You could be forgiven for thinking, given our epic journey to Anchorage, that outside of work hours we’d sleep the week away. But nope, not so. Having traveled further west, we’d shifted a time zone. Made things a bit rough in the mornings, starting work at 7am instead of 8. But on the bright side, it gave us oh so much time after work to play, and light ‘til late to boot.
First thing we did was hit up 49th State Brewing. More of a tourist spot than some of our normal breweries but there’s worse ways to celebrate making it to Alaska than beer and fish and chips. Nice deck too.
Funnily enough, the co-working office aka The Boardroom, shared the office space next door to the brewery.
And another coincidence, we bumped into a fellow Brit – JP, in The Boardroom, who was doing something very similar to us. That is, living and working in California pre-Covid, and for the last year, on the road traveling and working in co-working offices. Another digital nomad!
Anchorage doesn’t have to toot its own horn – it’s got plenty of trains to do that. And we were right next door to the iconic Alaska railroad, both at The Boardroom and the campsite, Ship Creek. So trains by day, trains by night.
The noise and the vibration you get used to. But I couldn’t help be a little jealous of the excited passengers as they boarded the train for a luxury scenic ride, full of anticipation. I reminded myself that our turn would come, we’d booked next week off on holiday 😃
We eased ourself into the post-work walking with a wander along the coastal trail in the city. The perfect way to get out and about without anything too strenuous.
Next day’s walk was titled Darren’s Revenge. Or might as well have been (the recent little US border detour was still top of mind). It was a 1,500ft climb up the FlatTop trail, involving some pretty steep scrambling, and maybe just a little whinging. The way down required much use of the previously perfected five points of contact maneuver (if in doubt, use your backside).
And finally we had a blustery walk along the shoreline in Kincaid Park, apparently the ‘most likely to see moose’ place in the city.
So there we were, having done our beach walk (no moose) and heading back on the bike path through the woods. And there, right there by the path, was the biggest bull moose I’ve ever seen, with a pair of very impressive almost cartoon-like moose antlers.
There was a group of people gathering on the far side of the trail, giving the moose plenty of space, and the same on our side. While he was certainly more interested in munching than checking out the gawping snap-happy tourists all around, it didn’t seem right to encroach his personal space just so we could continue with our walk. But tramping wide through the undergrowth wasn’t a viable option either.
Instead, we stood and watched and waited. And waited. Thinking, how long do we have to wait before the moose moves along?
At which point, the gathering tourist armies on both sides silently and mutually agreed, if they could pass, so could we. No dramas, no disasters. And as Forrest Gump would say, “that’s all I have to say about that”.
And did we make it to a proper brewery? You bet we did.
