Sorted by date Results 151 - 166 of 166
In winter, although I hanker for Hawaii and know it's the cure for cabin fever, I usually obsess with a location farther north and farther away. This winter it's Mont Saint-Michel on the Normandy Coast of France. I kind of feel like Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." In my quiet moment, I want to build a gingerbread house of that magnificent monastery on an island. Trip of fools I have been there twice, once with a boyfriend, who, by the time we got to Athens, I wanted to...
Many Alaskans I know say that Chicago is a great city and they love to visit. Traveling there in April for my son's wedding, I had a hard time adjusting to the fact that this is a city with a capital "C." It's really big. Think of it this way: Anchorage has a little over 300,000 people. Chicago? Close to 3 million – more than the entire state of Alaska. Unlike New York, with its landmarks of Central Park and the Empire State Building, I grasped for a sense of direction, some guide post, some f...
Alaskans will find the terrain of New Orleans definitely alien - flat with no mountains, with a whiff of sulfur in the muggy air off the Bayou. But in February, it's worth a visit when temperatures are lower than summertime and the city offers up its annual Dionysian fest, Mardi Gras. Unlike Alaska, you can consume liquor publicly in New Orleans, and during festivals or during Saints football games, you can pull off into a parking lot and have a tailgate party. But you might want to defer your...
Cruising to and around Alaska is nothing new. From the cruises of the Treasury Department's Revenue Cutters to today's floating cities, people have come to Alaska for furs, gold and the scenery. They still do. Just say to a stranger in the Lower 48 that you're from Alaska, and their eyes get misty and they breathe out a sigh of "I've always dreamed about going to Alaska." Ever heard anyone say, "I've always dreamed of going to Bermuda?" No. Steamers and cruisers Reading a copy of "Steaming to th...
Driving across Oregon's Columbia Valley on my way to see a friend in Pendleton, I kept looking at the green cuts in the hills indicating verdant vineyards. But approaching Pendleton, I was struck by the notion that I was no longer in the Pacific Northwest, but the Hill Country of Texas. I kept looking for tumbleweeds to roll across the road. Really, the terrain is just not what Alaskans would expect from a close neighbor. But Pendleton has many more surprises for visitors. Wool blankets and more...
Perhaps you've been avoiding Mexico because of drug cartels and kidnapping, but here's one destination far away from all that. Floating in the Caribbean Sea along the eastern shore of the Yucatan Peninsula is Cozumel. Small and easy to get around, it's only 30 miles long and close to 10 miles wide, yet oddly enough, is Mexico's largest Caribbean island. It has a population of 77,000, mostly living in the main city of San Miguel. The island is in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo - just say that...
Sex, drugs and great museums are what this city is all about. You can either be a traditional tourist and take in the Rijksmusem or the van Gogh museum, or go off the chart and cruise the Red Light District, where the women and men are displayed in windows of what we Alaskans would call "cribs." With its hash and marijuana coffee houses, Amsterdam has a racy reputation. This is an ultra-liberal city. As one Dutch friend once said to me, "We were glad to see the Pilgrims leave, they were...
Long before Dutch Harbor became America's No. 1 fishing port, there was Gloucester, Mass. Visit here and you'll be pulled up short at how old it is and how young Alaska is in comparison. Established as a settlement in 1623, a mere three years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, it incorporated 19 years later. Founded on cod A tumbling, cheek-to-jowl town of windy streets and homes from lowly one-bedroom fisherman colonials to grand mansions, Gloucester has a rich history in fishing for...
In 1995, I flew from Barrow to New York City on MarkAir for $200, and the pilot flew right down Fifth Avenue at night, over the Empire State Building, at a height where we could see people walking on the street. Neither is possible these days. For sure it's a jump from the slow pace of Alaska to the big city, but it's worth it. You'll appreciate the peace and quiet when you return home, because this city is never quiet - there's just levels of noise, from some guy turning his car alarm off and...
New Bedford, a whale of a place to visit Before Alaska was bought by the United States, there was one Massachusetts city that already had direct links to the Territory. New Bedford, the number one fishing port in the country right behind Dutch Harbor, in the 19th century was the east coast center for the whaling industry, harvesting baleen and oil for the masses. Its ships took the long voyage around South America and up the West Coast into the Arctic Ocean in pursuit of the bowhead whale. In la...
A big state has to have a big road, and the Haul Road from Coldfoot to Prudhoe Bay is certainly that. And yes, Atigun Pass is at times both breathtaking and horrifying depending on the conditions, and entering onto the Arctic Plain with the mighty Brooks Range on your left is memorable. But the Dempster Highway, that's real adventure. Beginning southeast of Dawson City in the Yukon Territory, it winds its way 457 miles, through the Northwest Territories, past the Arctic Circle, up to Inuvik on...
Of all the old gold rush towns in Alaska and the Yukon, the most authentic is Dawson City. Come during spring breakup and slog through the mucky streets, unpaved streets, just like the Klondike stampeders did in 1898. Walk on the high boardwalks past historic buildings reclaimed by Parks Canada, or peek into dilapidated, but still standing, weather-beaten structures. There's history on every corner. If you're a Robert Service fan, come in "The summer-no sweeter was ever; The sunshiny woods all a...
In the early 1990s, Barrow elders told of the huge clouds of returning migrating birds to the village that blocked out the sun. While Alaska and elsewhere no longer see bird population in those numbers, still, prepare to be wowed by the local festivals in small towns across the state. Coming in May to a town near you are annual shorebird festivals, both on and off the road system. Homer - for more than just the halibut Homer, the place you love to go halibut fishing, is a mere four-hour drive...
One winter, I was sitting in Takhini Hot Springs, a bit north of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, talking to a family from Anchorage there with their daughter for a ballet audition. “Where are you from?” she said. “Skagway,” I replied. “Where is that?” she asked. “Alaska,” I said. She turned to her husband and said, “I told you we needed to get out of Anchorage and see more of the state.” And so do you. Winter is a great time to travel throughout Alaska. No RVs on the road, the potholes are filled...
On a map, we're kissing cousins, so it's a natural that Hawaii is Alaska's second home for a break from winter. And golden beaches crowded with Eddie Bauer bathing suits are proof of that. Where else can Alaskans slide off the white page of winter and into a world of color, light, warmth and the aroma of flowers only five hours out of Anchorage? It's like being born again. With our love of wild beauty and solitude, Molokai, "The Friendly Isle," is so familiar to Alaskans, but oh, so much...
Sitting in the Barrow Senior Center after lunch, Rossman Peetook of Wainwright looked back on his movie career with no trace of ego, something surely remarkable in an actor. "They were making movies here in Barrow in 1969, a Walt Disney movie, and they were looking for actors," said Peetook. "One preacher's wife came from Wainwright to Barrow, and said, 'there's a man you have to see,' and they sent for me." That started him off, and he went on to do three other Hollywood films. In 1970, he was...
