We arrived in Anchorage a little late in the day so we just grabbed a quick pub grub meal in the hotel bar, read for a bit and went to sleep. Since we had almost the whole day to wander around we wanted to get a quick start. From our overview the evening before it appeared than Anchorage still had an active downtown area.
The cruise line provided baggage handling, all we needed to do was leave the tagged bags in the room and they would do the rest. The bags would be on our evening shuttle to the airport. That was a really nice service as it left us free to roam the city with no luggage to deal with.
Once we checked out we were ready to find some food. I wanted a real breakfast and I wanted real food. After asking a few people we found the perfect deli type place a couple of the blocks from the hotel. I would love to give it a plug but I lost the carry out menu before I had time to sit down and write this article. It was on the main street and only a couple of blocks from the cultural center.
Refreshed by a really nice meal I was ready to walk and gawk. The wife being a woman wanted to shop. How she contained her impulses for the past 10 days I have no clue but here and now we needed to shop. After popping in and out of several junk shops she was ready for some local culture so we went to parks and recreation building to see some exhibits and maybe catch a lecture.
My initial estimate of the downtown area was justified; the streets were vibrant, people everywhere. We really enjoyed out walk around day in Anchorage on a fine spring day. There were many free attractions and live music in the park.
All things must come to end and even though there were at least two shuttles we could catch we elected to catch the early one and just wait for a bit in the airport. That turned out to be a wise choice as the airport was busier than expected and the lines moved a bit slowly. Be sure to allow plenty of time; the redeye flights home to seem to be popular.
Finally we board our plane and head off to the south east. For the first time in while I see the sun truly go down and the true darkness descend. In just a few hours I get to watch it come up again.
Feasting on a good old greasy, airport, Mickey D's Sausage McMuffin in Detroit I conclude that except for the Alaskan railroad and the flight home, I had a wonderful time and I hope you do also when you go.
I will add that the land portion of the cruise tour package are offered as pre and post cruise option. Doing the land portion after is not something I would do again. If I ever do another combo package I want to do the land portion first so that I go directly home from the relaxed cruise state. All the hustle and bustle of moving from place to place sort of erodes that relaxed state.