jackal

ANCHORAGE and SEWARD, ALASKA
AUGUST 27-29, 2010
Optional Part II: Denali, August 30-31

Capitalizing on the success of our recent Spring Break DO, we're here to offer you yet another opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Alaskan wilderness, but this time with green on the ground and warmth in the air!

Fly into Anchorage on Thursday night. Get a good night's sleep, because the next few days will be action-packed! Friday morning, we're [TENTATIVELY] heading back to the airport for an encore presentation of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport operations tour with the TSAIA administration and Alaska Airlines.

Make sure you've had a big breakfast, because there's no time for lunch until we get out to the Alaska State Fair, where you can scarf down everything from buffalo burgers to halibut tacos (don't forget to finish off with a powdered sugar-dusted funnel cake!). Let the food digest while checking out the enormous vegetables grown in the 19-hour-per-day Alaskan summer sun. Take a spin on some carnival rides before stuffing yourself again with barbecued turkey legs and cheesesteaks and then heading back to Anchorage.

Saturday is an early departure. We're loading up the proverbial bus for an on-time departure at 8:00am. Our destination: the port town of Seward, from which we will depart out on the majestic Resurrection Bay and into Kenai Fjords National Park, where the mountains plunge into the sea, carrying massive glaciers right to the water's edge. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat fresh salmon and prime rib buffet right on-board the boat, maximizing your time to see wildlife and glaciers.

After disembarking, we head over to the Sea Life Center (funded by settlement money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill), where we can learn about the amazing wildlife we just saw. A stroll around the historic downtown area and dinner rounds out the day.

Collect your Priority Club points at the waterfront Seward Holiday Inn Express. Upon checkout the next morning, we begin our leisurely return to Anchorage back through the towering Kenai Mountains. We'll detour slightly to the port town of Whittier through the longest combined road/rail tunnel in North America before stopping in Girdwood.

In Girdwood, those who want to can join on an easy walk through the fern-filled rain forest, ending up at the gorge at Winner Creek--crossed by the slightly daunting hand-pulled tram. For those who prefer to rest a bit, there are plenty of other things to keep yourselves occupied in Girdwood, from panning for gold at the Crow Creek Mine to wandering the beautiful grounds of the Alyeska Prince Hotel.

We'll arrive back in Anchorage with an hour or so to prepare for the big barbecue at BOB W's. Bob'll post the main dishes below, but the rest of us can make a side trip to the store to procure some vittles to share.

As the barbecue winds down, those who have to leave can begin to think about heading out to the airport to catch their evening (or early morning red-eye) flights. The rest of us will retire to our accommodations so we're ready to play on Day 4, our optional encore day.

Monday is a day to play around Southcentral Alaska. Anchorage has some worthwhile attractions. Tour our newly renovated museum and learn about the history of our area, enjoy artwork from well-known Alaskan artists like Sydney Laurence. Next, you'll gain an understanding of the prominent Alaska Native culture at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where you'll see authentic traditional Native dancing and life-sized, walk-in displays of traditional housing in the various regions of Alaska. Depending on the time, we might just drive around Anchorage, or we could head out to Hatcher Pass, a scenic nook in the Talkeetna Mountains just north of Palmer and Wasilla with some great views of Denali as we descend back to the Mat-Su Valley floor. We'll round out the day back in Anchorage with a hike up Flattop, probably the most accessible mountain in the country, with a trail that starts literally on the back doorstep of an Anchorage residential neighborhood.

While we'll call that the end of the official DO, those who want to stay even longer have a world of activities and sights available. There's Denali flightseeing excursions or even a whole trip up to Denali National Park itself. beckoa is happy to share his love of all things slimy and [barely] edible with a fishing or clamming trip. And of course, you can explore the remote wilds of Alaska, courtesy of an intrastate award for only 15,000 Alaska Airlines miles.

