Spendng Mem Day weekend in Seward (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rental car, rental, how much)

[johnphil29]

Hello,

My family and I are going to be spending Memorial day Weekend in Seward. Got a place at the Seward Resort. A couple of questions. We plan on driving from Eielson. How is the drive down Highway #1? How much time am I looking at from Fairbanks to Seward?. Besides the obvious (Halibut fishing) what are some must do things in Seward?

Any tips, or "You gotta stop and see.." suggestions are welcomed!

Thanks

John

[RayinAK]

It should be around a 12-hour drive from Eielson to Seward depending on the driving conditions, traffic, etc. You should be able to enter "Directions" in GoogleEarth, and it will even draw you a map, tell you the routes, exits, etc. According to Google Earth, from North Pole to Seward takes around 12 hours to drive 495 miles.

Just drive to Anchorage (Parks Highway), and then take the Seward Highway leading to the Sterling Highway or Turnagain Arms. Way down the road you will see signs leading to the Kenai Peninsula (Homer, etc), and the sign for Seward. You turn right to go to Homer and the rest of the Kenai Peninsula (don't go that way).

[Daniel_T]

Definitely head out to the Sea Life center. Real cool place to get up close to a lot of Alaska wildlife. I went there for a field trip back in 6th grade back in 2001. real cool place. I'd love to check it out again. Maybe Woody the Sea Lion is still there!!!

[Tressa]

Go out to Exit glacier for a hike, try and climb Mt Marathon. Go down 4th Avenue and take in all the touristy trap stuff, they brought in store that sell things that no Sewardite would own but a tourist might.

[Rance]

Yes take the drive and the short hike up to the glacier!

[BudinAk]

Originally Posted by johnphil29

Hello,

My family and I are going to be spending Memorial day Weekend in Seward. Got a place at the Seward Resort. A couple of questions. We plan on driving from Eielson. How is the drive down Highway #1? How much time am I looking at from Fairbanks to Seward?. Besides the obvious (Halibut fishing) what are some must do things in Seward?

Any tips, or "You gotta stop and see.." suggestions are welcomed!

Thanks

John

It might be a little early in the season for tours of the Kenai Fjords, but if any of them are open take a day tour of the Kenai Fjords. Outstanding gorgeous scenery and marine life beyond belief! All of the tour operators have offices in the small boat harbor area.
Also, since you will have a rental car, take the Nash Road turnoff at mile 3 of the Seward Highway. Drive approximently 3 1/2 miles until you see a pulloff at the top of the hill, overlooking Ressurrection Bay. Gorgeous view of the bay, and Seward, some 3 miles away. (bring camera!)
And....on your way to Seward, definitely do stop and see the big game animals herenear the Portage turnoff about mile 80)
home
Enjoy your trip!

Bud

[rotorhead]

If you've got the time for a couple side trips, try Whittier (through the tunnel) or Girdwood (the ski area) while you're driving by. Portage glacier has a visitors center thats free if the tunnel schedule doesn't line up with your travel plans, and it's only a couple miles off the road. The glacier itself has retreated quite a ways back these days, but there's another one on the road up towards Whittier that you can take a short hike to and climb all over. Good food at the Double Muskie restaurant (would you believe Cajun) in Girdwood, and it's a pretty town right off the road down the Turnagain Arm. There's ice cream shops both there (right at the turnoff at the gas station) and downtown in Seward if you've got the kids along or just have a sweet tooth.

I'd second the SeaLife center in Seward and a trip just for the scenery, they get closer to the seals and such than the fishing guys do. BTW, the Seward Lodge has an excellent fish processing center with a professional grade vacuum sealer (you can buy bags at the front desk) and huge walk-in freezer that are available for its guests. You can expect that your catch will be gutted and filletted by the boat crew (with a highly variable degree of skill)when you get back to the marina, but it'll be up to you to portion it and seal it up to prevent freezer burn. The sealer bags really do work better than regular ziplocks. Bring a cooler, obviously, but they do sell ice in bulk.

Foremost to remember, don't rush youself on the way down. The road down from Anchorage is the ONLY route into the Kenai peninsula and has heavy traffic at times. It can be extremely frustrating to get stuck behind yet ANOTHER crawling motorhome when you're running late and traffic backs up quickly. It's two lanes and undivided for the most part, you'll probably see some insanely dangerous passing moves from the Aholes who just have to be first in line. I've seen several horrific head-on accidents, especially along that stretch between Anchorage and Girdwood since there's little to no shoulder and few passing areas. Moose on the road can also be a problem from the valley on down through Seward, there's a TON of them in the Anchorage area.

If you have the option, take a few more days and see the rest of the Kenai down to Homer as well, but that could easily be a whole trip by itself.