Beards in Alaska

This weekend, Anchorage is hosting the International Bearded Man Contest, and it’s neat to see all these fellows, some with their wives, parading around town with the most outlandish beards. Memorial Day weekend also brings many othere activities besides the traditional ceremonies at the downtown cemetery. The American Legion is hosting a barbecue, and there are the usual footraces, golf competitions, etc. going on. There is always somethingnew and different to do in Anchorage, so you really should come up and visit us.

Beautiful Anchorage

You can view Mt. Susitna from the Coastal Trail, which extends from downtown, south to the Airport, around the west side, then further south to Kinkaid Park.

This is our popular bike trail, which cost the same amount to build per square foot, as our highways.
Summer activies have already started, namely, the Downtown Saturday Market, the construction and road closures, gardening everywhere, and soon, the baseball season. The golf courses are opening with temporary greens switching over to the beautiful grass. People are walking trails, malls, paths with a smile on their faces, having survived a long bitter winter. The bears have come out of hibernation, and it’s not uncommon to see a cow moose with her calf by the road, or in your yard. Downtown is thriving, with tourists lining the streets. The cruise ships have cut back, they say, but I think that affects Southeast businesses more than Anchorage (Southcentral).

Altho’ we’ve been spared the faltering economy, and swine flu, and pirates, we have had some natural attacks with flooding of villages on the Yukon River, and fires in Homer, but Alaskans are tough, and we bounce back . .. just watch!

Come on up and visit us . . you won’t be sorry.

Springtime in Alaska!

Just when you think you can’t take any more winter, spring arrives. Seems like overnight, we’re planting our flowers, going outside without coats . … well, you know, it happens every spring. One of the first signs of spring is the culmination of the raffle for the Nenana Ice Classic. It’s a silly old tradition that you guess the right time of the right day that the stake in the ice at Nenana will fall over. The pot is around $300,000, and I was counting on it to go out this week, as I bought several tickets for myself and friends, but it fooled me, and fell on Friday night.

So, the next sign is the arrival of birds in my bird feeder. Maybe they’ve been hibernating with the bears. But here they are!

Next, comes clean-up. City-wide, groups, clubs, and singles have been filling large orange plastic bags with trash. Our church had the big clean-up on Saturday, and ‘they’ did a great job. I mean, without me. Guilt was written all over my face when I went to services on Sunday, but I had a good excuse, which we won’t go into.

Alaska puts little feelers out around the world, and this week, we witnessed an Alaska son become an overnight hero at the Kentucky Derby. Local business man (and therein lies a long story), Bill Allen, has a son in New Mexico, who drove his horse to the races, and was a 50 to 1 bet. It wasn’t long until everyone knew Mine That Bird and his rags to riches story. Hurray for him. Let’s have another Mint Julep on that one.

Speaking of Mint Juleps, do you realize that Cinque de Mayo is on the cusp, and there are enough celebrations going on without this, but let’s just add this to our list. The Petroleum Club is recognizing this independence day, and the Pioneers of Alaska have an unusual party, as the men are supplying the food and drink after the regular business meeting. So that’s where we’re at, right now, with a long, social list set for May.

However, there is a down side to all of this. One is the announcement of the discontinuance of Norwegian Cruise Lines coming this year, and the cutting back, sizeably, of Carnival, Holland-America, Celebrity, etc. cruises. . . this could be the downturn of the economy, but more likely our State Legislature imposing a $50/head tax on all cruisers. This is going to hurt the businesses in Southeastern especially.

One last word . .. following up my travel insurance pitch, I want to report that my friend was reimbursed for the expense of hotel and other for the delayed flight last month en route from Anchorage to Portland. It’s worth the extra buck to be covered when you travel because more things are happening than in the simple days of the past.