Whittier

Next stop on Siobhan's tour of the Anchorage area -- Whittier Alaska.  Whittier has been the topic of a blog before.  It is such an unusual little town.  Located in Prince William Sounds, its harbor was important as a supply route in WW2, and today is a popular cruise ship destination.  A railway tunnel through the mountain connected Whittier to the inland in 1943.  But the town was not accessible by road until 2000.  Notably this road is shared with the trains, as cars entering Whittier drive over the tracks, and through the mountain tunnel once an hour.  The rest of the time is reserved for the trains.

Whittier has a little welcome sign by the main town building that sums up the important events...the rain record, managers and harbourmasters...not sure where those 19 roads are, unless they count mountain goat footpaths.

This is the main town building.  Whittier is called a one roof town...as this large building from the 1950's houses most of the towns 217 or so people, the post office, the school, the rec center, and everything else that one might want indoors to avoid going outside in the winter.  When it was built, it was the largest building in Alaska.  Today it's a condominium.

And the post office is still there.  Shibby sent some postcards from this unique little town.

There is a new...er building in town though, the Inn at Whittier.  This is a beautiful,waterfront hotel.  We stopped in for a light snack and a beer before embarking on our tour.  Strangely, we were almost the only people there, despite the fact that hundreds of people were cued up for the boat tours that would leave that afternoon.  I highly recommend leaving the crowd behind and having a lunch/coffee/beverage here if you find yourself in Whittier.

This is the view from the restaurant.

Oh, and this is also the view from the restaurant.  It was just stunning.  The harbour is every bit as pretty as Bermuda's.

Whittier is a fishing town.  Someone is off to find their supper.

The calm of the water, the warmth of the sun, and a zesty pint of Alaska amber ale...aaaah, one of the best moments of the adventure so far!

Yup, Alaskan Amber is the name.  Here is the logo, in that cozy little restaurant-pub I mentioned a few lines ago.  I think it would be a fun place to read a book on a cold winters day.

Lots and lots of boats!  The one we were going to be getting on was going to be a bit bigger than these.

One more tourist shot -- Shibby under the Alaskan flag.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue

Alaska's flag.  May it mean to you

The blue of the sea, the evening sky

The mountain lakes, and the flowers nearby

The gold of the early sourdough's dreams

The precious gold of the hills and streams

The brilliant stars in the northern sky

"The Bear," "The Dipper,"  and, shining high

The great North Star with its steady light

Over land and sea a beacon bright

Alaska's flag to Alaska's dear.

The simple flag of a last frontier.

--the State Song of Alaska