We arrived in Anchorage for a one day stopover on our way further north.
Points and Miles
Mrs. Koi was the strategic wizard of the rewards. Her use of points and miles made the trip possible, and although I knew this, Anchorage really highlighted some of the perks. Through an Explorist challenge via Hyatt, we got upgraded to a suite! We’re generally too frugal (cheap?) to get a suite. They certainly don’t fit the budget for this trip. So the upgrade was a nice surprise. We had 2 queen beds in one room, and a second room with sofa and Murphy bed.
The contrast from our tent or the dry cabin (about half the size of this 2nd room) with small wood stove for heat and shared bathroom was noticeable. Makes us realize how spoiled we are. But I wasn’t sad about a shower where I wasn’t paying by the minute… And none of us were sad to have some personal space.
Museum
After showering and resting for a bit, we started looking for things to do. We took advantage of an REI to replace an item or two of gear, restocked on groceries, and then agreed that pizza was a reasonable compromise for a celebratory lunch (every so often you need some comfort food, and we’d been doing a good job of not eating out to keep food spend within budget).
I did see something new to me at the grocery store. Apparently SPAM is a controlled substance in Alaska? Even the Great Value version. Can anyone explain this to me?
We were looking for other things to do. We found the Museum of Anchorage online. It did not disappoint. There was an excellent collection of indigenous artifacts, and I thought the displays showing each cultures’ rendition of the same artifact was nicely done. I enjoyed the assemblage of material culture from each group and being able to compare/contrast. Mrs. Koi’s interest was sparked by the decorated ladles, while I thought the ceremonial daggers were striking.
They also had an Alaskan art exhibit and a colorful display based on a children’s book by a local author. They may have had more but we were only able to stay for a few hours (we do tend to go through museums slowly though). Our Facebook page has more pictures from the museum, for anyone interested.
Also, some interesting landscaping at the hotel. #edimentals High five for nice use of kale! It is pretty cold hardy, so good choice for Alaska I guess.
Onward in the next post… to “The Mountain”.
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