How to Spend a Great Week in Alaska - Days 4-7: THE BEAUTIFUL KENAI FJORDS PENINSULA

August 06, 2016

Read Day One: Anchorage Here

Read Day Two: Denali National Park Here

Kenai To Do:

Drive Beautiful Seward Highway

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park Boat Trip

Alaska Sealife Center

Hike to Exit Glacier

Pizza or calzones at Eureka Pizza

Gourmet dining at The Cookery

Lunch or dinner at The Salmon Bake

Day 4: The Most Beautiful Drive Ever

On Day 4 of our Alaska trip, we headed south to Kenai Fjords National Park. This amazing day-long drive went through some of the most gorgeous scenery I’ve ever seen.

Heading south from Anchorage, the Seward Highway runs alongside Turnagain Arm, a narrow waterway bordered by craggy mountains as high as 6,000 feet that rise vertically on both sides of the highway resulting in breathtaking views. As the road curves through this stunning landscape, one amazing view is surpassed by the next.

Outside our cabin in my Leslie cardigan

Here I am sitting outside the adorable cabin we rented at Angel’s Rest on Resurrection Bay, a short drive outside of Seward, a nondescript town that was almost completely wiped out by the tsunami that followed the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake. This is where the Kenai Fjords National Park boat tours leave from and that alone is reason enough to visit Seward!

Day 5: Another Check Off My Bucket List!

Aialik Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park

The next day I got to check off an item on my Bucket List – an Alaska fjord boat trip to a majestic and beautiful glacier!

On the way, we saw otters, sea lions, humpback and beluga whales and adorable puffins as well as other birds.

Every second of the 6-hour boat ride was amazing, but the culmination – pulling up to close to the gorgeous Aialik Glacier – was an experience I will never forget.

Close up to the Aialik Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, there are no words I can think of to describe the stunning beauty of the Kenai Fjord and Aialik Glacier. I think the pictures speak for themselves, but even they don't capture how awesomely inspiring it is to be so close to an ancient miles-thick mass of ice and stone, hear the rumbling of its motion and watch it calve.

Day 6: A Rainy Day in Seward -- Puffins to the Rescue!

There's a lot more to do near Seward, but our last day was rainy so we opted to visit the Alaska Sealife Center. The highlight of that visit was watching puffins chase fish under water in a large aquarium tank. It was hilarious! The puffins and the rest of the Sealife Center are worth seeing, especially if it's too rainy or cold to be outdoors.

Resurrection Bay near Seward, Alaska

I will never forget this trip! Resurrection Bay, where our cabin was, is so beautiful.

On the shore of Resurrection Bay in my Ella top

I loved walking along the Bay's rocky shore! It was our last day and I was feeling a little sad that we didn't have more time on the Kenai Peninsula. If the weather had been better, we would have hiked to Exit Glacier and spent more time exploring Kenai Fjords National Park.

I can't sign off without giving a salute to some of the restaurants we sampled in Seward. Trip Advisor gives The Cookery in downtown Seward five stars and for good reason! We also enjoyed a huge calzone and salad -- both big enough to share -- at Eureka Pizza, and had a terrific Alaska salmon dinner at The Salmon Bake near Exit Glacier.

Day 7: Heading Back to Anchorage and the Lower 48

Day 7 of our trip was a leisurely rainy drive back up to Anchorage where we spent the night before taking a 5 a.m. flight back to the lower 48.

If you can spend more than a week in Alaska there's so, so much more to do. But our weeklong visit was wonderful! We got to see Mount Denali, had an up close encounter with a massive glacier, and had plenty of time to relax. It was a great trip!