All in all, it'll be an awesome weekend. So show up ready to see what we fondly refer to as "The Greatland"--whose greatness is only matched by the hospitality of her residents!

jackal

Tentative Schedule:

PART 1:
Friday, August 27
10:00-12:00: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Operations Tour (a huge hit with our Spring Break Do II crowd!)
12:00-13:00 Brown bag lunch
13:00-15:00: Alaska Airlines Passenger Services/Cargo Operations Tour
15:00: depart for Alaska State Fair, Palmer, Alaska
16:00: arrive at fairgrounds and get lunch (halibut tacos, funnel cakes, and cheesesteaks, oh my!)
18:00: Choice between Fred Scheer's Lumberjack Show, presented by Spenard Builders Supply or the Demolition Derby (beckoa may be entering his van )
22:00: Evening fireworks display
22:20-23:00: Return to Anchorage and area hotels

Saturday, August 28
08:00: Pick-up at area hotels and depart for Seward, Alaska
11:30-17:30: Kenai Fjords Tours National Park Tour (Stellar sea lions, sea otters, bald eagles, nesting Alaskan seabirds [puffins, murres, kittiwakes, cormorants], mountain goats, whales, porpoise, bears, 4 Alpine/Hanging glaciers, 1 Piedmont glacier [Bear Glacier, largest glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park], 1 Tidewater glacier [Holgate Glacier, active])
Overnight in Seward (there is a Holiday Inn Express on the harbor for those of you who collect Priority Club points)
19:00: Dinner at Ray's Waterfront

Sunday, August 29
09:00-10:30: Alaska Sea Life Center
11:00-12:00: Exit Glacier and Harding Ice Field viewing/optional hike
12:00-16:30: Return to Anchorage via Whittier and Girdwood (optional Winner Creek hike and hand-tram; nearby activities available for those who prefer not to hike)
16:30-17:15: Costco/Carrs run to get last-minute supplementary vittles for the 'cue
17:30-22:00 or whenever: Barbecue and wine tasting at Casa de BOB W

PART 2:
Monday, August 30
10:00: Depart Anchorage
11:00: Stop in Wasilla at the Iditarod Headquarters
11:45: Depart Wasilla
13:00: Arrive in Talkeetna; lunch at Cafe Michele
14:30: Depart Talkeetna
17:30: Check in at McKinley Village Lodge
18:00: Arrive Denali National Park Visitor's Center
19:00: Dinner with the legendary Seat 2A
and/or park entrance-area activity (i.e. Jeff King's Husky Homestead Tour)
21:30: Return to hotel

Tuesday, August 31
06:00: Check out of hotel and depart for visitor's center; bring packed lunch and drinks
06:30: Board bus to Eielson visitor center (mile 65 in the Park)
14:30: Arrive back at park entrance
15:00: Depart for Anchorage
20:00: Arrive in Anchorage for evening flights; late dinner for those staying for encore day

Optional Encore Day:
Wednesday, September 1
10:00: Driving tour of the area and area sights (Anchorage museum, Alaska Native Heritage Center, etc.)
13:00: Lunch and afternoon schedule TBD
18:00: Evening hike into Chugach State Park (up Flattop?) led by jackal

Other options available before or after the official DO:

• Fishing and/or clamming experience led by beckoa
• Flight to a remote Alaskan city (Barrow, Nome, Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, etc.)

jackal

Attendees:

Confirmed for Part 1:
jackal (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
BOB W (tours, fair, Seward [not cruise], BBQ)
beckoa (tours, fair, Seward [not cruise], BBQ)
AKronin (tours, BBQ)
alphaeagle (fair, Seward, BBQ)
CDKing (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
Jaimito Cartero +1 (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
lili (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
Cholula +1 (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
Moomba (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
monitor +1 (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
Alysia (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
nor4 (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
travelsavant +1 (fair, Seward, BBQ)
violist (tours, fair, BBQ)
nischalb (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
belle3388 +1 (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
ckpeter (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
kltye (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
LIGrin (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
Henwurst (tours, fair, Seward, BBQ)
bdnyc (tours, fair)

Confirmed for Part 2:
jackal
nor4
CDKing
violist
belle3388 +1
ckpeter
kltye
magic111
LIGrin

Next time:
fti
chrisphx
Exiled in Express
SeeYa
bk3day
golfingboy
hausrath
baliktad
MileageAddict +2
gvdIAD
Condition One
Middle_Seat
colpuck

jackal

Official event costs:

