Seward: a big-time port with a small-town heart - Port of the Month - cruise travel in Alaska

Cruise Travel, May-June, 2002 by M.T. Schwartzman

For starters, there's the Seward Museum (admission $3), a repository of truly unusual curiosities. On display, for example, is a rare 49-star flag, which flew for only a short time after Alaska became a state and before Hawaii was admitted to the Union. The museum also documents the aftermath of the 1964 earthquake in black & white aerial photographs, which clearly show the destruction and fires that ensued.

Across from the museum is the city's visitors center--a historical relic unto itself. It's housed in an old-fashioned railcar from the Alaska Railroad, originally built by the Pullman Company in 1916 as a dining car for the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railcar operated on the Alaska Railroad from 1935 to 1963, when it was donated to the town. Still inside is the old diner-style food counter and swiveling seats. It's worth a peek.

Most people think of Anchorage as the start of the Iditarod Trail due to the now famous annual race that starts there, but Seward was the jumping off point for the original trail that led to Nome. Mile Zero begins right at the waterfront and winds through the center of town, passing many points of historical significance along the way. A free map, usually available at the railcar or museum, will guide you on your way.

You can't miss the Alaska Sealife Center (admission $12.50), which opened in May 1998. It's literally at the end of the road where the Seward Highway meets the sea. Much more than an aquarium, the center has a threefold mission: rescue, research, and rehabilitation of marine mammals. It's the only center of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, and one of only two in the world (the other is in Norway).

Inside this new, $56-million facility are sea lions, puffins, harbor seals, starfish, and other creatures typically found in Resurrection Bay and Prince William Sound. Many of the animals are studied for clues to their behavior and life-cycle. Others are being rehabilitated so that one day they may be returned to the wild.

Surrounding Seward is Kenai Fjords National Park, a marine sanctuary that's home to, among other denizens, some 40,000 puffins. (Puffins are small black seabirds with a multi-colored beak; they look like a cross between a penguin and a toucan.) Daily tours of the park leave from the small-boat harbor, located midway between the pier and downtown. Also here is the visitors center for the national park, staffed by park rangers. There's a book shop inside (stocked by the Alaska Natural History Association), photo displays, and a 12-minute slide presentation shown upon request.

If your time in Seward allows, be sure to see Exit Glacier, the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park that's accessible by road. A cab to the glacier costs about $25 roundtrip, plus a $5 entrance fee to the park.

For a most unusual tour, look into Mitch Seavey's "IdidaRide" (800-478-3139), located just 10 minutes from the cruise-ship terminal on the road to Exit Glacier. For $39 you'll get an hour-and-a-half experience that can't be duplicated anywhere else. Seavey, a six-time veteran of the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, has rigged up a sled with wheels, so that even in summer visitors can experience the thrill of what's been called "The Last Great Race On Earth."