Seward: More about town, native arts, etc.

The main part of Seward doesn't look as touristy as some of the other towns we visited.

One of 2 N-S streets with businesses

And there were about 3 E-W streets that I walked on.

Map of town which we got in a pamphlet when we got off the ship

Side Street View of homes toward the bay

I made sure to go to Resurrect Art Coffee House and Gallery.  It was mentioned in at least one guide book.  It is located in a former church and had a lovely combination of art and good coffee.  Howard went in briefly afterwards.  I took his picture outside.  What follows is some of the art that caught my eye inside the place.

Birds painted on recycled cardboard

Birch Wood Candlesticks, pretty but not very practical

More birds on cardboard

Paper (not metal) art work and funny sign to watch your head on the staircase

Art in Antler

Black and White Baleen Basket

James Omnik Jr. of Pt. Hope, Alaska made this Ivory Finial w/ White Baleen.  The white baleen is very rare, so this tiny basket in an eclectic store was selling for $1400.  I did buy a cute Sacred Threads blouse with a zipper front there for $25.  And Howard got a latte and a pastry.  The staff was incredibly nice and just wanted to show me the basket for the uniqueness of it.  It was the Ranting Raven Bakery and Gift store.

Howard really liked the carving of bottle nose dolphins, the symbol of the breath of life, love, balance and community.  This was hand-carved in Bali and is now on sale in Seward for $5000!

Yupik Eskimo baskets, Hooper Bay type--in a window of a store

Whale Bone Art--we saw a lot of this in other towns too

Horn Carving

There were lots of flowers around town, even though the growing season is short.  Many of the wild flowers had already bloomed.  I did see a greenhouse, still in use for tomatoes, etc.

As elsewhere, dandilion fields were all over.

Dandelions

However, I was intrigued to see the following sign for the 8th annual community weed pull with dandelion flowers featured in the photo!

Lilacs

Poppy

Pink Flowers

We tried to go to the Forest Service Ranger station, but as you can see from the sign to the left above, it was closed.  It was Sunday and it is only open on Monday -- Friday.  It is supposed to have a nice display inside.

We did go to the town museum.  It had a lot about the 1964 earthquake, the Iditarod, the Mt. Marathon, the railroad and early Seward, etc.   One local man had done some interesting carvings from recycled metal including some from the oil pipe line.

At the museum was also the story of the boy that designed what would become the flag of the state of Alaska:

I also stopped at the Hotel Van Gilder, which has been declared a National Historic Monument.

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It opened in 1916 and still has 31 rooms available for rent!  You can read more of its history and get a virtual history tour by going to:  http://www.vangilderhotel.com/history.htm
It has a lot of fascinating historic pictures in the entrance hallway, which I enjoyed seeing.


Our hotel, the Seward Windsong Lodge,  was north of town, near the Seavey Iditaride.  It was in the woods and very nice.

Our room was in this (the Calypso) building

The area around the hotel was loaded with a local weed that Marty and Marsha also have near their cabin on the Olympic Peninsula.  It looked pretty but is quite invasive.

When I walked with Marsha and Marty to the Salmon Bake Restaurant down toward the main road, we saw an eagle's nest high above some buildings. We found out that a pair of eagles regularly nested there, and we saw them.

Eagle Nest

Nest close up with eagle in it

Other eagle on tree branch nearby

Eagle with mountain in background

Central fishing area

Between that area and town is the touristy fishing area, where one can rent boats, go on tours, etc.  There are plenty of small restaurants there too.  I took the bus shuttle from the airport by myself to Safeway, about a 4-block walk to this area, then walked down and explored it.  That is where I saw the fish that I talked about in the last blog.    I also ran into a woman with an accent (Russian?) who was trying to find the public showers and wondered if I was looking for them too.  I did notice them about 5 minutes later.


In this area was a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the 1964 earthquake.

Memorial to Victims of 1964 earthquake/tsunami

The tsunami hit this area particularly hard as did the oil fires that followed.

I looked up on the hills above this area and did find some nicer homes.

Nicer homes on hill

If I had had another day in town, I would have definitely taken the tour to the Kenai Peninsula Fiords to see the wild life, but I definitely enjoyed my stay in town.

Another thing--For those who go to Denali park after Seward, stock up on snack food and fruit at Safeway!