Alaskan M(oo)sings: We went to Seward

BB and I just got back from a 3-day, 2-night stay in Seward. We drove through Seward when we visited Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords NP a few weeks ago and placed it on our list of places to visit. Several people recommend we visit the Alaska SeaLife Center. So off we went!

Seward is located on Resurrection Bay, which is on the east coast of the Kenai Peninsula about 127 miles south of Anchorage. Driving time is about 2.5 hours. We left home early due to a highway closure. Scheduled blasting on the Seward Highway would have all lanes closed between 9:00am and 10:00am with one lane open at other times. We left home at 6:45am to get through the blasting area ahead of the closure.

I hoped a beautiful sunrise and scenery would be additional rewards for getting up early. Alas, no. The weather was rainy and foggy. But we did make it past the blasting area before the road closed.

Our first stop in Seward was the Alaska SeaLife Center. The Alaska SeaLife Center is the only facility in Alaska that combines a public aquarium with marine research, public education and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. We spent several hours there. The antics of the Steller Sea Lions and Spotted Seals were amusing. We saw them swim by the observation window right side up, upside down and sideways! We were amazed at how deep the Eider Ducks could dive for food. However, not everything we saw was 'cute.' Have you ever seen a Wolf Eel? Definitely NOT cute!

We spent some time walking on Fourth Avenue, checking out shops and restaurants. A lot of things were closed, some for the season and some for a mid-week 'weekend.' We ended up on a bench overlooking the water. This brown, furry head pops up! We watched the seal's head pop up a few more times before he swam out of site.

We took Ballaine Road, which runs alongside the bay, to our hotel. BB spotted a Bald Eagle flying low over the road! It landed in a tree by the water. We pulled over to watch and take pictures. It was very cooperative; it didn't fly away until after we left.

Our hotel was by the Seward boat harbor. We had a beautiful view of the harbor, bay and mountains from our hotel room.

BB and I took a short stroll by the harbor after breakfast on our first morning in Seward. We spent a few enjoyable minutes watching a sea otter eat a fish.

The activity scheduled for our second day in Seward was a 6-hour boat tour. We took the Major Marine Tours 6 Hour Kenai Fjords NP Tour. The weather cooperated (no rain!), but with the boat moving it was windy! We were prepared and bundled up in our coats, hats and gloves. Captain Laura is very knowledgeable on a wide range of topics. She told us about the animals we saw, the glaciers and how they formed the mountains and bays, and the history of the area. The crew made a point of staying visible and attentive and was willing to answer questions. This was a great tour! I would do it again.

Animals we saw:
Orcas
Bald Eagle
Mountain Goat
Moon Jelly Fish
Sea Otters
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals

Glaciers and Misc:
Rainbows
Aialik Glacier
Bear Glacier
Other glaciers that I don't remember their names
Lots of beautiful scenery

I thought we might be leaving mid-morning of our third day. It was raining and colder. We went back to Fourth Avenue to wander the shops again. One of the shop keepers mentioned the museum, officially the Seward Community Library and Museum. We decided to check it out. Admission was $5.00. As we handed the fee to the person at the desk he said something like, "Must be raining outside." It gave me the feeling that the only time he saw visitors at the museum was when the weather was bad. Well, at first I kind of agreed with that thought, however, BB and I both really enjoyed the museum. It was a typical small town museum but we found things that really interested us.

I mentioned in a previous post that our Dad had a private pilot's license, liked to hang out at airports and had an interest in aviation history. Both BB and I grew up hearing about Charles Lindburg's solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927. What neither of us remember hearing about is the first flight around the world in 1924. Four airplanes (Douglas World Cruisers- named Seattle, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans), each with one pilot and one flight mechanic from the US Army Air Service, left from Seattle, Washington to carry out the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. The world flight began on April 6, 1924. Seward was one of the stops as the planes made their way up the coast of Alaska and over to the Soviet Union's Komandorski Islands. Two of the four planes, Chicago and New Orleans, completed the flight on September 28, 1924. The Seattle crashed into a mountainside on the Alaska Peninsula. An oil pump failure forced the Boston into the North Sea. Have no worries, all 8 crewmembers survived the adventure and made it home.

Seward's museum had a section on the 1964 Alaska earthquake AKA the Good Friday earthquake. The 9.2 magnitude quake lasted four minutes and thirty-eight seconds. The town was struck by several tidal waves. Oil tanks caught on fire, which spread to a large section of the town. Twelve people died. The museum has photos of Seward before and after the quake. There are audio recordings of survivors describing their experiences. As part of the Library, but separate from the museum, was a 30-minute movie on the earthquake and how it devastated Seward. The audio recordings and movie were interesting and very emotional to listen to and to watch.

We left Seward for home around 3:30pm. The mountaintops on the Kenai peninsula had a dusting of snow. When we got closer to home we saw that the mountains around Anchorage were also dusted with snow.

This was a good trip. The only disappointment was that I didn't get to meet Morris the Talking Moose. The store where he lives in Moose Pass was closed.

One of the petting ponds at the SeaLife Center: