The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
An Explore All 50 road trip would not be complete without a visit to the state capitol building and Alaska was no exception. Juneau is truly a small mining town and it just doesn't quite feel like a state capitol in the typical sense. But once you come to appreciate that Alaska is a sparsely populated place, it doesn't feel odd at all. When we visited, the capitol building was undergoing an extensive … [Read more...]
If you've been reading our blog, you know by now that ice cream is one of our favorite desserts and a must have on any road trip. As we were touring Juneau, we got an urgent craving for our favorite frozen treat. After asking a few locals where we should go, we were told to head over to the wharf to a Juneau original-Chilkat Cones. Chilkat cones offers a variety of ice cream flavors, smoothies, truffles and … [Read more...]
Alaska is one of the last truly wild places in the US but sometimes even Mother Nature needs a little boost. There is a huge demand for wild Alaskan salmon (in fact it is against the law farm any kind of fish in Alaska) so in order to make sure the stocks are not depleted, non-profits like the Macauley Salmon Hatchery are hatching salmon and releasing them in the wild. This is sometimes called "ocean ranching". … [Read more...]
There are few things in this life that can rival hiking on a glacier, I would even venture to say it was a life changing experience. And if that statement needed any validation, my jaded teenagers excitedly declared it "totally sick". Is there a higher compliment from a tougher audience? I think not. I decided early on this was a must do on our Alaskan road trip and it totally exceeded our expectations. The … [Read more...]
There is something about those little cars hanging precariously from a single solitary cable that always makes my heart beat a little faster. Looking up at the Mt. Roberts Tramway I asked my kids if they were game. When the answer was a resounding yes, I gathered my courage, bought our tickets walked up to the loading area. I knew that the views would be totally worth it, in addition to all the cool cultural … [Read more...]
As we landed in Juneau we were all starving, and not knowing where to go we headed straight to our first stop The Red Dog Saloon-a Juneau institution and a "do not miss" according to every guidebook I read. Popping our heads into this crazy weird bar (complete with swinging saloon doors), the hostess said they served lunch and my kids were allowed to enter as long as they stayed by my side. "No problem" I said and … [Read more...]
Juneau, Alaska's state capital was a huge gold mining town in fact the entire town was built on tailings-the gravel and sand left over after the gold is extracted from the ground. Though no more mining takes place in Juneau, we struck gold when we discovered The Twisted Fish. While there are a few dining options in Juneau we found none better than the Twisted Fish and ate 2 lunches and a dinner there and each … [Read more...]
If you've been following us on here and on social media, you know we just came back from an Alaskan road trip. Where most folks opt to do a cruise to cover a fair amount of area, we decided to buck convention and do a real road trip, flying and driving through our 50th state. The rental cost on the two cars (one in Juneau for a day and a half and one in Anchorage that we dropped off in Fairbanks three days … [Read more...]
As we sat on the dock in Juneau, Alaska a couple of weeks ago we couldn't help but notice the gargantuan cruise ships docked in the port. As they easily floated in and out of the harbor it was hard not to think about whether we'd made the right decision not to do a cruise, which is the way most folks choose to tour Alaska. My family has had some experience with cruises in the past (a Disney cruise in the Caribean) … [Read more...]
Alaska is truly one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places in all of the USA maybe even the world. Commonly referred to as "The Last Frontier", it is one of if not the only last wild places left in the country. Touring this amazing and awe inspiring place we were humbled by nature everywhere we turned, from the beautiful snow capped mountains of the Kenai Pennisula, to the vast and powerful Mendenhall Glacier, … [Read more...]
