Alaska Cruise 2013

Alaska - The Places I've Been

Alaska has been our home sense we first moved up here in Sept. of 1982. We have lived in Anchorage, Eagle River and Seward but currently are living in Kenai after being transferred there back in the fall of 1991.

Our travels have taken us to many corners of the state including the likes of Nome and Kotzebue along the Bering Sea Coast, Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan in the South East Panhandle and interior towns and villages like Talkeetna, Tok, Gulkana, Bethel and McGrath.

All of these locations offer something different and special to everyone that ventures their way. Some are road accessible while others require flying or a marine excursion to arrive at their own personal remote locations.

Places of Interest in Alaska

Today, visitors to Alaska have such a large variety of choices when planning their vacations. Some of the more common places to visit are Mount McKinley and Denali National Park, Fairbanks and Anchorage, Seward and Valdez. But there are others that simply all to often go unnoticed or just overlooked for lack of advertising. Places like Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and towns like McCarthy and Copper Center are top destinations most visitors never hear about. But these places are what we in Alaska call "The Real Alaska". When you venture out beyond the typical tourist destinations you see the side of Alaska that makes headlines in magazines including National Geographic, Outdoor Photography and others.

The Copper River Princess Lodge is without any doubt your best opportunity to see this side of Alaska that I guarantee will move you in ways that no other Alaska lodge can. OK, there are lots of other lodges out there that are just as impressive but the Copper River Princess Lodge is available to you via your personal cruise consultant onboard any of the Princess or Holland America cruises.

More Places You Just Ought To See When Visiting Alaska!

Have you ever heard of the Alaska Pipeline? How would you like to see it in a way few others ever will. Well this is possible by one of two means. First is to apply to Alyeska Pipeline for a position on the Arctic Slope but this just doesn't seem to fit the vacationing scenario that we are trying to stay with. So the most appropriate method is a tour of the famous Haul Road, Dalton Highway, including Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean with a cruise tour from Northern Alaska Tour Company. These tours depart from Fairbanks in small group tours on board their 25-passenger tour coaches or 10-passenger vans. Definitely one of the most spectacular tours in Alaska but one best suited for the adventurous at heart. There is the option for an ariel tour, A round trip adventure by air across the amazing Arctic Circle from Fairbanks.
Call "Northern Alaska Tour Company" directly at (907) 474-8600 or toll free (800) 474-1986 for the total package deal.

Traverse the "Top of the World Highway" and prepare for a real adventure in the old but active mining town of Chicken, Alaska. You will travel from Tok, Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon, a 301 km or 187 mile trip that takes you into the remote regions of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.

Holland America again offers a cruise tour that offers the "Top of the World Highway" itinerary along with stops in Whitehorse Yukon and over the famous White Pass of the Klondike Gold Rush era starting from Skagway, AK.

Valdez, Alaska is one town that could be called a sleeper in the topics of tourism destinations but I simply can't figure out why. Valdez is one of the best salt water fishing ports in Alaska and also a great place for whale watching tours as well. You can take a tour boat from the harbor to see the massive Columbia Glacier and check out some magnificent coves and fjords filled with marine and animal life that is unafraid of mans occasional visits.

The Places Few Have Ever Seen

Flying out to some of the more remote destinations in Alaska is possible from most every city, town and village in Alaska. Airplanes are about as common as cars in most areas of the state as roads are few and many places can only be reached by air or by river.

This offers the traveler one more option in an already massive array of destinations available to the willing traveler. Seeing Alaska from above for the first time awakens one to the immensity of a place larger then Texas, Montana and California combined. Destinations are truly endless with hundreds of lodges scattered across the lands and camping spots that will leave you feeling like your the last person left on earth.

Top Vacation Destinations in Alaska

The typical tourist sees only the shell of Alaska that has been altered by years of expansion and the desires from millions of visitors that visited there before. As interesting as these areas are, it's that mystical and unknown area of Alaska that really does leave one craving to return for more.