Travel

/

Home & Leisure

Taking the Kids: A different kind of trip to Alaska

By Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

The lodge is located within Native-owned lands, representing a small portion of the ancestral homelands of the Alutiq people. Many visitors combine a lodge stay with a few days at Alaska Wildland's Riverside Lodge on the Kenai River in the Chugach National Forest fishing for salmon. (We didn't have much luck last year. Others opt for a trip to Denali National Park. Alaska Wildland can handle all the logistics while working to keep their environmental footprint as small as possible.)

(The most popular length of stay at Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge is the three-day, two-night option, which starts at $1,775 per person, plus tax, and includes round-trip marine wildlife and glacier cruise from Seward, all meals, guided activities (kayaking, canoeing, hiking) and accommodations. Rates for kids under age 13 are $1,575, plus tax. (A cruise might seem a lot less expensive on first blush but adds up quickly when expensive shore excursions are added.)

Hoessle notes that some cruisers add a lodge trip for a more complete Alaska experience. That's what we did, after a week exploring the Inside Passage on Regent Seven Seas where most of the passengers seemed to be multigenerational families.

Alaska, of course, has long been a bucket list trip and one for a special celebration. We saw that at the lodge, meeting a honeymooning couple and families celebrating 50th birthdays, 25th anniversaries and upcoming college graduations.

Here, families truly do get that elusive family time as there is no Wi-Fi or cellphone service to distract anyone. "I love the setup," said Haley Yamada, 21, a college senior from suburban Chicago. She and her brother joked that they were thoroughly entertained watching the ice melt and skipping rocks in the lagoon. "And enjoying this with my family makes it super nice," added Trevor Yamada, 19.

Meals are family style -- halibut one night; salmon the next with freshly baked bread, vegetables, salads and home-baked deserts. (The lemon tarts were spectacular!)

Breakfast and lunch are hearty and buffet style -- everything from hot biscuits and gravy and eggs to granola, yogurt and oatmeal to chicken chili for lunch. Those off on an all-day adventure make their own lunches. The rest of us go off in the morning and return for lunch, then we're off again in the afternoon.

 

No worries if you aren't an adventurer at heart either. There are mellow beachfront and forest walks. Cori Perdue, 32, was happy to enjoy the scenery and read while her 74-year-old mom, Karla Martin, went off on the daily excursions. "I'm having fun relaxing not having to constantly check my phone," she explained.

One day we hiked uphill (just 650 feet but scrambling over rocks) to a vantage point to see how really remote we were, Pedersen Glacier and the Pedersen Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary spread out beneath us.

There was only one problem, the guests agreed, and it wasn't the weather. We all had rain gear.

"I wish we had an extra day," said Sally Mann, traveling with her husband and two sons. "We just didn't have enough time."

========

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid's Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid's guide series, will be out this spring.)


(c) 2020 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

Comics

The Pajama Diaries Mike Peters Between Friends Joel Pett Dave Granlund Mike Beckom