Seward – Resurrection Bay and Dinner at Seward Brewing Company

The first task of the day….well, the second after a simple breakfast was to head up to the boat harbor and the offices of Major Marine Tours to see if any cruises were going out on this day. The Fjords cruises were all cancelled because of storms at sea, but the regular bay cruises were still going out. Folks were really nice and we ended up getting a discount because we were actually staying in town. Our cruise didn't leave until around noon; so there was some time to kill.

I had heard that there was something interesting to see in the boat harbor; so we walked around the building……

And sure enough; there they were……

Two adorable otters….totally oblivious to us.

There's something so amazing about watching creatures who are so graceful in the sea. Every so often they'd dive….apparently the otters enjoy the mussels attached to the docks.

For some reason; it just brought out the inner child in the both of us. We were mesmerized.

We drove back to downtown and spent some time shopping.

Instead of driving back up to the boat harbor; we decided to walk. It was only a mile-and-a-half or so. Plus you could walk along the bay. And even on an overcast day like this one, you sometimes felt like you were viewing a painting.

We passed various campgrounds…..if you parked your RV here; you really couldn't complain much about the view.

You notice a lot more when walking……do you notice something that looks a bit out of place in this photo?

It was a nice walk back to the boat harbor.

This is the Seward Mariner's Memorial, to memorialize all those lost at sea.

We eventually got back to the boat harbor.

We just went and grabbed some coffee and killed the hour or so before the line-up for our cruise.

We really enjoyed the four hour cruise; the captain was wonderful as she and her crew went looking for wildlife. We also got some history as well, learning about the effect the 9.2 magnitude Good Friday Earthquake in 1964 had on Seward. It totally changed the town's shoreline.

We saw the B&B we were staying at as we headed out into the bay.

We travel light these days; without even the DSLR. So no crazy wildlife photos. But we did see Bald Eagles, goats, one amazing sea otter just hanging out in the bay, seals…..

We got "blessed" by one of the many beautiful waterfalls created by water from melting ice from glaciers.

And then it happened. The highlight of the cruise.

 

A young Humpback Whale! The captain stopped the boat. There are specific rules for approaching marine mammals here, which I really appreciate. The whale seemed a bit curious and really got close to the boat before figuring out we were just boring humans and heading on his or her way.

I've seen whales several times while taking folks around back home in Hawaii….but let me tell you; it never gets old.

We got back to the harbor after about four hours. We were kind of pooped. In fact, there were folks sleeping on the benches as we returned. As much as I would have loved that entire eight hour tour….possibly seeing glaciers calving; I'm not sure how tired we would have been.

We rather enjoyed the walk back to downtown. We decided just to head back. Looking at what was served at the touristy seafood restaurant in the harbor just didn't inspire us.

While we'd obviously be happy with another meal at the Cookery; it was Monday and the place was closed. So we decided to hunt around a bit for a dinner spot….this one was definitely not it.

After looking at a few places…..we decided just to head back to the Seward Brewing Company.

The Missus just wanted some fries. And the "Hangover Homie"; thick cut fries, crisp, topped with that sunny side up egg…….on this evening, there were no complaints.

Bacon….cheese sauce….crema…..gorgonzola……I can handle that for one meal.

Needing something to finish up the evening….and my second beer. I went with the Fried Cauliflower.

Which was way too sweet……

But heck; we could deal with this for one night.

Seward Brewing Company
139 4th Ave
Seward, AK 99664

And then it was off to sleep….sort of.

More on that next time.

Thanks for reading!