PART I
Shared vans and gas: $25 per person (approximate)
Lunch Friday during tours: $10
Alaska State Fair admission: $6 for adults; $3.50 for 65+ (discounted price--normally $12 and $7!); Demolition Derby: $12
Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise: $128 (all-in group rate, including taxes; normally $157.58!)--must be prepaid
Dinner at Ray's Waterfront: see website for menu and prices (approx. $25-30 plus tip and drinks)
Hotel in Seward: Reserve and pay on your own
Alaska Sea Life Center: $16 (group rate; normally $20)
Alyeska Mountain tram ride (weather permitting): $17 (group rate may be available)
Dinner at BOB W's: Two options: bring a bottle of wine to share, or bring $25 to cover the cost of a bottle of wine from BOB W Cellars. Also, there will be expenses of about $15-20 per person for food for the barbecue.
TOTAL: plan on bringing approximately $150 per person to cover these expenses ($175 if not bringing wine)

PART II
Shared van and gas: $18 (approximate)
Denali hotel options:

• McKinley Village Lodge: $99 rate; currently sold out (reserve and pay on your own)
• Grizzly Bear Resort: $139 (reserve and pay on your own)

Denali attractions:

• Bus tour into the park (private vehicles not allowed): $40.75
• Dinner with honorary guest Seat 2A at either 229 Parks (French/gourmet; approximately $50) or Overlook (burgers; approximately $30); TBD

TOTAL: plan on bringing $90-120 depending on where we go for dinner to cover these expenses

Wednesday (encore day):
Shared van/gas: based on attendance
Anchorage Museum and Alaska Native Heritage Center (joint pass): $26.95 (group rates may be available)

Payment details:
Hotel rooms: reservations and payment made individually to the hotel
Kenai Fjords cruise: PayPal in advance to jackal
Admission, rental cars, and food will be taken care of at the conclusion of the group event. Using the estimated expenses above, please either bring enough cash to take care of these expenses or have some means to make a PayPal payment to me sometime on the last day of the DO.
It is assumed you will be participating in all group activities. Please indicate if you intend to refrain from a given activity to assist with planning prepayments, group size, and group discounts.

Pre/post-event optional excursions (on your own--i.e. what to see and do in the area if you have extra time)
Anchorage-based flightseeing excursion: $100-375
Talkeetna road trip options:

• Flightseeing to Denali: $195-315
• Jetboat excursion: $55-155

Flight to a remote Alaskan city: 15,000 Alaska Airlines miles or $300-$1,000

Hotel options in ANC
Closest to the airport: Millennium, Courtyard by Marriott, Quality Inn (and attached Econo Lodge), and Holiday Inn Express are on Spenard, just a few minutes from the airport. There is also a Comfort Suites and a Microtel on the frontage road just off International Airport Road.of International Airport Road.

All of the above have airport shuttles, though I do not know if they run 24 hours.

You also have your pick of chain properties in Midtown, which are only an extra 5-7 minutes away, and all of those have free airport shuttles as well. These choices include (in order of distance) the Crowne Plaza, Marriott Fairfield, Motel 6 [very new and nice as far as Motel 6s go], Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Marriott SpringHill Suites, Embassy Suites, and Marriott Residence Inn. The farthest one--the Residence Inn--is only a 12-15-minute drive from the airport. I would feel comfortable recommending any of the above--all are in safe areas (safer than the closer ones on Spenard, actually) and are good, new properties.

If price at any of the chains is an issue (this is summer we're talking about), there are some non-chain properties that are decent and have airport shuttles. FlyerTalker ozstamps was quite impressed with the Executive Suite on Spenard, and the Puffin Inn's remodeled side (the deluxe rooms) is quite nice (though avoid the older side). The Puffin's owner, Jay, is a kick, too. They are both right across the street from the HIX on Spenard. I've seen many of my customers stay at the Coast International Inn or the Long House Alaskan Hotel (both on Lake Hood very close to the Millennium), and I've never heard anything negative about them, but they're unknown commodities to me. The Dimond Center hotel is on the south side of town, relatively far from the airport (a 15-minute drive) and in a commercial district with not much activity late at night, but it is a very nice property (huge rooms, jacuzzi tubs, HD TVs, etc.) with a free airport shuttle. It's also probably the closest hotel to BOB W's house.

