Alaska Travel Journal/Bree’s National Park Chronicles: Part 4

Hello and happy Friday! Finally, finally, finally it feels like Autumn has arrived in Northwest Arkansas! This week the temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties Fahrenheit, and it’s been absolutely glorious. As you of course can see by the title of this blog post, I’m writing about my recent trip to Alaska with my husband and our friends Rachael and Travis. As you can imagine, it was peak fall (which, let’s be honest, is practically Arkansas’ winter weather) when we visited Alaska one month ago, and we’ve been living in “third summer” ever since returning … until this week that is.

While in Alaska, we saw glaciers, fjords, the northern lights, and the tallest mountain in the United States, as well as wild eagles, otters, mountain goats, sea lions, seals, jellyfish, black bears, moose … oh and I got to check two more national parks off my list! It was such an incredible trip and I already can’t wait to go back (I mean, I have to go to the other six national parks there, right?!). I’m so glad I get to share this trip and my travel photos here on my blog, and I really hope you enjoy this post all about our Alaska vacation!

*I mention a lot of businesses and restaurants in this post, but I am not being paid or sponsored by any of them (I wish lol) – these are all my genuine recommendations!

Sunday

Travel Day

Who doesn’t love getting up before dawn and going through airport security on the first day of vacation? While those things are definitely my least favorite parts of travel days, the rest of this trip definitely made up for it!

We flew from Tulsa to Chicago, where we met up with Rachael and Travis, and then we all flew together to Anchorage. By the time we landed in Alaska, it was about 4:30 p.m. which gave us just enough time to eat supper, go to the grocery store, and drive the two-and-a-half hours down to Seward where we’d be staying for the next three nights.

Stoney Creek Inn

We stayed those first three nights in Alaska at Stoney Creek Inn, and I couldn’t have been more happy with that decision. We knew that going to Alaska after the summer season had ended (from what I’ve read, Labor Day weekend is typically the last weekend of the summer season there) meant that less restaurants and hotels would be open, so we really had to do our research when looking for lodging. But all that research really paid off, and we had the best time staying there! I’ll talk more about the inn’s amenities later in this post, but that night we found our room perfectly clean, and the beds were extremely comfortable.

Monday

Due to the time difference between home and Alaska (AK is on “Alaska Daylight Time”, which is three hours behind Arkansas on “Central Daylight Time” and four hours behind Michigan on “Eastern Daylight Time” which is where Rachael and Travis were staying right before this trip), we all woke up fairly early every day of the trip. Which honestly I prefer, especially on a trip like this with lots to see and do and some longer travel days.

Stoney Creek Inn provides a continental-type breakfast of muffins, dry cereal, orange juice, milk, and yogurt that is replenished in each individual room every day. We had decided that on this trip we would limit eating at a restaurant to once per day plus visiting a coffee shop. So after eating breakfast at the inn, we headed into downtown Seward to explore.

Seward

Our first stop in Seward was Resurrect Art Coffee House. It’s a coffee shop in what used to be a church, and they also display and sell art and souvenirs by local artists and creators. Along with a spiced chai latte, I also bought two stunning pairs of earrings when we returned the next day.

After sufficiently caffeinating, we went over to Forest, Tides, and Treasure gift shop for souvenirs. When traveling, I like to shop at locally owned shops and, when possible, from local artists and creators. From FT&T I bought a pin and a card that I plan to frame for my mixed media gallery wall in my office.

Kenai Fjords Boat Tour

We had booked a boat tour of Resurrection Bay with Seward Ocean Excursions, and it was definitely a highlight of the trip! During the winter season, which we were technically in, they offer a shorter half-day tour that runs from 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. We got incredibly lucky that the weather was clear and sunny on this first day of our trip, and we were able to see so much beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife. Plus the water was so smooth which made it a much more enjoyable ride. We had actually brought waterproof pants and coats specifically for this boat tour, but didn’t end up wearing them because the weather was so pleasant.

