Throughout our tour in Alaska, our tour leader, Julie, and bus driver, Bobby, shared a lot of interesting information about Alaska during our bus rides. Qualified residents, for example, receive an annual dividend from the Alaska pipeline amounting to about $1,000. To qualify, a resident must live in Alaska for two years. This dividend is much needed, because the cost of living in the state is very high, even though there is no state income or sales tax.

Our first stop of the day was at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, in Anchorage, where we learned about Alaska’s Indigenous cultures. The guided village tour was interesting, and I enjoyed watching the games demonstration, The exhibits in the museum were also excellent, so it was a worthwhile visit!

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Before continuing to Seward, we had a couple of hours to explore Anchorage on our own. A city of about 300,000 people, the downtown area was small enough to easily get around on foot, which we did after walking part of the Coastal Trail.

Although Anchorage has the typical sports teams you would expect in any city, such as baseball, basketball, and hockey; there is one unique sport that it is best known for: the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race begins in the city and covers a distance of 938 miles to Nome, which takes 8 to 15 days. Teams of between 12 to 16 dogs and their musher begin the race, but at least five of those dogs must be on the towline at the finish line. We learned a lot about the Iditarod when we visited four-time champion, Jeff King’s Husky Homestead, which I wrote about previously.

While walking through town, we saw the starting line as well as a mural with the names of all the Iditarod champions, including Jeff King:

Continuing to Seward, our group had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the marina in town. The skies had cleared, so we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful evening views while we dined. It was a wonderful way to end the day!

Coming up next: SEATTLE & ALASKA #11: A GORGEOUS GLACIER CRUISE IN KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK