A Bus Ride In The Park

Just a quick flashback. You may remember this picture of a statue in Fairbanks:

Honoring United States And Russian Airmen


I did a little research and found out that before the United States actually entered World War II (we were horribly late to the game) there was the Lend Lease Act, signed into law on March 11th, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of World War II in Europe and nine months before the United States entered the war in December, 1941. It was a program under which the United States supplied Allied nations, including the Soviet Union, with military goods, including airplanes.The memorial has bronze statues of U.S. and Soviet pilots wearing cold weather clothing standing in front of a granite backdrop with a bronze propeller. The monument commemorates the flights of American planes from the continental United States via Alaska to Siberia and were flown by both United States and Russian airmen. There, I just had to get that off of my chest.
Okay, on to the bus trip which, unless you were on the bus, might seem a bit boring. Basically we just saw a lot of park with a few animals seen from great distances. But I did get some pictures of why they call those wide, shallow meandering glacial rivers braided rivers.

Braided Rivers



Again, glacial river sounds like something clear and refreshing but, as you can see, in reality they are shallow murky things that support little in the way of life. In deeper areas there may be a few salmon who wander into them and a few beluga whales will go after them. We were very lucky in that it was a very clear day and we got a pretty good look at Mt. Whitney off in the distance.

Mt. Whitney, Or At Least Most Of It


The Mysterious Chinese Woman And Me Blocking Most Of It


Oh, and the wildlife. We didn't see any moose or mountain goats, but we did see several elk and a bear with her cubs.

Ooh! Look, A Caribou


And Some Bears


We thought we saw some mountain goats, but they were just some hikers who were all down on their knees, for some reason.

Looking For Magic Mushrooms, Perhaps

And here is a picture of our bus, must have a picture of our bus.

Our Bus


And a picture of the happy vacationers.

So Very Happy


Stay tuned, things get a bit more interesting. We get back on the train again.

Our First Evening At Denali Park

Well, we weren't actually in the park, that doesn't come until tomorrow. And we didn't exactly go out exploring the Alaskan wilderness. Instead we settled in to my first couple of Maker's Mark Manhattans. The small, informal restaurant that wraps around the bar and extends out to the deck has some very good food. We ate there a couple of times.

Nice Views, Good Food




But on our first night we decided to take a little shuttle to a place down the road that had a good reputation.

The 49th State


Both our guide and the bartender said we should try it, as did a couple of people at the bar. So how could we resist. And it was worthy of the praise.

Typical Bar Interior






But this really gladdened my heart,

A Brewery In The Back


Fortified with the knowledge that I would be delivered to my cabin's door by a series of shuttle buses and therefore would not have to actually walk on any potentially dangerous paths, I partook of a few of their brews. Sadly, I remember little about them except that they were very good. I think one of them used pine buds instead of or in addition to the hops.

And for an appetizer, well I couldn't pass up on their version of a Scotch egg. Instead of using pork-sausage they use reindeer sausage. For those of you who don't know, you make these by wrapping a hard-boiled egg in a sausage and, well, fat of some sort. When I make my own I fry up a pound of bacon and use the bacon fat. Then you deep-fry the thing until the outside starts to crisp up. Quite delicious, in my opinion.

A Scotch Reindeer Egg


I can't remember what the Mysterious Chinese Woman had for dinner, but I know she liked it. I had a steak and it was great. Good piece of meat and done to perfection.

No Leftovers Either


Now what wondrous view could elicit such a reaction from the Mysterious Chinese Woman?

Oh, Look, It's A...
 

Well, to be fair, it was a mighty damn fine piece of pie. Made with wild blueberries that were as flavorful as any that I have ever eaten, and I have eaten my share. And the crust was just perfect. We did something we very seldom do, we ordered a second piece to take home for breakfast.

I don't know how many of you saw "Into The Wild." It was about this guy who goes off to live in a school-bus in Alaska and ends up dying. Anyway, The 49th State has the school-bus that was used in the movie. Not the actual one, mind you, just the reproduction.

Not The Real Bus


And for those of you who might worry about having to eat that strange Alaskan food, take heart. There are alternatives available.

Available Alternatives To Alaskan




Okay, my next post should include more exciting scenery and wildlife pictures, mostly shot from the inside of a bus.

First Alaskan Train Ride

I figured I better get some more stuff out here about Alaska. The Mysterious Chinese Woman relies upon my posts to remember our trips. Sometimes I post stuff that never happened just to mess with her. She still thinks we had a wonderful time at the Canne's Film Festival, all thanks to Photoshop.

Anyway, not too much narrative here because it is just shots from the train as we traveled from Fairbanks to Denali Park. So sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Scenery




















And The Trip Was Worth It


You can see the look of concentration on the bartender's face as she makes the Maker's Mark Manhattan to my detailed instructions. It turned out deliciously. And I had another one of those discussions about bitters in your Manhattan. All recipes that I am aware of it call for its inclusion and that is the way I prefer them. The bartender knew this but still said she usually makes them without the bitters. Go figure, it isn't as though they didn't have any.

