Alaska TravelGram

It was 10 years ago when the Alaska SeaLife Center opened its doors to much fanfare.

My wife and I were there with our two kids–and we bought one of Barbara Lavallee’s prints “Windows to the Sea”. It’s still hanging on the wall in our home–and I still love going to the SeaLife Center when I visit Seward.

In fact, it’s at the top of the list for places to go when our relatives come to visit early next month. That, along with a cruise on Renown Tours to see Kenai Fjords National Park.

Grown-ups love the SeaLife Center, but it’s the kids that really are amazed. They get to watch the seals and sea lions swim around in the big tanks. Then, they can go up to the aviary and watch the puffins, murres and all the other birds flying around.

“This is as close as most people will ever get to a puffin,” said Seward resident and SeaLife board member Tom Tougas. 

Prowl around the top floor of the center and there’s a hands-on tank with naturalists, where kids can touch sea cucumbers, anemones and other critters that live in the tidal zone. It’s always a big hit.

Depending on the time of year, there may be salmon swimming through the tanks, since the SeaLife Center has its own salmon run! 

Down below, you’ll see king crabs, halibut and other creatures of the deep that are swimming around in Resurrection Bay. 

Of course, watching critters in the aquarium is just  a small part of the mission of the Alaska SeaLife Center. The staff also does research and rehabilitation. From above, you can look down on the outside tanks, where researchers are working with the animals. Again, kids are very curious about this process–and they can learn a bunch just by asking questions of the naturalists.

Join the staff and the community of Seward for the 10th anniversary on Sat., May 3 (this Saturday!!). There’s free admission from 3:00-8:00pm. There are plenty of kids’ activities, snacks and a behind-the-scenes open house.

Don’t miss it!

Our friends at Alaska HDTV went out to play in our late-April snow. Wow!

I had lunch in the middle of a blinding snowstorm yesterday here in Anchorage with the folks from AlaskaHDTV. Scott and Kevin just posted a great video on Archangel Valley (see post below). 

We’re planning some bear-viewing trips this summer. There are three great areas. Let’s review.

First, just across Cook Inlet from Kenai is the area around Wolverine Creek. Our friends Carl and Kirsten Dixon (remember Winterlake Lodge??) own and operate Redoubt Bay Lodge as a premier bear-viewing experience in the summer. Fly over with Rust’s from Anchorage’s Lake Hood. Taxi up to the dock. Watch for bears (we had some at the end of the dock last time we visited). Have lunch at the lodge, then take the boat for your two-minute ride over to Wolverine Creek. Heck–the guides have names for the bears. It’s a great experience.

Next, the bears of Katmai are big, big, big. You’ve probably seen pictures of salmon jumping right into the mouths of bears waiting by the falls. Chances are good those photos were taken at Brooks River Falls, in the heart of the Katmai region. Our friends at Katmailand offer one-day trips with PenAir, as well as accommodations for longer stays in the park. If you’re staying more than one day, make time to take the all-day tour to the Valley of the 10,000 Smokes. I had some great pictures, but I dropped my camera in the river. So–I’m going back this year to take some more snapshots. 

Finally, down in Southeast Alaska, Anan Creek offers visitors a chance to see both black bears and brown bears fishing in a stream choked with millions of pink salmon. We took a trip over to Anan Creek with Brenda Schwartz-Yaeger last year. She and her husband Jon run go-fast jetboats from Wrangell to Anan Creek. You get the chance to spend several hours checking out the bears–including getting up close in a camo-draped viewing hut close to the creek. 

The AlaskaHDTV crew already is making plans to return to Wrangell this summer and roll film at Anan Creek with the folks at Alaska Waters. There’s plenty to do in Wrangell, of course. We went with Jim Leslie of Alaska Waters, photographer Ivan Simonek and writer Bonnie Demerjian up the Stikine River to Telegraph Creek over Labor Day. It was a fabulous four-day trip to the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Here’s a picture I took of a black bear–through my binoculars!

Bonnie and Ivan have written books on Anan Creek (”Anan–Stream of Living Water”) as well as books on Wrangell and the Stikine River. 

Here’s a shot of a brown bear at Anan Creek. Actually, this sow started to follow us down the trail. WHOA!

Enter to win a free copy of Anan–Stream of Living Water. Ivan did the photos. Fabulous. Bonnie explores the history of the region–from Native Alaskan legends, to commercial fishing to bear viewing. 

How to win? Simple. Send me an email (zoom@gci.net) with the name of the national park where Brooks River Falls is located. Simple Simple. Find the answer here: www.katmailand.com . Your email SUBJECT must include: BEARS. The body of your email MUST include:

a. Name

b. Address and phone number

c. The true and actual CORRECT answer!! 

Have fun. Thanks for playing. We’ll pick the winner from the correct entries! 

Alaska Airlines finally caved and will institute the dreaded $25 fee for the second checked bag.

Plus, the airline plans a raft of new fees, starting May 21.

Here’s a preview:

a. $15 to book flights by phone or at the airport

b. $50 for overweight bags (each way)

c. $100 for taking pets aboard the plane

d. $75 unaccompanied minor fee (each way) 

e. $25 for a second checked bag (intra-Alaska passengers are exempt, as are MVP/MVPG mileage plan members)

More details about these new charges will follow. The “Great Unbundling” continues unabated. Many of these fees already were in place–but Alaska should not charge the extra-bag fee. I feel for them as they report their latest losses: $36 million for the first quarter or 2008.

Guess what? I’m losing money because of high fuel costs, too (not quite that much). But the charge to check a second bag is a fee for which travelers receive nothing–not even an assurance their bag will arrive on the same flight. 

Mad? Sad? Me, too. 

Check out the latest video from Alaska HDTV in Archangel Valley. Scott Slone and Kevin Kastner both got a righteous sunburn from strolling around in the strong springtime sunshine–they even got the tail end of an avalanche on film!

Here’s another shot of Archangel Valley in the fall. That’s my son, Drew, in the foreground. Glorious country!

Laura over at USTravel keeps finding more bargains. All the best fares mandate that you complete travel no later than June 19. Check ‘em out:

Anchorage-San Francisco $414 rt ai (all-in)

Anchorage-Reno 452 rt

Anchorage-Denver 452 rt (Frontier has a cheaper fare–but no seats.)

Anchorage-Las Vegas 459 rt

Anchorage-Dallas/Ft Worth 434 rt

Anchorage-Chicago 434 rt

Anchorage-Charlotte 428 rt WOW!

Anchorage-Atlanta 434 rt

Again, all of these prices include taxes and fees. USTravel’s ticketing charge of $38 is additional. Call now: (907)561-2434 or toll-free (800) 544-2217. All travel must be completed by June 19.