Seward Alaska

Still recovering from the trip here, I tend to sleep a lot or venture out and end up with vertigo from the MS. With so much to see, I could not stand it. Sitting comfortably in a lovely apartment was just not an option today. Two hours south of here, on a scenic highway no less, is Seward Alaska. It is like a seaport town sitting at the very edge of Resurrection Bay which is the start of the Alaska Marine Highway, on this end. So I headed out to the Kenai Peninsula, past Moose Bay and Beluga Point in the Cook Inlet. The views, breathtaking. The weather in the 70's, a perfect spring day in Alaska. My only complaint is I have no one to share this with . . . that and I don't have a telephoto or wide angle lenses for better pictures.

This is a view of the harbor in Seward. Filled with commercial fishing and private pleasure boats, it is a busy port. I visited the fillet station and the coolers there were filled with large red rock fish. They called them something I was not familiar with but I think they were Vermilion.

There are sightseeing tours going out to the glaciers and Fjords. The three hour trips don't run until mid summer so the only offering was a 6 hour $150 trip. After just getting off the Ferry for three days I was reluctant to get back on today with full boats of tourists fresh off the buses. The water front has wonderful gift shops, bars and restaurants. There are 800 plus boy scouts in town for their big annual camp out. Needless to say the town is bustling. A mile more north is the uptown area, again, filled with neat stores and restaurants. I asked about a restaurant for lunch and was directed to a bar called the Flare(?) My mother would have loved the fresh halibut fish and chips. I thought of her with every bite.

Just my luck there were three big community rummage sales in town. John asked me to make him some chicken enchiladas and he has no baking dish. Just another excuse to follow those yard sale signs. The Baptist Church was having a sale. Today was the second day and by the time I got to it everything was picked over and they were selling off the last of it at .50 a bag full. The book area is were I headed even tho I have to fly home and can't fit another thing in my suitcase. There were some children's book marked, old books $5.00 each, (I am sure that is why they were still there).

Many years ago, at an estate sale I found two beautiful oil paintings by Lucile Patterson Marsh. After much research, I found Lucile Marsh was an illustrator of children's books in the 30's and 40's and was very collectible. Years of searching for some of her published works (mostly to compare style and signature) have come up with nothing . . . until today. A 1940 Gates and Ayer Early reader turned up at the sale. My .50 bag of books held a much sought after treasure. What a great day! I love this place.

The people in Seward are gracious, friendly and fun loving. The houses are well built and beautiful. Lots of sturdy log cabin structures all facing the bay and the snowy mountains beyond the water. The winters here are more wet than snowy according to the residents. Like Brookings, being near the water keeps them milder than the inland's below freezing winter weather. Medical is far away - like Brookings. But unlike Brookings, moose wander the neighborhoods. People were fishing along the river with waders on and big nets. Not sure what they were catching but it was crowded with fishermen . . . like somewhere else I know.