Seward, Alaska

Seward is on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula on the opposite side of the peninsula from Homer, so we had to backtrack along the Cook Inlet and then head down a new (for us) stretch of the Seward Highway to get there. Seward is at the tip of Resurrection Bay, which was named after Captain Cook's ship. Cook did some exploring in the area when he was searching for the Northwest Passage. We set up our trailer at a municipal campground right along the bay. It was raining and foggy, so we couldn't appreciate the beauty of the fiord that surrounded us.

Seward is known for the Alaska Sealife Center, Exit Glacier, and fishing charters. Since it was raining, we headed indoors to the Alaska Sealife Center next door to the campground. The center is more than an aquarium. They also rehabilitate sea mammals and birds, and will release them to the wild when and if they believe the animals can survive on their own.




Murals decorate the outside of buildings all over the town. This one is outside the Sealife Center.

Alaskan King Crab

Here are some of the sea life we saw at the Center.

Sea Anemone

Sea Lion

Seal blowing bubbles

King Eider (female)

King Eider (male)

Horned Puffin

Harlequin

The Tufted Puffins were the most entertaining to watch, both underwater and above water. Underwater they darted around like a stealth bomber. Above water, they innocently swim toward you and when they get close, they let you have it. I'm very sure they know exactly what they're doing!

 

A family of Kittiwakes were in a nest high up against the wall. I was lucky enough to snap a photo when the baby popped its head up just a bit to be fed. Look for the little ball of cotton between the adults!

Conveniently for us, right across the street was the Seward Brew Pub. So, of course, we had to go in and test out the local brew! That evening they were having a Bluegrass Festival, so we hung around for some good music to round out the day.

One of the four groups that performed

Rockfish Red & Salmon Sandwich

On our second day, the fog was still hiding the mountains around the fiord, but no rain, so we headed out to view Exit Glacier in Kenai Fiords National Park. We walked to the terminus first. Along the walkway, there were signs with dates on them representing where the terminus of the glacier was at that time. It has receded several miles and still receding. 

We decided to hike up to a higher overlook.

Challenging trail

More challenging!

Views along the way were beautiful!

The obligatory selfie

View from the cliff overlook

From our overlook we could see people on the glacier. It was a group on a guided glacier walk. It gives you a pretty good perspective about the size of the glacier that the photo alone can't give.

Another great view from the glacier overlook

After the hike, we were back in town and saw this mural representing the glacier.

On our last evening, we headed for the harbor to watch the fishing boats come in with their catches of the day. 

It's traditional in town for each charter to bring their catch to the dock to be displayed. They line up with their buckets of fish awaiting their turn.

Rockfish

 This group had a particularly large haul. The largest of them all was caught by the couple on the right who are proudly posing with their 100 lb. halibut.

After the bragging and photo ops comes the fun part....cleaning the fish! There's a cleaning station right on the dock.

The next morning the rain and fog continued, so we gave up on ever seeing the bay on a sunny day and said goodbye to Seward and the Kenai. It was time to start working our way south to the lower 48!