Anchorage - Day 6 - The Sights and Sounds of Alaska
After breakfast I packed my room, checked out and headed over to Elmendorf for the last day of class. This group of students has been an exceptionally fun bunch to be with. So I was determined to enjoy every last moment with them.
At lunch Dennis drove me over to the 3rd Wing headquarters building. In front of the building was a memorial. Part of that memorial was a large aviary in which resided three injured bald eagles who are not able to return to the wild. What a treat to see the national bird up close and personal! (See the bald eagles here.) After taking a few pictures with the birds we headed over to the Base Exchange (BX) for lunch.
We wrapped up class and I headed out to the city. My flight wasn't for another 10 hours and there were no seats available on earlier flights. I drove around, looking for a place to have one final dinner in Alaska before heading home. It had to be salmon; what sense would it make to come all the way up here and not have salmon?
Between window shopping and driving around I finally decided to pull into The Sourdough Mining Company. It had all the makings of a tourist trap: The faux mine entrance, the reconstructed dining hall, the Alaska Wild Berry Store and some kind of theme park adjacent. But I went in anyways knowing I could always order salmon.
And I did.
With the salmon I had a dinner salad and some corn fritters, which were like miniature donuts. But the real fun of the meal was Helga, a singing telegram, who delivered her message a few tables over to Jared, the 40-something birthday boy. She was hilarious! Her shtick, singing and general attitude left myself and half the tables in the restaurant laughing out loud at her goings-on. I thought to myself, "Where else have I been where such a spectacle would be tolerated, let alone appreciated?" And quite bluntly, I can't think of anywhere else that would have worked.
And that summarizes the charm of Alaska. This beautiful land is truly The Last Frontier, with its abundance of optimism and can-do spirit. The simplicity of the joys of life combined with the zest for enjoying them is something that speaks to my inner being.
It's a few hours until my plane takes off. Twelve hours later, I'll be back home in Detroit. But a bit of my heart has licked the frozen flagpole of Alaska (and liked it), and will be here long after I'm gone.
At lunch Dennis drove me over to the 3rd Wing headquarters building. In front of the building was a memorial. Part of that memorial was a large aviary in which resided three injured bald eagles who are not able to return to the wild. What a treat to see the national bird up close and personal! (See the bald eagles here.) After taking a few pictures with the birds we headed over to the Base Exchange (BX) for lunch.
We wrapped up class and I headed out to the city. My flight wasn't for another 10 hours and there were no seats available on earlier flights. I drove around, looking for a place to have one final dinner in Alaska before heading home. It had to be salmon; what sense would it make to come all the way up here and not have salmon?
Between window shopping and driving around I finally decided to pull into The Sourdough Mining Company. It had all the makings of a tourist trap: The faux mine entrance, the reconstructed dining hall, the Alaska Wild Berry Store and some kind of theme park adjacent. But I went in anyways knowing I could always order salmon.
And I did.
With the salmon I had a dinner salad and some corn fritters, which were like miniature donuts. But the real fun of the meal was Helga, a singing telegram, who delivered her message a few tables over to Jared, the 40-something birthday boy. She was hilarious! Her shtick, singing and general attitude left myself and half the tables in the restaurant laughing out loud at her goings-on. I thought to myself, "Where else have I been where such a spectacle would be tolerated, let alone appreciated?" And quite bluntly, I can't think of anywhere else that would have worked.
And that summarizes the charm of Alaska. This beautiful land is truly The Last Frontier, with its abundance of optimism and can-do spirit. The simplicity of the joys of life combined with the zest for enjoying them is something that speaks to my inner being.
It's a few hours until my plane takes off. Twelve hours later, I'll be back home in Detroit. But a bit of my heart has licked the frozen flagpole of Alaska (and liked it), and will be here long after I'm gone.
