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ANCHORAGE

Alaska | USA

300C FEATURE DESTINATION: Anchorage, Alaska

Wedged between the two arms of Cook Inlet and the imposing Chugach Mountains, ANCHORAGE is home to over forty percent of Alaska’s population, and serves as the transportation center for the whole state. This sprawling city on the edge of one of the world’s great wildernesses often gets a bad press from those who live elsewhere in Alaska – derided as being “just half an hour from Alaska” – but it has its attractions, and with its beautiful setting can make a pleasant one- or two-day stopover.

By the time Captain James Cook came up what is now Cook Inlet in 1778, in search of a Northwest Passage to the Atlantic, Russian fur trappers had already started to settle the area, trading copper and iron for fish and furs with the Native Americans. Though Cook was sure that the inlet was not the Passage, he sent boats out in a southeasterly direction to investigate. When they were forced to turn back by the severe tides, Cook named this gloriously scenic stretch Turnagain Arm .

Anchorage itself began life in 1915 as a tent city for construction workers on the Alaska Railroad. During the 1930s, hopefuls fleeing the Depression came pouring in from the Lower 48, and World War II – and the construction of the Alaska Highway – further boosted the city’s size and importance. The opening of the airport established Anchorage – equidistant between New York and Tokyo – as the “Crossroads of the World,” and statehood in 1959 brought in yet more optimistic adventurers.

THE CITY

Travelers eager to rush off into the “real” Alaska tend to overlook cosmopolitan Anchorage – a blend of old and new, urban blight and rural parks – but there is plenty to see, and it’s worth spending some time here experiencing big-city Alaska. The city is laid out on a grid; numbered avenues run east-west, lettered streets north-south.

Your first stop should be the Anchorage Museum of History and Art , 121 W Seventh Ave (summer Sun-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat 9am-6pm; rest of year Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1-5pm; $6.50), an excellent overview of the state and its history told through intricate dioramas, alongside beautiful examples of carved ivory and basketware. The art gallery is notable for the works by Alaska’s best known painter, Sydney Laurence, particularly his monumental oil painting of Mount McKinley.

The rest of the downtown sites are more modest: the Imaginarium , 737 W Fifth Ave (daily: June to early Sept 10am-6pm; early Sept to May Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon-5pm; $5), has hands-on displays telling you all about glaciers, the Northern Lights, polar bears and the private life of the dopey-looking moose; the period-furnished 1915 Oscar Anderson House Museum , 420 M St (June to mid-Sept Tues-Sat 11am-4pm ; $3), illustrates early Anchorage life; and the Alaska Experience Center , Sixth Avenue and G street (summer daily 9am-9pm; $10), presents forty minutes of Alaska’s best scenery, shot from choppers and beamed onto a 180° wraparound screen, and the admission price includes a film of the devastating 1964 Good Friday earthquake that leveled much of downtown – 9.2 on the Richter scale and North America’s strongest-ever quake.

Six miles to the east on the outskirts of town lies the new Alaska Native Heritage Center , Muldoon Road exit from the Glenn Hwy (May-Sept daily 9am-9pm; $20). It is expensive and still finding its feet, but provides an excellent introduction to the state’s five main ethnic groups. Each is represented by a typical house where Native guides interpret their culture. Throughout the day, cultural groups perform in the main auditorium where there is also an instructive introductory film. The 4th Avenue Trolley runs here hourly from downtown for $6.

On long summer days it is better to stay outside, perhaps strolling (or biking) along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that offers restorative views of Turnagain Arm, or exploring the mountains and lakes of the 495,000-acre Chugach State Park , just fifteen minutes’ drive east from Anchorage. Challenging trails traversing the park include an often treacherous scramble to the summit of the 4500ft Flattop Mountain, a spectacular vantage point from which to view the city and Cook Inlet.

ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION

Anchorage Airport, seven miles southwest of town, is served by the Borealis Shuttle service (tel 907/276-3600 or 1-888/436-3600) which costs $10 for two to downtown: a taxi costs around $15. The train station is downtown at 411 W First Ave (tel 907/265-2494 or 1-800/544-0552), and the major sights are easily reached on foot. People Mover buses cover the city daily between 6am and 10pm for a $1.25 flat fare ($2.50 day-pass from the driver), though they’re a rare sight on Sundays.

