After a relaxing night on the gravel river bed, Cas and I decide to head back into Seward. The annual seabird festival was going on, so I was adamant to check out the vendors and visit the Seward Sea Life Center. The vendors for the festival were a bit lame. I was hoping for a more ornithological theme to things which was not the case. Oh well, at least we can indulge in tons of birds inside the center!
After $30 a person, we were granted access into the aquarium/wildlife rehab center. There were tons of exhibits, but all of them centered about 2 themes. Single use plastic use, and global climate change. Within the center were typical arctic animals such as king crab, sea cucumbers, seals, sea lions, and many different salmon species. My favorite exhibit by far was the birds. I spent waayyyy too long in there. It was basically an open exhibit where kittiwakes and puffins fly freely around you. Even some black oyster catchers were wandering around. I loved it.
Once I had almost been pooped on by a passing murrelet, I decided it was finally time to get out of the center and explore more around the town of Seward. We looked up some local hikes, and decided on Caines Beach SP just south of the town. We parked, and headed out along the forested trail. The only noteworthy moment was when Cas thought a particular fluffy log was a bear. While on the hike, we decided to indulge in a 5 hr glacier tour that leaves out of Whittier the next day. Since we’re already in the area, might as well. Plus, who knows how long these glaciers will stick around!
Once back at the truck, we headed into town for a beer at our favorite place, Seward Ale House. Cas noticed some older men pulling cardboard apart at a nearby table, and asks the bartender what they’re doing. It’s a form of gambling. 1$ gets you a cardboard piece that you open up, and it either says you win with the dollar amount, or it says nothing. We decide to give in a shot, and go in with $20. The bartender shows us how to open one of the cards, and the very first one shows us winning $100. No lie. We think she’s just messing with us, but nope! Beginners luck! When the old men hear we just won on our first card, they all simultaneous get up and walk out. Ha! They were not happy.
After gambling with a $80 return, we head to the grocery store, then back out to our favorite camp site on the river. We meet up with a friendly guy named Don who is camping next to us. He’s been scuba diving in Seward, which apparently has water visibility similar to the Keys in FL. Who would have thought. He gives us firewood, and we exchange stories over a very nice fire. As we eat roasted veggies and scrambled eggs, Don chows down on Mountain Dew and Doritos. Those Doritos look soooo good, but we refuse to buy trash food. So much self control…
In the morning we leave bright and early to head to Whittier. There’s a tunnel we have to pass through to get through the town. Not a normal tunnel, this is a one lane, shared railroad tunnel. Every hour on the hour traffic flows out of Whittier, and on the half hour it flows to Whittier. When you’re driving, you’re straddling a railroad track, trying not to scuff up against rough cut rock. It was pretty nerve wracking to be honest. Even though the tunnel is only like 2 miles long, the 20 mph speed limit made the whole ordeal last forever.
Once we were safely out of the tunnel, we were greeting with an adorable harbor town. We grab a parking spot, and meander over to the cruise boat. Looks like we’re gonna be saddled between a crap load of Asian tourists, no different than anywhere else we’ve been on this trip. As we start boarding, we find that our seat mates are a married couple from Alberta. Farmers of soy and wheat, they are on vacation from the heartlands to see the glaciers. I see a large cross on the ladies neck, and do my best to not seem super gay. So hard… The husband chats to us about beef production and tractors as we push off from Whittier.
Once out on the water, Cas and I are out on the third deck, binoculars in hand, searching for whales and sea lions. Cas made fun of me hard for bringing gloves, multiple jackets, neck guard, hats, and long underwear. But, I had the last laugh when she was wearing every ounce of clothes I packed us! Cruising speed was around 30 knots, and the chilled wind whipped and chapped any exposed skin.
The first animal we saw? A dead sea lion. Great start! After that the captain pointed out a Bald Eagle. The entire boat flocked to the starboard side to get a shitty picture of a super common bird. Cas and I look at each other confused. We had seen a dozen eagles just driving to the port. Bald eagles are literally everywhere in Alaska. I conclude that people just normally never look up to see them. I tell Cas about one time that I saw two eagles fighting over the beach when I lived in Venice, FL. Grappling with claws and bright yellow legs, the two birds fell from great heights, only to break off, fly up, and start the battle again. I looked around the packed beach to see no other eyes on the fighters. How could people be so unobservant of their surroundings?? I was actually worried the birds would fall onto the beach and start a panic among the beach goers. But, no such luck.
The cruise boat took us through narrow passages with forested mountains flanking the water. Even with no animal sightings, this cruise was worth it for the scenery. Being so cold outside, we had the deck mostly to our selves. We braced against the cold wind, eyes watering and fingers slowly getting colder and colder. It was amazing.
When the captain suddenly alerts of a seal on the port side, he slows down so passengers can get a look. There are two individuals apparently fighting, oblivious to the huge ship creeping up. Cas and I were at one moment alone on the top deck, but now a stampeded of expensive cameras and foreign language is flocking around us to catch a glimpse. We stay in our spots, as we’ve been there for the last 30 min. It’s a good spot. As we stand, I hear a passive aggressive asshole state loudly that we need to share the boat. And that they cannot see the seal as well from 6 feet away… I get pissed, ask the man to PLEASE take my spot, and go stand on the other side of the boat. Fuck rude people.
This went on for the rest of the ride. “Look at that sea lion on the ice off the bow of the boat,” we quickly move away, avoiding the herds. By doing so, we actually see way more than what is pointed out. We even saw a whale fluke… It was magical. No picture of the whale, sorry not sorry.
Once at the main glacier, we set up just a 1000 feet away from the toe. Large chunks of ice careen off, plunging into the water with a crash. Waves from the impact rock the boat. I had never expected to see such a thing in my life. It was exactly what I wanted out of this cruise. Out of this trip in general. We say for 30 minutes, watching many calving events occur, feeling the sound as it swept across the open water. We loved every minute of it.
The rest of the cruise consisted of animal sightings, and glacier sightings from a distance. 5 hours was just enough time to see everything and not get too bored with the trip. Upon returning, we grabbed a beer at the local pub, then took the tunnel back through the mountain. We found a sweet little camp spot along a river, and set up shop for the night. I have been lucky with camp spots thus far. Cas is getting spoiled. I’ll have to take her to a Wal Mart or something else shitty to knock her back into reality….
The next morning we woke up early, wanting to catch the US vs Spain game on TV. We were sure the game started at 10AM, and found a sports bar open at that time in Anchorage. After pulling into town and finding the bar, we realized the spot was closed! Damn you Yelp!! We get back in the car and race to find another joint. While in the car, NPR reports that USA has beat Spain 2-1. Um, Cas did you hear that?? I download the ESPN app, and realize that we had in fact missed kickoff by 2 hrs… And the game was over. Damn! At least we won?
Defeated, and mopey, Cas promises me we can watch a little of the Canada v. Sweden game. We find a different sports pub showing this match, and drink some coffee. Oh well. At least we won… While in Anchorage, we drop off our signed marriage application back at the courthouse, and pay for an official certificate to be sent back home in FL. Once this was all over, we got out of Anchorage and began the drive North to Denali SP and NP. Should be a couple of wild days ahead of us!
As we drive north, Cas announces loudly she has seen zero bears… Ohhhh just hold on, you’ll get your fill of bears…
