Babymoon/Belated Anniversary Trip

Last week, Shannon and I made the long trip from Kenai to Anchorage to celebrate our anniversary (four months late) and our Babymoon, or last trip as a couple without children. We had wanted to go to Charleston back in August, but our schedule was so insane (what with moving and all) that we decided to wait to celebrate until we were "settled" in Alaska by going to the Princess Lodge. Well, unbeknownst to us, the Princess Lodge closed for the winter on September 12th, three days after we arrived in Alaska. So we were forced to come up with an alternate plan. Living on the peninsula, there aren't really that many options, so to Anchorage we went!

We left Kenai on Sunday afternoon and drove to Girdwood where we parked at the Alyeska Resort and took the tram to the top of the mountain where we had dinner at the Seven Glaciers Restaurant, overlooking Alyeska's ski slopes and the Cook Inlet.


Outside the Alyeska Resort, holding our tram tickets.


The view from the top.


Shannon at our table, surrounded by mountains.


The view of the sunset from our table.

After leaving Seven Glaciers, we headed for Anchorage and checked into our hotel downtown. While I won't comment on the hotel or even mention which one we stayed at (priceline is severely disappointing sometimes!), at least the view was good!


The view to the right out our hotel window.


The view to the left.

After checking into the hotel we headed to the store to buy some yogurt and coffee creamer for breakfast in the morning, and then we went to TGIFriday's for dessert. Then it was back to the hotel for a hot bath (for me), ESPN (for Shannon), and in bed early (for both of us).

Monday morning we slept in (until 7:30 when nearby construction woke us up). We took the morning easy, eating breakfast in our room and enjoying the coffeepot. Then we went to the movies, where we saw Everybody's Fine. It wasn't the best movie ever, but neither was it bad, so we had a good time. Then we headed to Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse for lunch. I had eaten there once before, back in 2005, but my sister recommended it as one of the better places to eat, so that's where we headed! Shannon got fish & chips (he was jealous of my fish & chips at Seven Glaciers) and I got chicken fettucine, which I never do, because I know it's loaded with fat and calories. But it was what I wanted, and I'm pregnant and entitled to gain weight, so I ordered it! Yum.


The sign over the bar in Humpy's. For those of you who don't know, a humpy is a pink salmon.


Us in our booth with the humpy behind us!


My chicken fettucine, oh-so-bad for me, but oh-so-delicious!

After eating lunch we wandered around downtown for awhile, looking in fun shops and doing a bit of Christmas shopping. Then we headed to Babies 'R Us and registered for baby stuff, and then we headed to the Dimond mall where we watched some little kids at hockey practice, had a cup of soup at The Perfect Cup, and ice cream at Baskin Robins. Then it was back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep!

Tuesday morning we woke up and went to Great Harvest Bread Company, one of my favorite places in Anchorage. Shannon had never been to one, so when he asked for three samples of bread and got three real slices, he was shocked! We ate our bread samples and got some hot chocolate and a loaf of bread to-go.


The outside of Great Harvest Bread Company in Anchorage.


Mmm, a thick slice of bread, fresh hot chocolate, and a loaf of cinnamon-chip bread for the road!

Next it was back downtown to do a bit of baby shopping (diaper bag and mom-things) before heading back to the hotel to pack up and check out. We headed back to TGIFriday's for lunch, because when we were there on Sunday evening we scored some coupons for $5 sandwiches. So back we went, both getting a different chicken sandwich and splitting regular fries and sweet potato fries for a grand total of $15 after leaving a pretty good tip for our waiter!


Happy Anniversary to us with HUGE chicken sandwiches for $5 each!

And then it was time to head back to Kenai. We stopped in Girdwood to take some pictures of the mountains and frozen inlet, and then drove the remaining 2 1/2 hours home. All in all, it was a pretty good trip! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to be able to stay in a swanky hotel...but we spent most of our time out-and-about anyways, so it didn't really matter. Happy Babymoon/Anniversary to us!


The view of the inlet from a pull-off in Girdwood.


This view never gets old!