Did you enjoy my last post about our Day 1 of Adventures in Alaska ? If you haven't read it yet, then click Here.
Day 2 of our adventures began in Anchorage. We were checking out of our hotel and would make our way towards Denali by that night, where were booked in the most dreamiest of Cabin in the Woods. Coming back to how the Day fanned out. Day 1 had seen us feasting on Reindeer Sausages and Mussels cooked in White Wine, Day 2 saw us heading to Gweenies Old Alaska Restaurant. It has been serving authentic Alaskan food for the last 30 years and is still very much in business. We started off with the local Shrimp Cocktail . For our main course, we opted for the Fisherman's Platter. It was a sampling platter for two with the freshest of Alaskan seafood. King Crab Legs, breaded Halibut filet, Butterfly Shrimp, Scallops and Oysters served with a side of corn and mashed potatoes and gravy.
Lunch done we headed to Eagle River along the Old Glenn Highway. We took a short hike along the way the river meandered , starting from the Visitor's Center .
From the Eagle River, we headed to Elkutna. This time around it was not a natural wonder we were about to explore but a man made one. Spirit Houses in Elkutna is an old Russian cemetry. Rather than your regular graves at a graveyard. each grave is topped with a small house. It was the most unique graveyard I have ever been to. Each house is the size of a large dolls house and is colorfully painted. Its a mix of Russian and Native American practices. There were some graves which had a blanket placed over them, which confused us. We later came to know, that after a person is buried, a blanket is placed there fr 40 days, in a bid to keep them warm in the after life. After that tenure, these spirit houses are placed. If you are driving in that area, do make a stop there.
We headed to Palmer. Wandered through the Palmer Museum of History and Art and the Palmer Visitor Information Area. There was a beautiful garden which made me just want to spend many more hours. When an area gets that much amount of Summer sunshine, the flowers and vegetables are a living proof of that.
Palmer is located in the Matanuska Valley, between the Talkeetna Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. Its the gateway to the Matanuska Glacier which is the one of the few Glaciers in the world on which you can walk on. For us, we have been to two such Glaciers in the World, on which we have walked upon : Matanuska in Alaska and Athabasca in the Columbia Ice fields in Canada. There is a small Visitors Center which handles ticket sales. You drive to a point after you have paid for your ticket and park your car. Then you hike to the Glacier.
We had a bit of misadventure at Matanuska before we started off for Denali National Park. We picked up our food for the next day's adventures at the park. Mc Kinley Creek Side Cabins, just outside the gates of Denali National Park, was our stay for the night. The dreamiest and most romantic of cabins beside the bubbling mountain brooks. If you have a date to impress, book it for a weekend, and you will thank me later.
Stay tuned for Day 3 of Alaska Adventures, coming up on Thursday on the Blog .
You might like reading these :
Alaska Adventures Day 1 : Anchorage , Portage Glacier, Whittier & Chugach
Alaska on my Tastebuds
The Alaskan Comedy
Thanks for such a wonderful post.
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