Seward – Smoked Fish, Sightseeing, & Salmon Bakes

We arrived in Seward with a list of must do activities, regardless of the rainy and misty days:

a wildlife sightseeing cruise in Resurrection Bay with a stop for lunch on Fox Island
hiking out to the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park
visiting the Alaska Sealife Center and learning about the rescue and rehabilitation of injured or orphaned harbor seal pups, sea lions, and even a rare Pacific Walrus calf
walking, shopping, and watching the boats along the downtown boardwalk
seeing eaglets learn to fly from the huge nest right in our KOA campground!
sampling the most delicious smoked Black Cod and Copper River Red Salmon smoked fish we’ve ever tasted from the Saltwood Smokehouse
eating at the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake – home of ‘Cheap Beer and Lousy Food’!

Seward lies in the Kenai Peninsula, along with our previous stop of Homer; but whereas Homer is on the western side sharing the Kachemak Bay, Seward is on the eastern side and overlooks Resurrection Bay. We will travel back up through Anchorage to our next stop in Palmer.

Resurrection Bay Cruise

We had another informative and productive wildlife sightseeing tour. We made a stop in Thumb Cove, sighted Tufted Puffins on Hive Island, chased Humpback whales near Cape Resurrection, watched napping Harbor seals and sea lions, lunched on Fox Island and did a slow drive by to see Bear Glacier, part of the Harding Icefields, in Resurrection Bay. We didn’t get close enough to capture quality shots of the cute Harbor Seals, so I took a picture of one swimming at the Sealife Center.

Captured a few of the signs and included a map above of the cruise route.

Exit Glacier

It began to rain harder just as we reached the Visitor Center at the Kenai Fjords National Park, so we ducked into the center to get our NP stamps and talk to the Rangers. We decided to do the hike in the rain to see the glacier. Luckily for use, about halfway out on the trail the rain stopped. See a few pics below.

Alaska Sealife Center

In addition to learning more about salmon, I was most fascinated to learn that Alaska has eight species of Octopus. The Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest of the species in the world and is the one most often encountered in Alaska. This octopus has an average weight between 45 – 65 pounds, arm span up to 16 feet and can easily squeeze through a two-inch crevice.

The Giant Pacific Octopus at the Sealife Center was quite elusive and we were only able to capture just one arm (left photo), one eye and close up of the suction discs (center photo), and nothing else. The right photo is from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Giant Pacific Octopus website page, where researchers are observing one.

Salmon Bake & More

I’ve determined during our time in Alaska that “salmon bake” is generic for a restaurant that serves primarily salmon and halibut (more often prepared fried or grilled) along with other menu items such as chicken, steak, salads, and burgers. It is similar to the way Southerners use “fish camp” to refer to fish restaurants that serve deep-fried fish, but also serve other menu items. We’ve gone to three or four now and I kept expecting something grand like a Hawaiian pig roast!

Sharing a few more photos from Seward, including mountain views from our campground. One night we held a game night in the laundry room/gathering room at the campground. Needless to say, the guys played poker.

That concludes our time in Seward. We head out to Palmer for two nights where we plan to attend the Alaska State Fair and I hope to visit a Musk Ox farm.

Masters of RVing Adventures