Alaska is a broad vast state, and there are a zillion possible adventures. Sifting sand for gold in Nome, traveling to the extreme north in Barrows, the extreme heights of Denali…so many opportunities for an extreme adventure. The red dotted line along the bottom coast is the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, with ports from Bellingham, Washington to the extreme western point of Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands.
We decided that seeing a high point, such as Denali, in the interior and the some part of the coastline were both important. My sweet aunt recommended a stop in the town of Homer, with a great beach, food and art galleries. The Alaskan Marine Highways ferry was intriguing, and Homer has a ferry port with a day trip to Seldovia across the bay. Looking at YouTube videos convinced us that taking the scenic Alaskan Railways first-class dome-topped train would be a great fun way to see Denali mountain.
The following picture galleries illustrate our September 2024 trip to Alaska. We landed in Fairbanks, visited a museum and botanical garden, took a train to Anchorage, walked a trail and visited a museum, then drove to Homer for almost a week of rest in a yurt on a beach. Back to Anchorage for the botanical museum and the flight home, a successful Fall Equinox trip.
I recommend the Fall Equinox. Mosquitoes and tourists are both mostly gone. Solid 12-hour days, sunrise was at 8am and sunset at 8pm, at a latitude where the days are extremely long in the summer and nights are long in the winter. We wore coats the entire time and were never cold.
Monday, September 16, 2024
Our first two nights we stayed in Fairbanks, at Sophie Station Suites. Close to the airport, museum, and botanical garden.
Inside, the hotel had several impressive works of art throughout the lobby and stairwells.
Museum of the North
Botanical Garden
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Train
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Walking around Anchorage
Coastal Trail
Museum – Smithsonian sponsored exhibits that were dark and less engaging than the Museum of the North.
Calming noodle soup supper with a little bit sushi on the same block as the hotel
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Pick up car
Drive to Homer
Windy slick mountain roads, so many moose crossing signs but not moose spotted
Kenai wilderness center
Fred Meyer in Soldotna
Friday, September 20, 2024
Yurt
Eagle
Bookstore
End of the Road certificate
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Homer’s farmer market
is this the day we went to Lands End for the Saam-norwegian-native-artist playing at Lands End resort?
Sunday, September 22, 2024
We walked on the beach and collected more rocks, didn’t drive or leave the yurt except to walk on the beach. We’ve found it’s good to have one or two days that are holidays from driving. And rocks.
Monday, September 23, 2024
The Homer Spit is a bustling beachfront area during the summer, with people and ice cream stands and resorts full of people. As winter comes along it thins out. There are still restaurants in town year-round, but out on the Spit many were closed for the winter by mid-September. The one we ate at was closing in just a few days because the landlords cut off water for the year when it starts to freeze.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
The Alaska Marine Highway system is a unique institution, carrying people and cargo along the coastline in a state where many communities are accessible only by plane and boat, with no direct highways.
Our trip had originally been scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but storms were coming in and the ferry was not making the return trip from Seldovia that day. We rescheduled for Tuesday as part of our decision to spend the last few days in Homer instead of checking out another town.
The local school mascot is the Otters, but their Otter-Bahn trail was slippery due to the cold wet rain. Not wanting to risk twisting an ankle, we toured the town’s chainsaw carvings and the stopped in for a beer
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Our last day in Alaska started with a drive from Homer to Anchorage
Find the plus sign by hovering and then press Plus icon quickly to add paragraph between galleries
Before our 9pm outbound flight we went to an Anchorage shopping mall. One of the best things there was an exhibit of high school artworks. Esther Hales, grade 11 in 2024, created this amazing artwork “The Bear.”
After we got home, I found more about Hales’ work Bear and links to other artists displayed at: https://artalaska.org/bear/