[Kenai Fjords National Park, Jul 27, 2025]

We started our first full day in Seward at Resurrection Art Coffee House. The former church dates from 1917 and was converted to a coffee house in 1992. Locals and visitors alike are drawn to the unique architecture, the local art on the walls, and the yummy coffee and pastries. The line took 45 minutes, but the matcha latte and blueberry scone I got were both delicious. The locals windows was something I haven’t seen before and thought was a great idea!

We made a brief stop by the Kenai Fjords national park visitor center. Besides a passport stamp, I got an awesome hat that matched one of the new hiking shirts I purchased before this trip. I was overdue for a hiking wardrobe update because I’ve been wearing the same 2 shirts from REI for at least 12 years.

We had booked the 6-hour classic Kenai Fjords boat tour that departed at 11:30 am. The scenery as we left Resurrection Bay was breathtaking.

The tour began with bird-watching. We approached some cliffs full of common murres and cormorants, and even some puffins! Puffins had been on my wishlist since I didn’t get to see any on last year’s Alaska cruise. I had just seen some in captivity at the Lisboa aquarium earlier this year, but obviously nothing beats seeing them in the wild.

As we approached the open ocean, we saw more and more humpback whales. We hung out with this large group for a little bit.

At one point, it engaged in an advanced feeding technique called bubble-netting. The whales corral krill into a tight ball near the surface using sounds and a circle of bubbles. With the fish trapped inside the bubble, the whales come up from below with their mouths open and breach the surface as they devour the krill. I only caught the tail end of this on video but you can watch this fascinating and beautiful feeding technique here. It is rare to see bubble netting in person and we were all excited to witness it!

At this point we had left the protected waters in the channel and were out in the bay of Alaska. It was a beautiful day but there was a bit of swell, and sitting in one spot to watch the whales definitely affected some people. I could feel becoming a little uncomfortable but definitely not sea sick like some other people on the boat. Staff members were running around with paper bags for those who weren’t doing well.

To their relief, we soon left the open water and entered Aialik Bay. We started seeing some glaciers! But first, we ducked into a cove to look for bears. There were none, but we were rewarded with some moon jelly fish and sea otters.

Our final destination was Aialik glacier, a tidewater glacier. We hung out in front of it for a while, watching it calve and marveling at the wall of blue ice. I will never get tired of looking at tidewater glaciers!

We were ready for a good meal once we were back on land. We headed to The Cookery. The restaurant no longer takes reservations, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. We took the opportunity to stretch our legs at nearby Seward Waterfront Park. The park has paid tent and RV camping, playgrounds, a skate park, picnic areas, beach access, and a trail lined with historical landmarks. At the beginning of the trail near the Sea Life Center, we stumbled upon the Founder’s Monument and Mile 0 of the Historic Iditarod Trail. This 2,300-mile network of winter trails began as a route for caribou and was later used by native Alaskans. During the Alaska Gold Rush, sled dogs would carry mail and essential goods along the route. The trail was eventually abandoned but in the 1970s, the Iditarod Sled Dog Race was established to revive it and celebrate its history.

Our dinner at The Cookery did not disappoint! I am amazed at how well we’ve been eating in such a small town! We got some oysters (not pictured), the mushroom toast to start, halibut for dinner and cheesecake ice cream for dessert. We washed it all down with some wine in celebration of national park #53!