Anchorage: Murals & More

Thursday, 26 August: Part IV

It was 5:00p by the time we were back in Anchorage. Our plan was to go directly to the hotel to rest up a bit, but when we lucked into a parking spot near Resolution Park (300 L St) we couldn’t resist making a short detour. From the platform overlooking Knik Arm and Cook Inlet, we checked out the haze-veiled views for a while and reminisced about how we’d been able to see the tip of Mt McKinley from here in 2001. Not so lucky this time; but we did see “Sleeping Lady” on the far side of the inlet.

Mt Susitna (Sleeping Lady) from Resolution Park.
[filter processed using Photoshop]

Why Sleeping Lady? Well, the shape of the mountain does resemble a woman lying down, her hair streaming out behind her, doesn’t it? There’s even a folk story to back up the name; here’s one version I came across on our previous visit to Alaska:

This folk story begins by introducing a clan of peace-loving giants who lived in the Cook Inlet area many years ago. Among these giants were a young man (Nekatla) and woman (Susitna) who were soon to be married. Before they could exchange their wedding vows, however, a band of warriors moved into the area. These warriors were so threatening that the peace-loving giants had to go to war to protect their home and their way of life. The men gathered together and went off to fight the invading warriors, while the women and children stayed behind and waited for the men to return.

Growing weary, Susitna fell asleep while waiting for Nekatla’s return. When word came to the village that Nekatla had fallen, the women could not bring themselves to wake Susitna. Instead, they wove a blanket of grass and wildflowers to cover her sleeping form. As years passed, Susitna became frozen in time, lying with her hair spread behind her and her hands across her chest, each season covering her with a blanket of different color.

It’s said that should the world ever be at peace, Nekatla will return to awaken his “Sleeping Lady.”

Mui’s parking luck held after we left the park and we managed to snag one of the three spots in front of the hotel when we stopped to drop off our stuff in the room. Feeding the meter for the 15 minutes we needed to pay for until 6:00p, we went for a meandering walk around town to while away the spare hour we had before our dinner reservation (made last night using the online booking site, Open Table).

We checked out some painted murals …

Murals signed “ziggy.”

Mural for tea lovers.

Detail from the Wyland Whaling Wall.

… (here’s one from 2001) …

history in the making

… stopped to look at the historic photo murals adorning the façade of the now-defunct 4th Avenue Theater …

… did some window shopping (no; didn't buy anything) …

Left: Stylish …
Right: If you’re in any doubt as to where you are …

… chuckled at some of the items on display in front of the stores …

... and rested for a bit on a bench in the warm “evening” sunshine.

Left: Reading up on Anchorage.
right: dc and tromso (norway) are an ocean apart from the east coast,
but they’re almost equidistant from Anchorage!

Eventually, we arrived at the Glacier Brewhouse, a restaurant that was just as bustling tonight as it was in 2001. (On 5th Avenue, between G and H streets.) Though we were 15 minutes early for our reservation, we were seated immediately. Ordering a couple of ice-cold house “blonds” (no jokes please, you know what I mean), we perused the menu, which was filled with numerous tasty-sounding dishes. In the end, we both ordered Caesar salads to start, and followed up with fresh-caught, grilled king salmon served on a bed of mashed potatoes. We wrapped up our meal with a bread pudding in a delicious sauce laced with Yukon Jack — hmm, hmm, good!

A tasty meal brings our day to a close.

We weren’t quite ready to call it a day when we left the restaurant, so we took the long way back to the hotel, stopping to smell the flowers along the way.

Anchorage bills itself as the “Hanging Basket Capital” of the world.

Tomorrow is the last day of our trip. Forecasters are calling for a cool day with overcast and rain. It would be nice if they are wrong, but so be it if they are not. We really can’t complain since Alaska’s infamously fickle weather has been good to us for most of our trip; not many can say that.