One of the reasons we chose to book with SOE was that they are a local family owned and run business and that their tours go out in small boats with only six guests plus the captain. The small group size made it easy for the captain to stop for wildlife spotting, tell us about the history of the area, and take us to places the larger boats wouldn’t have been able to. I would definitely recommend booking a tour with them!

National Park

We had originally planned to go into Kenai Fjords National Park the next day, but since it was so sunny and beautiful we decided to go after our boat tour. We hiked the Glacier Loop Trail up to Glacier Overlook for a beautiful view of Exit Glacier. One of the interesting things about the road into the park and the trail is that there are signs marking the years that the glacier was at that point. It’s crazy how much the glacier has receded over the years, and it makes me feel so grateful that national parks and federal lands exist to protect these types of natural wonders.

Wildlife spotting was a favorite activity for us on this trip, and on the way out of the park we stopped a few times to take pictures and look for bears (which we didn’t see).

After a delicious supper at Ray’s Waterfront, we went back to the inn to relax in the hot tub. It’s situated near the back of the property close to a picturesque stream with only a roof covering it. There’s just something about cool evening air, a steaming hot tub, and being surrounded by nature that feels so good after a day of sightseeing.

The Northern Lights

After waking up so early that morning, it was definitely a struggle to stay awake long enough to see the northern lights that night. But it was one of the main reasons why I had wanted to go to Alaska in the first place, and also why we had planned the trip for when we did. And autumn in Alaska is notoriously cloudy and rainy, so we had to take advantage of the clear weather while it lasted.

Stoney Creek Inn is surrounded by trees, so we got in the car and drove a little ways down the road leading to the national park. It’s very dark down that way, and parts of the road are very open to the sky.

And we were not disappointed. The lights came out and I got to check “Aurora Borealis” off my bucket list. Although they weren’t as vivid as they were further north that same night (apparently Anchorage got quite a show), we were still able to see them fairly well. If you’ve ever seen them before, then you know that to the human eye they can appear more silvery than the green or pink colors they appear in photos. It was definitely a core memory for me, and I can’t wait to see them again someday.

Tuesday

After such a late night of northern lights viewing, we slept in a little later than we had the previous day. It was cloudy and drizzly, but we didn’t let that stop us. Just a few minutes from the inn, we found a hiking trail called Bear Lake Trail. It was a beautiful trail, especially with the fall colors when we were there. The mossy, drippy forest reminded me of when we were in Washington on my travel nurse assignment. If you’re planning to hike this trail, the only parking is at Bear Lake Public Access Beach, and then it’s just a short walk down the road to the trailhead. We just hiked down to the lakeshore and back, but it was the perfect morning hike.

Seward

After stopping back at the inn for lunch, we headed back down into Seward with a rough plan for the afternoon, which of course included a stop at Resurrect Art Coffee House first for caffeine and souvenirs.

Then we paid a visit to Alaska SeaLife Center. It’s an aquarium for local sea creatures, a marine research facility, and a marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation center. My favorite part was watching the giant sea lions swimming around and around in their tank!

Our next stop was Seward Community Library & Museum. The outside of the building is very cool, and when you first enter the building there is a museum of Seward’s history, then upstairs is the library. When we visited they were having a book sale, and of course I couldn’t pass that up. I bought two books about Alaska – one that I’ll use for decoration titled Lichens of the Alaskan Arctic Slope by John W. Thomson, and the other is a novel set in Alaska titled The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock.

We still had some time to kill, so after leaving the library we decided to drive down to the community of Lowell Point. Nothing was really open, we just wanted to see it. Then, since we were in the “driving around” mood, we drove back out towards the national park, stopping again to look for wildlife, take pictures, and walk around in the riverbed.

After a delicious supper of pizza at Apollo, we went and soaked in the hot tub and enjoyed our final night at the Stoney Creek Inn.