Day Two – Alaska Railroad to Seward, Sea Life Center

We woke in Anchorage at 5:30 and boarded a train with all 17 members of the Cox, Gordon, and Burback families. The train ride was 4 and ½ hours long and took us from Anchorage south to the harbor town of Seward. The train took us by homes, mountains, lakes, rivers, and lots of glaciers. Most of the train ride was narrated by a 17 year old Alaskan who was just learning the ropes of her job. She was friendly and endearing but needed a few more hours of training!

The views were so beautiful but nothing compared to what we would see at our destination. One of the highlights of the train ride was hanging out in the open-air caboose watching our past slip into the distance. There were 3 separate moose sightings on the train ride. Austin and Grady didn’t see any of them. Jan saw one.

Once in Seward, the Seward Windsong Lodge van took us downtown to eat. Out of the 10 or so ma and pa restaurants to choose from we landed at Yoly’s, a quaint little artsy seafood place. It was delicious! After lunch we found ourselves on our way to the Seward Sea Life Center. The boys were very excited about this excursion. We were told we would see sea lions and harbor seals face to face. Well, we didn’t quite get face to face with the seals but we did see them through glass. They were very friendly and playful and loved swimming on their backs.

The Seward Sea Life Center was fun but I’m not quite sure it matched our expectations.

After the Sea Life Center we spent some time resting at our lodge, the Seward Windsong Lodge. This place was heaven! Set back in the thick Alaskan evergreens the lodge is made up of huge pine trunks and flower beds overflowing with every color in the rainbow! The boys (and mommy) were exhausted after 36 hours of travel, travel, travel, that we crashed in the lodge for a couple of hours. After our rest at the loge was over we drove up to Exit Glacier and hiked 2 miles. This hike was so beautiful. The trails were fairly flat and lined with beautiful wildflowers like daisies and fireweeds. The boys held moose poop (yes – I said moose poop, which is really just saw dust) and saw many trees that had been used as an antler rub!

The Exit Glacier was breathtaking! Looking at it up close made us feel as though we were looking at something prehistoric. The thought that it moves constantly and will probably be gone in 40-50 years was overwhelmingly interesting and overwhelmingly sad at the same time!

Hiking home from Exit Glacier was the conclusion of a long and glorious day in Alaska! We were so tired! Back at the lodge we fell into bed with the doors and windows open…60 degrees is perfect sleeping weather!