Remembrances from and suggestions for spending two weeks in the 48th state…
Be on the lookout for nature even when you least expect it. These two pigeons we spotted on the docks where the float planes are moored in Juneau. At first we thought it was rather cute to see a couple of pigeons’ kissing…and then we realized, they must be mating. It was still cute, and went on for longer than…never mind.
Make sure you listen to the cruise people who recommend “layered clothing” because chances are they’ll be right. The idea in having several layers is that when it gets cold, you layer up, and after the temperature rises — it could be 15 minutes later — you layer down. In the fall, layering is a must; in prime cruise season it’s a good idea.
Check fear at the door 1: The chances of seeing wildlife can be rare, the chances of encountering a bear or a moose on the trails are rarer still and the chances of being in danger in such an encounter are remote. But it happens.
Check fear at the door 2: Don’t be afraid of flying in that single-engine plane — they’re in backyards the way swimming pools are in most cities — and even dare to go zip-lining (a woman in her 70s in our group did!).
Ports throughout the state are generally small and generally busy. It’s a short season and 
four cruise lines — Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity — all sail regularly to Alaska.
The most important newspaper headline may not have been Alaska’s acceptance as state No. 49 in 1959, nor John McCain’s decision to make Sarah Palin famous…rather the one that informed Captain James Waddell that the General Lee surrendered and the Civil War was over. This happened two months after the war really ended but Capt. Waddell is credited with firing the final shot — just before he read the paper.
Take sunglasses, just in case the clouds clear.
If you rent a car, don’t think Alaska’s oil means a break at the pumps. All the oil is shipped south, and then back north. It has to be refined and returned. There are no refineries in Alaska.
Relax if it looks likes weather is going to scrap your plans for the day. Alaskans have to be the most flexible people in the world in changing plans for tourists.
Find a way to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, in Kenai south of Anchorage. It’s not free but it’s good.
There can be a 150-degree temperature swing in Fairbanks, from 90F to -60F.
Don’t believe anybody who says the Iditarod in 1925 was the first meaningful dog-sled race, from Whittier to Nome. The All Alaska Sweep Stakes was for big (relatively speaking) bucks, for 10 years (1908 to 1917), from Candle to Nome.
Feel free to look at fur jackets in stores without thinking somebody’s standing behind you with a can of ink to destroy it. This is a fur-trading culture, always has been and few places are nowadays.
Take every chance you get to see a glacier. The most impressive one may not be in Glacier Bay, or the one called Hubbard, or Mendenhall at Juneau. And if you can swing it, fly over one.
Enjoy the locals, and the transplants. Everybody, it seems, is from another state and some of them even stay year-round, which makes them a local.
If you’re on one of those all-you-can-eat-seafood excursions, skip breakfast or at least keep it light. Let’s see…an English muffin or Dungeness crab.
Forget about watching U.S. television in the Inside Passage. CNN is International and the American networks are AWOL. Go figure.
The best free historical talk and movie is in a back room at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, about World War II.
Be prepared to hear this line two or three times about how there are more women than men in (fill in the blank): “The odds are good…but the goods are odd.”
If you come within shouting distance of the Mug Shot Saloon, expect to hear this: “”Only bar in Alaska where they check you for a weapon…if you don’t have one they’ll give you one.”