Aside from the big four full-service places, there are some other lodging options downtown. There's a Clarion, a Hawthorn Suites, an older HoJo, and a run-down Ramada Limited on the chain side of things and a smattering of independent places. The decent independents downtown are not going to be cheap, but they do have some character. Check out the Historic Anchorage Hotel (next door to the Hilton), the Anchorage Grand, the Voyager Hotel (across from the Captain Cook), and the Copper Whale Inn. I'm probably missing a few, but do stay away from the Inlet Inn. (The Inlet Towers is completely different and reportedly decent, but I know absolutely nothing about it other than having driven by it.) also avoid the Econo Inn, which is so crappy it lost the EconoLodge franchise rights, and the Red Roof Inn, which looks new but is in a junky area. The Days Inn gets mixed reviews, too.

ANC in the summer can be a great value for point redemptions. But if you are not bound to hotel points, the above-mentioned non-chain properties are worth looking into.

I also have a couple of B&Bs that I always recommend to people visiting. These are absolutely gorgeous properties that can be cheaper than many of the chain places:

http://www.alaskafrontiergardens.com/
http://www.alaskahighlandglen.com/

For those who need their own rental cars for before/after the official DO events, PM me and I'll see what I can arrange through my, er, connections.

BOB W

Reserved 'cuz I said so.....

and now the menu for the BBQ.......

Cole Slaw with cabbage from my garden

Bourbon basted SALMON

Tri tip marinated and stuffed with garlic on the barbie

Racks of pork ribs on the barbie

BBQ'd veggies and Israeli couscous salad (I finally found the Isreali couscous at Aggatta & Valentina's in NYC)

Greek Spaghetti a la Jackal

After reviewing the attendee list, I see several that have considerable knowledge of wines. Since this do is growing much larger than any other in Alaska history, I am requesting some assistance with the wines for Sunday dinner. While my budget is not small, the cost for the meats and wines needs to be shared, and wines are easier to travel with.

Any type, any vintage, any winery will be allowed, but there may be some comments if you show up with something in a box or (Gawd forbid) Yellow Tail

If you would like to help out, please post and I will put together a list.

beckoa

Hmm... sounds like fun

Reserved for Fishing & Clamming updates (none so far)

And did a quick check... no clam tides during this week... But could be some options in Seward if there's interest!

BOB W and I are looking into a Halibut Charter option... (BOB W, please remind me to check availability and cost)

Also by then Silvers might be running and we can try snagging them in Prince William Sound or possibly the Waterfall.

beckoa

Wow... OT for this one, but it seems that Casa de BOB W is in the schedule already!

Will have to test out the summer equipment though soon

~(Tasting #1 of the cellar completed successfully!)~ 5/18/10

Who is growing our cabbage? (FT entry into State Fair)

BOB W is... (would have pics but it started to rain )

~(Tasting #2 of the cellar completed successfully!)~ 6/25/10

golfingboy

RSVP me!

CDKing

Put me down as Interested. It will all depend on dates. I could probably swing anything but Labor Day weekend.

hausrath

I would love to come as we had a great time at the Spring Break II DO, but Labor Day weekend would work better for me as the 3-day weekend = less PTO I have to take. Certainly don't make the decision on account of me though, as I probably couldn't confirm regardless until about a month out.

baliktad

Always been interested in taking a trip to my favorite airline's namesake state. Count me interested at the least, and probable if the dates/fares are reasonable.

Cholula

Please list Cholula and Mrs Cholula as very interested.

lili

That's a lot of cole slaw! Count me as maybe, depending on heaven knows what.

(I'm interested in the dates mentioned. Around Sept 8 UA fares are about $200 higher.)

MileageAddict

Hey! Put me, Mrs. MileageAddict and MileageAddict, Jr. on the "maybe" list. I need to see if there are any reward seats available.

CDKing

Just to be on the safe side, I have booked award tickets for both of the suggested dates. Both were 40K AS coach awards. Lowest available F award for thise dates is 65K with ORD-ANC on AS and the rest on AA. Not sure if its worth the extra miles.

8/26 - 8/31
and
9/2 - 9/7

I'm not sure if Labor Day will be completely possible but i dont want to rule it out