Tag: resurrection-bay

September 27, 2025

After studying the materials I picked up at the Seward Visitor Center when I arrived yesterday, I discovered that there was another part of town I hadn’t seen yet. I thought I might go to the Aquarium, and on the map it was a few blocks south of where I had been yesterday. The person I spoke with had verified that they opened at 10am and that was when I arrived – to find it locked, with a sign indicating that it opened at noon!

I made a command decision to go on a road trip to a place I had hoped I might have stopped at on the way down from Anchorage yesterday, but with the poor visibility I passed it by. I stayed in Seward for about an hour and then headed off on my new plan.

(Photo credit: Google Maps)

This is the view looking south at Resurrection Bay from the southernmost part of Seward.

That is a wide view. Here are two shots zoomed in a bit:

It looks like it is closed in by mountains. This is why I reposted the map showing my route down from Anchorage. As you can see at the bottom of the map above, there is a large opening out to the Pacific Ocean, but from town the view is looking southeast so some of the land masses you see are islands beyond the east side of the opening, and you can also see “mainland” mountains on either side of the Bay which close in a bit as they approach the opening.

Here is a photo looking up “Main Street” (actually, 4th Avenue) from the Aquarium. It goes on for several blocks before reaching the area I was in yesterday. 3rd Avenue, one block to the left from this view, is Highway 9, locally known as the Seward Highway, which is Highway 1 from Anchorage as far south as Tern Lake, where Highway 9 turns off to come down here. The highway ends just south of the Aquarium.

There were lots of stores and gift shops, and more restaurants, down at this end than there were where I was yesterday. Most of these restaurants were still open and had not closed for the season.

This is the “not-open-until-noon” Aquarium:

This is the original railroad station, located next to the Aquarium. It now houses some gift shops.

There was a large parking lot, and tables scattered about for tourists to relax and take in the views of the Bay. I could also see a bunch of mountains from down at this end of town, mainly going up the east side of the Bay.

On the opposite side of the Aquarium was a large research ship operated by the University of Alaska – Fairbanks.

There was a mural on this side of town highlighting the recreation aspect of Seward.

On 4th Avenue, the three windows of the Seward Brewing Company caught my eye because of the stickers plastered all over them:

You get the idea….

Closer to the harbor I found the Mariner’s Memorial.

Inside were lots of memorials to people lost at sea. Here is a small portion.

There were many more, but I figured they’d be so small that you wouldn’t be able to read them.

Here are some other things I saw as I walked around the area on this side of town:

Here is another angle looking at the harbor from near the Mariner’s Memorial.

Here is a small mural on a cannibis dispensary called the Tufted Puffin:

Here are two mountain views from north of town looking east, towards where my Airbnb was located.

I would have a long drive to get to my surprise destination, and will return to Seward for the night, but will have another set of mountain pictures from Seward taken before I leave tomorrow morning for Homer.

September 26, 2025

I arrived in Seward around 330 in the afternoon, having driven down from Anchorage. I will be here two nights before moving on to Homer.

This is the main runway at the Seward airport, which I passed as I was approaching town. Seward lies alongside Resurrection Bay and there are lots of mountains with some snow and glaciers on them in just about every direction. The best mountain photos will be taken the morning that I leave but you will see some each day.

This next photo is looking a little to the right from the same spot.

I chuckled when I saw this sign on the Visitor Center. It indicates that if you were headed to Seward, Nebraska you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way.

Fishing is the main occupation in Seward and this sign shows some of the many types of fish that are caught here. I would have Black Cod (Sablefish), which I had never heard of, for dinner.

Looking at the map it appeared that there is only one road in to Kenai Fjords National Park. I would have liked to learn more but as you can see, the visitor center was closed for the season. There are 8 National Parks in Alaska and this is one of only three which are accessible by car.

Seward has lots of murals scattered around town. This is one of the bigger ones, showcasing the local fishing industry.

Being a fishing town, Seward also has a number of charter boat tours which go out on Resurrection Bay. Most were closed for the season, as were most of the restaurants in this part of town. There was a dock for cruise ships but that season had ended as well. The town was very quiet.

Here are some photos of the harbor:

Below is a photo of the 1964 Earthquake Memorial, showing both the American and Alaskan flags. 13 people in Seward died as a result of the earthquake, and a portion of the water frontage slid into Resurrection Bay. Much of the fishing infrastructure was destroyed. I had seen a photo up in Anchorage of the severe damage to the railroad yards here in Seward.

This was on the door to my Airbnb foyer (I was in the Timberwolf suite). They were wrong about the access code but we quickly got it straightened out.

I have friends in Raleigh who are huge jigsaw puzzle fans and I was pleased to see this completed puzzle mounted on the wall inside my suite.

I will go back into town tomorrow morning before going on another excursion for part of the day.