Pretending to be a tourist
Yesterday, because it was gorgeous out, I started getting restless around noon. By 1:30, the teens and I had decided to go downtown for a few hours. I grabbed my camera hoping to catch a magpie and we jumped on the bus.
For some reason, the bus at 1:45 is one of the smaller ones in our city system. When we got on, there were 3 seats only, the kids opted to stand until about 3 stops later when they took a couple open seats. The bus, by the time we got to downtown was standing room only and very little of that. I learned the life story of the person sitting next to me which was at once appalling and hopeful.
We walked to the Captain Cook statue which has a lovely view of Susitna, but it was the wrong time in the day to get a good picture of our Sleeping Lady, the sun was too bright and in the wrong place. After, we just walked to see what sounded good. We stopped by The Cake Studio, where The Turnip opted for a bacon cheesecake, William for a lingonberry and white chocolate croissant, I had tiramisu.They serve them for eating in the store on pretty little disposable plastic plates. You can imagine my teens horror at being told to just throw away the plastic. They put them in our bag to use for cold treats home. After we finished I picked up a cupcake to go for Mike and we headed back out. I asked "So, hot dogs from a street vendor or restaurant for lunch?". The Turnip replied that she was feeling hot dogs, so we set off to find a street vendor. On our way to do that, we passed the visitor's center and the trolley to the Ulu Factory was picking up passengers. So naturally we hopped on the trolley, we'd been meaning for a few years but it just never timed out that well before.
The driver was a very nice young man, and the novelty of the short ride charmed The Turnip. The factory is located downtown, but towards Ship Creek where lots of people fish for salmon. In fact, you can go right behind the factory to walk down to Ship Creek and we did just that. I took pictures of the teens and some very good pictures of seagulls. After we enjoyed that for a bit, we went into the factory where the best commercial ulus are made. You can buy ulus made in China at almost any gift store here very inexpensively. The ones made in Alaska are better and more expensive. The production areas are all visible from inside the store. All very clean and neat.
We got back on the trolley and the driver took us back to the visitor's center in a slightly round about way. We headed up to Petrovich Park where I saw a vendor for hot dogs and one for gyros while we were on the trolley.
William of course wanted a gyro, I had reindeer sausage with onions, and The Turnip got her hot dog. Then Mike called and said he was on his way to pick us up. So I got him a reindeer sausage too because it's just cruel to enjoy one without him. We told him about our day. He told us about his and we headed to Bosco's for comics.
After we got home, the kids cleaned out my fridge for me. Then we decided to watch Leonard Cohen- Live in London and unwind from a really wonderful day.
For some reason, the bus at 1:45 is one of the smaller ones in our city system. When we got on, there were 3 seats only, the kids opted to stand until about 3 stops later when they took a couple open seats. The bus, by the time we got to downtown was standing room only and very little of that. I learned the life story of the person sitting next to me which was at once appalling and hopeful.
We walked to the Captain Cook statue which has a lovely view of Susitna, but it was the wrong time in the day to get a good picture of our Sleeping Lady, the sun was too bright and in the wrong place. After, we just walked to see what sounded good. We stopped by The Cake Studio, where The Turnip opted for a bacon cheesecake, William for a lingonberry and white chocolate croissant, I had tiramisu.They serve them for eating in the store on pretty little disposable plastic plates. You can imagine my teens horror at being told to just throw away the plastic. They put them in our bag to use for cold treats home. After we finished I picked up a cupcake to go for Mike and we headed back out. I asked "So, hot dogs from a street vendor or restaurant for lunch?". The Turnip replied that she was feeling hot dogs, so we set off to find a street vendor. On our way to do that, we passed the visitor's center and the trolley to the Ulu Factory was picking up passengers. So naturally we hopped on the trolley, we'd been meaning for a few years but it just never timed out that well before.
The driver was a very nice young man, and the novelty of the short ride charmed The Turnip. The factory is located downtown, but towards Ship Creek where lots of people fish for salmon. In fact, you can go right behind the factory to walk down to Ship Creek and we did just that. I took pictures of the teens and some very good pictures of seagulls. After we enjoyed that for a bit, we went into the factory where the best commercial ulus are made. You can buy ulus made in China at almost any gift store here very inexpensively. The ones made in Alaska are better and more expensive. The production areas are all visible from inside the store. All very clean and neat.
We got back on the trolley and the driver took us back to the visitor's center in a slightly round about way. We headed up to Petrovich Park where I saw a vendor for hot dogs and one for gyros while we were on the trolley.
William of course wanted a gyro, I had reindeer sausage with onions, and The Turnip got her hot dog. Then Mike called and said he was on his way to pick us up. So I got him a reindeer sausage too because it's just cruel to enjoy one without him. We told him about our day. He told us about his and we headed to Bosco's for comics.
After we got home, the kids cleaned out my fridge for me. Then we decided to watch Leonard Cohen- Live in London and unwind from a really wonderful day.