Palmer for dinner at the Palmer Ale House. It was a perfect way to wrap up the Anchorage portion of our trip.
