When picking a place to vacation for the 4th of July one usually doesn't think of Anchorage Alaska USA. But some of us aren't what you call typical and say "why the heck not", I'm one of those people. Honestly, I'm not a patriotic person at all, and if spending my 4th meant doing something out of the ordinary I'm all over that. This year I got on a 6.5 hr flight to good ol' Anchorage, Alaska, and I probably had one of the best 4th's ever possible. I even saw fireworks! Here's my experience with Alaska in July.
Alaska here I come
The days leading up to the trip I did absolutely no research on Anchorage or things to do, just knew that they are in prime summer so it'll be sunny ALL THE TIME. I knew their weather wasn't all that great so I definitely didn't plan on packing any shorts. I arrived the night between Thursday and Friday at 3 am, and lo and behold it wasn't dark. Slightly dusky, but not dark like what I'm used to really late. It would get light again around 4:30 am and stay this way until 2ish am, with prime sunshine around 7/8pm. Most of my trip had a slight overcast which usually wouldn't bother me but it prevented me from going to see the glaciers and one hiking trail I wanted to see: Flattop (it was just too cloudy to see anything up there). The time difference between Chicago and Anchorage is 3 hours, enough to get anyone jet legged, which usually I avoid by sleeping on the flight and taking a redeye, however, that in combination to 20hrs of sunshine my body clock was off for a few days when I came back.Starting with routine
I started my trip with my typical routine I usually do when getting to a new place. I find a hot local diner for breakfast, in Anchorage, it was Snow City Cafe. The food was INCREDIBLE! I loved it so much I came back twice for their coffee to go and once more for food during my stay. Once at the diner, this is when I do research on the city, or simply ask my waitress/bartender for recommendations. This time around I knew I wanted to get some hiking in, see some wildlife, explore the city, see glaciers, eat amazing seafood, check out the nightlife, etc. Since I didn't have a car and it was pretty rainy for most of my trip I decided to opt for the Coastal Trail (a 12-mile long trail you can access by foot from downtown that allows you to make it as easy or as difficult of a trail you want). On this trail, I did see a moose, super cool to see and actually a lot nicer than you would think. Went on an impromptu trip to their "beach"/motocross practice area that had incredible views. Walked around the Anchorage Saturday Market and picked up a stunning new piece of handmade jewelry. Saw the neighborhood pet "Star the Reindeer". I met a super lovely older couple at a really cute pizza parlor called Fat Parmigan. They just got off a cruise ship and reminded me how small of a world it really is. They live about 20 miles away from me, in the greater Chicagoland area. I also met a politician that manages the campaign for someone running for State Senate. Anchorage is quite small.
Explore Explore Explore
Other than exploring the city and meeting amazing new people I napped A LOT. I would go out and explore during the day, come back and nap, go out explore some more, come back and nap, at this point, it would be 9 pm and I was ready for the night to begin. My body clock was like "hey it's sunny out you should be up", and I would stay up extremely late. My body was confused for a few days if not an entire week following my trip.
My Airbnb host was so accommodating and went above and beyond my expectations, as well as made my trip incredibly memorable. He was one of the best hosts I've ever encountered. Originally from AK, he knew everything about it, all the hot spots, places to avoid, must see places and was more than welcome to his home and friends. Friday and Saturday night we went out with a few of his friends, I would tell you all the places we went and which I like the most but there were way too many of them. The memorable ones included:
- Whale's Tale: A super chic wine bar that I absolutely fell in love it. You put in a prepaid card, press a button, and the wine gets dispensed into your wine glass. THIS WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR ME.
- Ginger: Super cute and one of few high-end restaurants in Anchorage, a great mix of Asian Fusion, great for cocktails and hanging out. The food was pretty delicious as well.
- Brown Bag: A sandwich joint (which I found out that your food doesn't come out in a sandwich bag when ordering it, slightly disappointing and total fake advertising lol). But they had good nightlife there with a dance floor and a pretty good DJ for Alaska.
- KOOT's: say it's your birthday and find out :).
Enjoy the beauty
Sunday we drove into Seward, it's a beautiful 3-hour drive South of Anchorage through the mountains. The views were absolutely incredible and the people I was with were great for a road trip. Seward is the town where everyone drives into for the 4th. A super cute town with extremely friendly people. We went to dinner and met some other friends here. Watched fireworks right on the water (which started at midnight and even though it wasn't fully dark, Seward has more mountains than Anchorage, therefore, gets slightly darker and you were able to see the fireworks). I couldn't have imagined spending a 4th any other way. Beautiful views, fireworks, Alaskan beer and vodka, A LOT of laughing, bubbles, and most importantly new friends. On the 4th Seward has a huge 4th of July party and marathon. It's called the Mt. Marathon and is extremely known in the running community. We watched the start of the men and women race and went to the finish line for the men portion. Let me tell you that looked DIFFICULT, and I've done a Spartan Race. I would not want to be running that (especially after drinking the night before). But it was so amazing to see people do it, run up that mountain and come back with joy in their eyes. I felt their accomplishments and had mad respect for the runners.And just like that my time in Alaska was over. The trip was memorable and I highly recommend it to anyone that wants an out of the ordinary trip. I would definitely go back and check out things I didn't get a chance to do: Glaciers, Flattop, Dog Sledding and the Iditarod. A few fun facts I noticed when there:
- Huge Russian population
- Americans that are originally from Alaska (not native Alaskans) most have blue eyes
- Though the streets aren't necessarily gridlocked, it's super easy to get around because they're labeled with numbers 1,2,3,4, etc. and A, B, C, D, etc...
Xoxo Ania Travels 💜
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