Alaska, the Last Frontier



Denali or Mount McKinley



This is the first of the two states that I have not yet visited.  I wish I was about 40 years younger so I could truly explore the vast wilderness that gives Alaska the nickname The Last Frontier.  There are 586,000 square miles of land (about 1,517,733 square kilometers) and only a little over 700,000 people who live there.  Imagine taking the population of Frankfurt, Germany and spreading the people  from just that one city across the entire area of France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland - all put together! 



Arctic Fox



Just a little over one person in each square mile (or 1 person in about two square kilometers)!  That leaves a lot of empty land since about half of all the people in Alaska live in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, the three largest cities.  That empty land is filled with smaller cities and villages, glaciers, mountains, valleys, even deserts, and an abundance of wildlife.  Over  a thousand species of wildlife are in Alaska.  These include Grizzly, Polar, Brown and Black Bears, Elk, Moose, Caribou, Seals, Whales, Walrus, Sea Lions, Wolves and Arctic Fox. About 2/3 of the land is owned and managed by the government, mostly in National and State Parks and Wildlife Refuges , such as Denali National Park.  The wildlife is protected yet can be seen frequently in these areas.  

Trapper's Camp on Frozen Sucker Lake

I know of people who have taken the Alaska cruises – very popular here in the US – and they all have reported that it was a fantastic trip.  My daughter went to Alaska to work for a short time at a military base and she had a more adventurous trip.  The last part of her trip in to Kodiak Island was on the “milk run” plane.  Since so much of Alaska is remote, one of the main transportation modes is by small airplanes flown by "Bush pilots".  She and the pilot were the only ones on the plane that brought supplies (including milk!) to the island.   Alaska is a place that some visit and fall in love with forever.  A friend of mine has a son who went to Alaska to work a summer job with the fisheries and returned later to make Alaska his home. 



Blanket Tossing
 in Point Barrow



Giant Frog Totem
Juneau



Alaska is a destination all by itself.  If you are interested in beautiful wilderness to explore, mountains to climb, native villages or gold rush towns to visit, inland waterways to fish or sail through, then I suggest you check out travelalaska.com for information to make your trip the one of your dreams.  There are many methods of exploring Alaska: train, boat, plane, bus, or automobile.  The site provides plenty of information about each method of transportation plus the places to see and things to do.  I am very impressed with the website as it seems to cover all the information anyone needs to plan a trip to this wonderful State of the United States.  

Alabama at last!

 If you love the beach, the one place I would go to in Alabama is the Gulf Shores area. There are a number of beach towns that are located on barrier islands south of Mobile.  You can drive from one town to another easily and there are tourist shops, condos, rental properties and “things to do” all along this strip of beach. For military enthusiasts, there is Fort Morgan at the end of the Gulf Shores barrier island. 

It is well preserved and tourist friendly.  Hurricanes have taken their toll in this area from time to time, but the beach properties keep coming back.  We have spent several holidays there and found it to be a great place with things of interest for families, young adults or those just needing a break from work.  We rented a condo which gave us a great location near the center of activity for restaurants and entertainment in addition to beach access. 

Living space near kitchen

Another time we rented a separate beach house away from the tourist area.  It was especially nice to have our own section of beach and allowed us to enjoy a relaxed time.  This was a number of years ago so the one we rented may no longer be available.  It was unique, cosy and well furnished including jigsaw puzzles for the occasional rainy day.  Most of these rental properties provide everything you will need for your stay including linens, dishes, cookware, coffee pot, toaster, etc.   It is nice to just pack your swimsuit, a few clothes, and be on your way to a home away from home.   



One little place that impressed me is a place that we discovered by accident.  We were driving through Alabama on our way north to Michigan.  We had been driving for a while and needed a break so my husband pulled off the highway at the next little town which happened to be Cullman, Alabama.  I saw signs pointing to Ave Maria Grotto.  It sounded intriguing so we decided to stop. 

 Although not a very large area in size, Brother Joseph Zoetti, a Benedictine Brother made miniatures of about 125 famous places over a period of  years using twigs, broken glass, rocks and whatever he could find to shape these buildings.    The photos attached are ones I took during our visit and you can see his replicas are fascinating.  There is a path to stroll along in order to view these marvelous replicas. 

Birmingham is the city where the Bessemer steel process was developed.  The plants there provided much of the structural steel that built the original skyscrapers and bridges in the United States.   It remains one of the largest cities in Alabama.  During the 1996 Olympics, one of the venues for the (soccer) football matches was in Birmingham.  My husband, our granddaughter and I were able to go to one of the matches and it was very exciting for all of us.  As you can see, the weather was nasty so the match was delayed until the lightning threat was gone.  The fans who stayed endured downpours but it did not dampen the spirits even though this was just a preliminary match.



Alabama is in the heart of the southeast portion of the United States and varies from mountainous areas through crop lands to the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.  Tuscaloosa is the home of the University of Alabama and during football season you will see the many loyal fans driving cars with little home team flags on their way to a game.  Their team is known all over Alabama as "The Crimson Tide".

Mobile, Huntsville and Montgomery are the other three largest cities in Alabama with their own unique ambiance.  Montgomery is the Capitol city of Alabama and boasts the Rosa Parks Museum.    Mobile has a history going back prior to the Louisiana Purchase, has a Mardi Gras Museum and celebrates the oldest Mardi Gras in the USA.  The US Space and Rocket Center is in Huntsville.  I hope you find the history, outdoor activities, architecture, nature, museums, or whatever you like best in Alabama.  It's a great place to visit!

Please have patience with me.

I must apologize for the delay in my blog posts.  Life happens and sometimes gets in the way of the things we want to do.  I hope to have Alabama posted this week and plan to post a new state each week if I can. 

Once I started working on the blog for Alabama I realized that I did not have my postcard scans organized by state so I could not find the ones I wanted to include.  I have about three thousand or more cards to rearrange by state so it takes time.  I should have done this prior to beginning the blog but did not think ahead...duh, sorry!   I also want to include some of my own photos which means they have to be located also.  My multi-tasking skills just aren't as good as they used to be. 

If you are interested in statistics, Wikipedia is a far better source, so I intend to just give you my impression of each state and tell you about the places that I most like in each state.  Almost every city in the United States has some kind of Museum and some local tourist attraction.  For information on a state’s most popular places and state parks, each state has a tourism site that is better informed than I am.