The Log Cabin Visitor Center , downtown at Fourth and F (daily: April, May & Sept 8am-6pm; June-Aug 7.30am-7pm; Oct-March 9am-4pm; tel 907/274-3531, ), has all the brochures you could need and details of an easy self-guided downtown walking tour. Across the street, the Alaska Public Lands Information Center (June-Aug daily 9am-5.30pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm; tel 907/271-2737, ) has an excellent natural history display plus maps and more brochures. It can help plan trips into the Interior, and make reservations both for accommodation and the shuttle bus to Denali National Park – important in summer.

EATING, DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE

Nowhere in Alaska will you find a more diverse range of places to eat. That’s not to say you’d make a special journey for its culinary wonders, but after a few weeks in the state’s interior the scene here can seem like heaven. For groceries, make for Carr’s supermarket at the junction of Northern Light Boulevard and Minnesota Drive (bus #3, #4 or #36), which has a good deli section.

Good bars abound in downtown Anchorage, and the atmosphere varies as much as the clientele. Also visit the lively (and somewhat edgy) neighborhood of Spenard – on Spenard Road between Northern Lights Boulevard and International Airport Road. Shows, plays, opera and concerts take place at the Center for Performing Arts (tel 907/263-2787).

Bernie’s Bungalow 626 D St at 7th Ave tel 907/276-8808. A very un-Alaskan hangout featuring the “lounge-a-licious” martini and a cocktail bar fashioned from an old wooden house. Latin and jazz grooves the smartly dressed set. Stylish seating is in short supply, so come early.

Chilkoot Charlie’s 2435 Spenard Rd tel 907/272-1010. Sawdust-strewn barn that packs them in nightly for pricey drinks, pool, foosball, two floors of DJ-led dance and live music from 9.30pm.

Darwin’s Theory 426 G St at 4th Ave tel 907/277-5322. Straightforward local bar good for moderately priced boozing and neighborly encounters with colorful local characters.

The Federal Building Cafeteria 222 W 7th at C St tel 907/277-6736. Breakfast and lunch cafeteria that’s about the best budget value downtown, certainly a cut above the fast-food joints and more filling. Steaming clam chowder or one of their entrees cost around $5.

Glacier Brewhouse 737 W 5th St tel 907/274-2739. Hugely popular restaurant, bar and microbrewery serving wonderful food and drink. At least half a dozen toothsome house-brewed beers accompany alder-wood-baked gourmet pizza ($11), spit-grilled three-peppercorn prime rib ($20), or steamed Alaskan King crabs ($30).

Humpy’s 610 W 6th Ave tel 907/276-2337. Popular watering hole with live music and a strong college bar feel. The likes of charbroiled salmon, burgers, soups and salads (mostly under $10) are helped down with local microbrews plus English and Belgian bottled beers, and over thirty top-shelf single malts.

L’Aroma at New Sagaya’s City Market 900 W 13th Ave at I St tel 907/274-6173. Trendy and spendy grocery store, deli and café with a great selection that ranges from organic vegetables and great cheeses to pizza, wraps, Thai dishes and good coffee. The nearest groceries to downtown.

The Marx Bros. Café 627 W 3rd Ave tel 907/278-2133. The best all-round fine dining downtown served up in a historic house with views of the water. Start on the likes of sautéed alligator with crawfish tails followed by their signature baked halibut rolled in a macadamia nut crust and curry sauce and chutney. Entrees are around $25.

Moose’s Tooth 3300 Old Seward Hwy at 33rd Ave tel 907/258-2537. A perennial favorite, always alive with diners tucking into some of the town’s best gourmet pizza.

Mr Whitekey’s Fly By Night Club 3300 Spenard Rd at 32nd Ave tel 907/279-7726. Zany cabaret and live music venue which, throughout summer, hosts The Whale Fat Follies (June to mid-Sept Tues-Sat 8pm; $12-18; 16 and over only), a satirical and occasionally bawdy slant on Alaska.

Snow City Café 1034 W 4th Ave tel 907/272-6338. Foremost among the city establishments that successfully manage to combine several roles drawing in the coffee set, lunching office workers and pre-theater diners. All-day breakfast – French toast for $5, granola for $3 – are supplemented by Thai halibut, rosemary chicken, cedar plank salmon or vegetarian meatloaf. Live music on Friday night.

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