Day 09 - Thu - 09/24/26 - Anchorage- Day 1

 On this ninth day of our voyage, we were awakened by the sound of the rear thrust motors and the electric winch motors around 8:30 AM. We did not set an alarm as we were not scheduled to be able to get off the ship until 10 o'clock. This is the first time that we have actually docked at the Anchorage port, which is a commercial port. Generally cruise ships go into either Whittier or Seward both of which are about a two hour plus drive away from Anchorage. Interestingly, the tide fluctuation here is quite severe with a 25 foot spread between the high and the low tide. While we were eating breakfast, I could look out and see that we had arrived just after a low tide, but I could actually see the water rising on the muddy bank below the dock. Also, the ship is berthed almost at the end of one of the main runways of Elmendorf Air Force Base. we saw F-22's and F-16 fighter jets landing as well as large cargo jets. It was also very clear blue skies and we could see Mount Denali in the far distance. There is a 30% rule up here that states that only 30% of the visitors get to see Denali and we are clearly in that club.

We took our time eating breakfast and then prepared for getting off the ship. Because this is a secure port, we were unable to walk through the port area and the terminal provided free shuttle buses which dropped us off downtown at the Denáina Civic & Convention Center on 7th & G. The ride there is about 15 minutes and puts us in the heart of downtown Anchorage.

Our plan for today was to take the local city bus out to the Anchorage Air Museum, which is located near the international airport. A bus number 40 or 65 will take you there and for seniors the fare is one dollar except on Wednesdays and Fridays where it is free for seniors. On our trip out, the fare box would not accept money until the driver just waved us on. The ride out there was quick and we were at our stop in about 20 minutes. From the bus stop it was about a 20 minute walk to the museum because of airport fencing.

The acreage air museum is housed in five buildings plus a number of outside static displays. Included in those is a 737 200 which one can tour, and F 15 fighter several smaller prompt planes, Huey helicopter and another larger Air Force helicopter from the 1950s. Down near the water there is a PBY5 a Catalina, which is in its as crashed condition and another vintage prop plane as well as a control tower that one can go up in and watch the airplane activity from Lake Hood and the international airport. It was very fascinating to be at an airplane museum and be able to watch a lot of activity from the seaplane base as well as the Ted Stevens International Airport which are five buildings and I found the restoration building the most interesting because of the Tools and the aircraft being restored. For me most noteworthy was the restoration of a P-40E fighter from World War II. It is a literal reconstruction of that plane because of the crash. Many new parts are being fabricated and put together, and the shell of the fuselage has been mostly completed. This model aircraft is my favorite one from World War II. I would highly recommend a visit to this little airplane museum if you're ever in Anchorage. If you have a long layover at the international airport, it's within walking distance and if you are in the city, it's easily reached by bus.

We then walked back to our bus stop and had a very short wait before we were picked up by a number 40 bus and into the city to the transit station, which is one block away from our shuttle drop off point. We, however, wanted to check out the fiberglass bear statues that were supposedly scattered throughout the city and the information for that was available at the visitor center, which is normally located in a wood cabin on fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. Our when we reach the cabin, there was construction going on and the facility was relocated across the street. When we checked in at the visitor center, we learned that most of the bear statues don't really exist anymore, which was quite a disappointment. We also visited a souvenir shop that we had visited last year and bought a few things. We then hustled back to the shuttle pick up point and got on the first available shuttle. This was about 4 PM. Once the shuttle was totally full, We were driven back to the ship and we scanned back on.

We had a dinner reservation at 5 o'clock in the Pinnacle Grill to celebrate our 58th wedding anniversary and we were able to make that on time. We enjoyed a very nice meal there where Angela had halibut and I had a ribeye steak. The restaurant was relatively busy, especially on our side and we were able to finish our meal in time to attend the evening entertainment, which was a vocalist named Tricia Kelly whom we've seen before. 

After Tricia's performance, in the theater we watched the semi documentary movie  Fisherman's Friends, which was about some Cornish fisherman who sing sea shanties, and they get signed to a record deal and their record becomes one of the classic folk songs of that genre. It was a fun feel good sort of movie to watch as we both like sea shanties, and there were plenty of those songs sung throughout the movie and in the credits.

It was a good 58th anniversary day and we look forward to another

day in Anchorage tomorrow. We plan to do something special again using bus transportation. We've been to Anchorage many times and done a lot of things in and around the city and outside of the city so we're getting a bit picky about what we do.