“The Deadliest Catch in Alaska”
Seward, Alaska is known as the “Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park”. Since we had taken the glacier tour previously, we did not visit this national park. Established in 1903, Seward was an important transportation hub for Alaska’s mining, exploration, fishing, and trapping industries. The town is named after William H. Seward (U.S. Secretary of State) under President Andrew Johnson. Seward was instrumental in arranging the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. The original Iditarod trail (938 miles) was established in 1910 as a mail route to Nome, Alaska. The world famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race (1,049 miles) is now run between Anchorage, Alaska and Nome, Alaska. Seward is a very small progressive and friendly community. It is famous for its mural paintings.
Homer, Alaska is the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World”. There are so many halibut that are caught daily, it is hard to imagine that this will continue forever. We enjoyed spending time on the Homer Spit and seeing all of the boating activity, but unless you fish either salmon or halibut, there is not much else to do there.
The town of Soldotna, Alaska is the “hub” of the Kenai Peninsula. We will definitely go back here and spend some time in the future. This is the takeoff spot for an abundance of physical activities relating to fishing, hiking, biking, clam digging, socializing, and relaxation. We really enjoyed our stay at the family operated Diamond M Ranch RV Park and would like to go back and visit these wonderful people someday. In 1963, Carrol Martin and his son Blair piloted a renovated tugboat and a 400 ton barge to the Kenai. Blair was nine years old at the time. The family was originally from Colorado and wanted a different life style. They purchased a 400 ton barge from Foss Tug Company in Tacoma, WA and loaded all of their belongings on to it. This included all of their livestock, personal belongings, and the necessary building materials for their new home in Alaska. They purchased 80 acres on the Kenai Peninsula where they now live and run the Diamond M Ranch RV Park. This family is very special and their story is very Alaskan. Leaving was our most emotional experience of the trip!
Hope, Alaska was an old mining town at one time located on Turnagain Arm. We wanted to visit this small Alaskan town because of Nancy’s middle name and to see the cabin of some friends who live in Anchorage, Alaska.
Anchorage, Alaska is the biggest city in Alaska and we enjoyed the tour that our friends provided. We stayed just one day as we could not wait any longer to get to Denali National Park. We left and headed to Talkeetna, Alaska which is the headquarters and take-off location for all Mt. Denali (McKinley) climbers. We were not disappointed as our next post will show!
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