Today we visited downtown Seward.
We spent the majority of our time at the Alaska Sea Life Center (ASLC) on the water's edge. The ASLC is Alaska's only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center. Situated on the shores of Resurrection Bay the center is celebrating 10 years of,,,,,,being. Visitors to this "window on the sea" have a bird's eye view of puffins, sea lions, fish of all kinds and other sea life.
Today's entry will mostly be pictures. I don't remember the proper names and you probably don't care anyway. So here goes.
I am NEVER going in the water again unless it is a crystal clear swimming pool!
Who knew these grew in the ocean? Get your mind out of the gutter! This is a anemone! When open, it looks like a flower but is actually a predatory underwater animal. (LOL...just like on land!)
Bob will samples of some of the salmon he's caught so far.
PUFFINS!
It's called the Last Great Race on Earth and it all started here, in Seward.
The Iditarod Trail, now a National Historic Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route from Seward to the interior mining camps Flat, Ophir, Ruby and beyond to the west coast communities all the way to Nome. Mail and supplies went in and gold came out. All by way of dog sled. Heroes were made and legends were born.
Today the starting place is Anchorage but the trail is still 1,150 miles and will take the dogs and their musher 10 to 17 days to complete.
A memorial to the founders of Seward. Did you know that Alaska was bought from Russia for two cents an acre? What a steal!
In the afternoon we went to the Seward Library for a presentation about the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America. It registered 9.2 on the Richter Scale and shook all of south central Alaska.
To say it was devastating would most certainly be an understatement. Homes and businesses disappeared, railway tracks gone, roads were left as nothing but rubble and gaping holes dotted the landscape. Shorelines changed and streets in Anchorage just "dropped" 30 feet. A day that will never be forgotten.
From here we went to confirm our reservations for the cruise we're taking tomorrow.
Dianne posed with an Orca whale.
....and sat on a Sea Otter.
What a fun day we had!
1 comment:
Look at those clouds! Snow! Coats! It's 8/8 in Missouri and 100 degrees. Summer here, not there. Barb
Post a Comment