Having been in Alaska for only 2 mornings, I was able to sleep in until 8am which was 11am to my body and probably the latest I’ve slept in in forever. Brandi was already awake and watching tv. I made myself coffee and got on the phone with Avis to extend our rental.
I called the number on the rental agreement which was the number for the airport location which they could see my reservation but were unable to modify it. They transferred me to customer service which they also were able to see my reservation though unable to modify it. I also was unable to modify my reservation online as I had already picked up the car. Annoyed, I told the lady that I was going to just keep the car and asked what would happen if I did. Come to find out, they would just charge me the contracted daily rate for the additional day so why not?
After settling the car, we hit the road south to Seward which was a 2 hour car ride. It was probably the most beautiful drive I have ever driven and the weather was perfect. The sun came out first thing which was not the case the day before.
There were quite a few pull off’s to view the scenery however, we waited until further down the road to pull off. Our first was a pleasant surprise. There was a trail that you could hike down to the river where we were able to see the salmon spawning which is something neither of us have experienced. The trail was maybe a half mile in total out and back.
Continuing on down the road, we pulled off one more time to try and capture the lake/mountain view though pictures do not do justice to the beautiful landscape we got to see.
As we got into Seward, we found a little marina area that we pulled off and explored. Our thought process was, don’t plan, just ask the locals so we didn’t have any plans.
Wanting some souvenirs, we stopped in the Light House souvenir shop where we met the local we were hoping to run into. He asked what we had planned which was nothing so asked for his suggestion. He told us to keep going to Lowell Point where we would find Cains Head trail head that would take us from mountains to ocean bay with amazing views throughout the hike. Excited, we jumped back in the car and left Seward to what would be the furthest point you could drive until you had no more road to travel.
The hike was a 5.3 mile round trip which we almost didn’t do because of the length but hiker/local on the trail side the view was worth the hike, we continued on. Boy were the locals right, the view was totally worth the hike even in jeans (we didn’t anticipate a hike so we weren’t prepared).
Even though we hadn’t anticipated on a 5 mile hike, it was an awesome surprise and a great recommendation. Asking the locals is always the way to experience things as they know best. So happy we stumbled upon the souvenir shop!
On the hike back, we encountered a black bear. Never having seen a bear up close and this personal, it was probably 75 feet away from us, I first started backing away being quiet then remembered to be loud to scare the bear along. We waved our hands and yelled “bear” until it moved off the trail and into the woods so we could continue on. Little did we know, this would be the only time we would get to see a bear on this trip.
Lowell Point is a very small fishing/camping community. After our hike, we stopped in at Miller’s Landing for some food and beers where we were greeted by Juneau the husky. Don’t know who he belonged to but he was friendly, helped clean up (aka, ate dropped French fries) and saved me from being attacked by a raven. He was a good boy and I wish I would have gotten a picture of him.
We headed back to Seward to check it out since we just passed through before. We parked at a park with a walking trail that took you to the Main Street of downtown where we explored shops and ended up stopping for dinner. As someone who likes food and experiencing local flare, I ended up ordering reindeer meatloaf with Mac-n-cheese. Never have eaten reindeer before and meatloaf from my experience had ketchup on it, I inquired what to put on the meat as ketchup was not on it. Overhearing my questions with the runner, the server came over and advised that ketchup and/or barbecue sauce would actually ruin the dish, he advised that the aioli sauce that came with it (I didn’t know) was the best option. I’m so glad he intervened because I could have possibly ruined my meal. He was a student from Jamaica doing a summer internship in Alaska.
Reindeer meatloaf and baked Mac-n-cheese
Fat and happy, we made our way back to Anchorage and to the airbnb where we settled in for the evening.
katie palmer moore 