The second full day of our trip was our train adventure. We woke up before 6 and made our way to the train station. Now, all three of us are fairly well-traveled, and we’ve taken a fair number of trains in our lives. But at least Becca and I have never taken a train simply for the train ride. Instead, it’s always been primarily a form of transportation. But this train ride was the activity of the day. We’d arranged a tour that made all of our reservations for us, and the lady who’d helped me with the reservations had been able to upgrade our train rides for no extra cost. So we got the fancy treatment for this train ride. The car that we were in had glass roofs, a little outdoor viewing station, free drinks, and breakfast included. We took the nice four-hour ride, with the train employees periodically giving us history about Alaska. Our train tour guides, we learned, were high school students who had taken a class on Alaskan history and interviewed to get the job of sharing info during our ride.
The train ride went quickly. We saw numerous lakes and mountains, a glacier, a few moose, and someone on the train even spotted a bear (although we were not quick enough to spot it).
We arrived in Seward right before noon. Seward is a port town of 2,600 people. It is named after the Secretary of State during Lincoln’s presidency who purchased Alaska for an ungodly small amount of money. (Something like 35 cents per acre in 2024 money). Seward has cruise departures, the Kenai Fjords National Park, and is one of the only Alaskan ports that doesn’t freeze over. It was also nearly leveled in the same 1964 earthquake we learned about in Anchorage, being subjected to tsunamis after the initial shockwave that killed about nine people and completely ruined the previous port.
In Seward, we checked out the Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor’s Center so my mom could get her national park stamp. While there, we were inspired by the videos and displays, and we asked whether it would be feasible for us to get to the local glacier hike without a car. The hike was something I’d wanted to do, but because we were on our bus and train travel methods, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get there. The National Park employees gave us some advice about a tour company that could give us a ride, so we grabbed some lunch and got on their next ride.
The hike was up to the Exit Glacier. It was only a little over a mile, very doable even without the proper hiking shoes. On the drive there, the driver had started to point out signs with dates on them showing how far out the glacier had been at various years. Even since 2010, the glacier has receded A LOT as a result of global warming combined with natural receding. Still, the glacier and the surrounding mountains made for a beautiful and memorable brief afternoon hike.
We arrived back in Seward in the late afternoon, but still with plenty of time to visit the Alaska SeaLife Center, an aquarium with local Arctic animals. We spent about an hour wandering through the two floors, seeing sea stars, puffins, seals, sea lions, and various fish. We got to touch some of the sea stars, anemones, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. We also were able to catch a great view of the fjord from the outlook at the back of the center.
We came out of the SeaLife Center, wandered around town, grabbed some dinner (Becca again got Salmon), and walked over to check out the waterfall at the edge of the town. Then we headed back to our hotel for a fairly early night.
WANDERING 