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Restaurant reviews
Angelo's Pizza and Pasta , 13760 Millard Ave. A menu of Italian staples and delicious thin-crust pizza is the draw at Angelo's. Specialty pizzas include veggie, taco and a "Big Red" pizza featuring ground beef, pepperoni and extra cheese. On Fridays and Saturdays there is live music, no cover charge.
Caldwell s Chronicles Addicted to Smoking
A few weeks ago the game fishing forum on this website contained interesting ideas and recipes for smoking trout. However, in common with many, I cannot say that I like most trout dishes even in restaurants.
Matsuya
It may be time to take your Japanese culinary exploration up a notch.
Deuce coup
C ollegiate team banners hang above comfy booths, and televisions beam the Tour de France. The menu is short and to the point, and the waitstaff is as casual as the foods it serves. The Grill at the Deuce at the National Golf Club could be just about any sports bar in any town.
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Other Anchorage Anchorge tour options include: Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, Performing Arts Center, and the Alaska Experience Center. Bike the coastal trail around Anchorage from Downtown Bicycle Rental (279-5293) for $20 half day or $30 full day.
THE ALASKA RAILROAD ADVENTURE -
The next morning I am met by a CruiseWest tour representative and we jumped on a bus for the short ride to the rail station. The rambling, rumbling reminiscent 1920's era rail cars slip out of the station for the two-hour, 51-mile jaunt to Whittier. A naturalist on board for the duration of the tour and cruise details the natural elements we pass, including the second largest tidal bore at 40+ feet in Turn Again Bay (2nd after the Bay of Fundy tidal bores), and flats where many fishermen get trapped and drowned, sucked into the glacial silt unable to pull out before the next tide rolls in. Days before a lucky fisherman was saved from this fate by the Anchorage fire department.
Three trains depart Anchorage daily: Whittier or Seward southbound, and Fairbanks northbound. The Glacier Discovery to Whittier train didn't rate as a panoramic domed liner, but it did have an expansive dining car in the entourage, featuring Alaska gourmand choices of McKinley Breakfast, Bird Creek Chicken Sandwich, and Reindeer Sausage, Indian River Sandwiches, or Bristol Bay Grilled Pan-fried Salmon Filet.
Many passengers are taking pictures from the caboose's rear open-air smoking platform. Rail service to Whittier is from mid-May to mid-September, with the southbound leaving at 10 . and arriving in Whittier at 12:30 . Hand carry luggage only. The rail voucher is included in your CruiseWest trip, or call 800/544-0552. Round-trip is $51 and one-way is $26 if booked without a cruise.
The Alaska Railroad winds around Turn Again Arm Bay, named by Captain Cook on his 1779 voyage. He had to "turn again" to avoid sandbars, spits, glacial silt, low water and mud. Nothing much has changed across the barren low tide mud flats. Fishermen along the creeks casted flies amongst the salmon heading up stream to spawn. There are five types of salmon in Alaska: chum, coho, silver, pink, and king.
We tunneled out of the WWII Army Engineers blasted hole to reach Whittier. After an $80 million car access renovation, with lighting and ventilation, the train shares the tunnel with RVs, cars, buses and SUV's hauling boats to the nearest saltwater marina from Anchorage. A toll is expected in 2001; access to Whittier before was only by plane or ferry from Seward.
A quick tour of Whittier, named after the poet John Greenlief Whittier, sees all the dynamic sites within a few minutes. The local bards proclaim the fishing port: "Nothing Is Prettier Than Whittier." There are three deep-water ports in Alaska: Whittier, Anchorage, and Seward. Most adventure cruisers joined in for bison burgers at one of the local restaurants as the Spirit of Glacier Bay was outfitted for our arrival.
There are eight adventure cruise ships in the CruiseWest fleet, with the Spirit of Glacier Bay the smallest. Built in 1971, it cruises Prince William Sound in summer, moving to the Columbia River for seven weeks of Fall river cruising, including a jetboat ride up the Snake River, before dry-docked for the winter. (Read The Jetsetters Magazine feature on that adventure entitled: "Cruising Historic River Roads.")
I got a great bunk on the main starboard deck, close to the lounge and small restaurant at the stern. Our bags had arrived by earlier motorcoach transport. If you take this cruise, get berths 201, 202, 203 or 204. Some people paid more for below water and third deck (300 series) cabins that were not as convenient. The third deck cabin windows do not look over the water directly, and the gangway makes traffic by those cabins at all hours unnerving. The below deck cabins get engine noise complaints. My cabin, 202, allowed me to watch the scenery glide by while in bed.
Cabins are equipped with spartan amenities, toiletries, shower (pull the water spigot out of the wash basin and snag it on a hook), and a loo. The bunks are narrow. There is an in-cabin intercom system with wildlife alerts at all hours. When in your cabin before dinner is served or special events on board switch the intercom to 'B' for wildlife reports and 'A' for piped in music. This was a nice nature feature. I never missed sightings of whales, sea otters, or harbor seal colonies.
After the mandatory life jacket use and safety lesson by Tahitian Captain Patrick Marere and then crew introductions, there is a free champagne and cheese and wine party before dinner. There is no open bar on the boat, with an Alaska beer going for about US$, so the US$ for a root beer looked pretty good. The 5:30 . daily happy hour offers free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate and snacks.
Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent –
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