Speaking of bitters, although my liquor store carries a small, and getting smaller, section, Stinky Cheese on Smith Street near me has, in addition to a fine selection of cheeses and beer, a very interesting selection of bitters, some of which I had never heard of. I will have to go back and check them out and, perhaps, add to my rather extensive selection. I bought some cheese, bread and a bottle of Brooklyn BAMBoozle beer. A mighty fine beer by, of course, Brooklyn Brewery. It was released to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and a portion of the profits from the sale of the beer is donated to them. It was a very good Belgian style, at least in my opinion, beer that was crisp and had some nice spicy overtones. Nothing overpowering and very drinkable. I will let you read what Brooklyn Brewery had to say:

"BAMBoozle features a large addition of wildflower honey from the New York family apiary Tremblay Farms – we pick up the honey from Alan Tremblay at the Greenmarket. Blended with golden malts, it is fermented to a dry complexity by our Belgian yeast strain, and then re-fermented in the bottle like Champagne. When the cork pops, the beer shows a shimmering effervescence, a beautifully floral, honeyed nose, and a fresh light zing on the palate that belies its underlying strength. You have not had a beer like this, and neither have we. You can enjoy it now, but it will also age very nicely. Like BAM and like Brooklyn, BAMBoozle is in a class of its own."

 More on Alaska tomorrow, I promise. Otherwise I will start to forget and think, perhaps, we were really in Cannes.

Beer Break

Thought I would pop in a brief post about a dynamite beer. My brother-in-law Jim, who looked after our place while we were in Alaska and Canada, left me some beers in the refrigerator. And we aren't talking Bud Lite or whatever, We are talking:

Brekle's Brown

Brewed by the Anchor Steam Brewery, brewers of many fine beers including quite possibly the best micro-brewery produced beer in the United States, Anchor Steam. Brekle's is named after Gottlieb Brekle who, in 1871, bought an old beer-and-billiards saloon in San Francisco on Pacific Street near Russian Hill for $3,500, and transformed it into the brewery that, twenty-five years later, would be renamed Anchor. 

Damned good beer too. Quite dark and most flavorful but not all that heavy. And it has a nice bit of bitterness from hops that come through but isn't overpowering. The malt overrides whatever hops flavor that might reside on the back of your tongue as a finish. A nice hearty, but fairly light, beer and you could easily drink several. Somehow refreshing but not refreshingly so. At some point the bitterness may build to the point where you just want a nice lager to reset the palate.

 Speaking of beer, I just bought tickets for a home brewery tour here in Brooklyn. You get to visit several well-known and well-regarded home brewers and sample their products. Should be a lot of fun and I will be sure to post about it. It isn't until September 22nd, though. 

See more about the Third Anniversary Homebrew Hullabaloo here:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/267985

A Day In Fairbanks

We did a bit of strolling around Fairbanks and there were a few things to see and do. They have some nice parks and a pretty river walk.

The Wrong Way


I had misread the map and we were on the wrong side of the river. I am not sure where this path originally went, but maybe there was an older river walk here at one time. There was obviously some major construction about to take place.

The Walk Is On That Side


Of course that meant we had to walk over the bridge and resist the temptation to jump off.

Helping With Our Resolve


It was a pleasant walk and we decided to stop into their nature center, dedicated to protecting Alaska's environment and wildlife.

Except For The Moose


Unfortunately, in the harsh Alaskan climate those antlers don't last very long so they have to be replaced every couple of weeks or so. This means rounding up all of the local moose and then harvesting those with the biggest antlers. Over the years this has meant that the moose with the smallest antlers have a better chance of surviving and the average antler size has dropped considerably. Soon you will be able to make necklaces out of them.

The displays in the nature center were quite interesting.

A Salmon Smoke House


Harsh Living


They had some nice dioramas depicting the wild life that you are likely to encounter and the habitats that they occupy.

Our Friend The Beaver


Mr. Bear


There were a number of monuments on display both along the river walk and in a memorial park. Most had to do with World War II.

Memorial Park


You will notice the ravens. Ravens are everywhere here in Alaska. The are almost as numerous as the pigeons in most cities. A lot bigger, though, and much more ominous looking. None of them talked to me though, which is probably a good thing.

The Alaska Territorial Guard Memorial


The next two statues were along the river walk.

Commemoration To  Alaskan And Siberian Soldiers In WWII


Yes, I know, people sometimes forget that Russia was our ally in WWII and also suffered many more casualties than we did. To say nothing of the almost total destruction of many of their cities, including much  Moscow.

Statue Of A Native Alaskan Family Group


So Fairbanks had some attractions, but if I lived there I would start suffering from terminal boredom in about a week. Unless I could partake in those bi-weekly moose harvests. That would keep me going.

And then it was time to catch our train and head up to Denali Park.

Catching Our Train


A Happy Traveler


All Comfortably Tucked In


The train was very comfortable and there was a bartender in each car. Beer and Bloody Mary's during the four-hour trip along with the scenery made it a very enjoyable trip indeed.

And The Views Were Great


Next stop, Denali.