Sleeping in broad daylight wasn't so hard after all - the sun went down about 11:30PM and was back again by 2:30AM. We were up early for breakfast and then the short walk to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. This is a paved and very scenic trail, winding along Cook Inlet from downtown Anchorage for about 10 miles south. We saw all sorts of folks out on the trail - dog walkers, bikers, skaters, some sort of military group running with heavy backpacks, and some just plain walkers. We even met somebody who used to live in South Carolina - a woman who worked with Margaret at the local health department in Columbia. Small world it is.
The trail is a pretty place to walk. a freshwater lagoon had lots of birds, including a couple of loons. Another pond was full of duck bottoms. Across the mudflats, we saw a bald eagle. We stared into a stream for a while looking for salmon, but didn't spot any. We also did not see any moose - there are supposed to be a lot of them living around Anchorage - we'll keep looking.
Not sure how far we walked, but we got tired enough that we turned around and headed back to town. After a drink and a little rest, we headed off on a walking tour of the city. The Log Cabin Visitor Center is an interesting spot. It's an old "sourdough cabin," the type of dwelling built by early settlers who made it through the winter here. It has a nice fireplace inside, which felt pretty good today ... 60 degrees outside. In front of the building is a sign showing the distance to various cities and against the wall is a 5000+ pound jade boulder. No danger of anyone stealing that jewel.
Other than the visitor center, downtown Anchorage is unremarkable - except for the flowers - they are everywhere and they are super-colorful. Most street lights are adorned with hanging baskets, all public spaces are planted to the max, and most everybody gets into the act. One of these shots is along 4th Avenue, where the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts every year in March. Hard to imagine that much snow instead of so many flowers.
One option for lunch was a sidewalk vendor selling reindeer sausage dogs - we decided to save that delicacy for a little later in the trip.
We ended up having lunch at a neighborhood tavern called Humpy's - their specialty is halibut tacos. Pretty good introduction to the local cuisine.
There are a couple of nice totem poles outside the courthouse. They are carved of red cedar by a Tlingit native from Ketchikan. This one represents an eagle, holding a giant clam shell.
This is one of the earlier versions of an engine from the Alaska Railroad - this one worked in the switch yards at the busy Anchorage train station. This type of engine was known as a "moose gooser" - its job was to clear the moose off the tracks before the big trains came barreling through.
Humpy's has great halibut!
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