Alaska Family Vacation: Day Four

It’s time to recap the fourth and final day of our Alaska family vacation. This trip was so special and so memorable for our family and I hope these blog posts might be helpful for any of you out there who may be considering a trip to Alaska in the future. We planned this trip ourselves from start to finish and I know how overwhelming it can be when you’re first getting started. My goal with our Alaska family vacation posts has been to provide details and honest reviews of our experiences from a family traveling to Alaska with three young children. I hope they’ve been helpful and, if Alaska is not on your radar, I hope they’ve been at least a little entertaining!

Our Alaska family vacation recaps so far:

• Alaska Family Vacation: Day One (Fishing and fjording boat day, Kenai Fjords Visitor’s Center, Sea Life Center, exploring Seward)
• Alaska Family Vacation: Day Two (Fishing on the Kenai River, Exit Glacier hike, exploring Seward)
• Alaska Family Vacation: Day Three (Tonsina Creek hike, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, arrival in Anchorage)

Now onto day four!

Alaska: Day Four

Morning: Earthquake Park (Anchorage, Alaska) + The Reindeer Farm (Palmer, Alaska)

Our fourth day in Alaska was a dreary one but the rain didn’t dampen our spirits. Our final day in Alaska began with a little exploring!

We made our way to Earthquake Park in Anchorage where the boys were determined to walk on the trails off the main path to try to spot a moose. (We are very aware moose should not be approached.) Despite stumbling upon ample piles of moose scat, we didn’t see one but spirits remained high because we had something unique on the agenda for the day: A visit to a reindeer farm!

Ryder, our 7-year-old, has loved reindeer for years. Deer and reindeer have been his favorite animal since he was a toddler and he was beyond excited about the possibility of petting and feeding a reindeer or two. (Remember the year he dressed up as Rudolph for Halloween? Looking back on that blog post, I saw Chase dressed up as a bald eagle — further proof Alaska was the ideal spot for a bucket list family vacation!) Ryder certainly got his wish to see a reindeer up close and was in heaven, feeding and petting reindeer after reindeer after reindeer!

I have to sing the praises of the Reindeer Farm in Palmer, Alaska, as it was such a sweet little farm very much worthy of a side trip for families with kids who love animals.

(Rain anorak: Avec Les Filles — via Nordstrom anniversary sale / Waterproof boots: North Face — these were fantastic and so comfortable / Bag: Clare V.) 

The farm had people working at every spot where animals were grazing or relaxing and we loved learning about the animals while petting them and feeding them. We really appreciated the way the boys were allowed to interact closely with so many animals and I think this was the reason The Reindeer Farm claimed the #1 or #2 spot on every single boys’ list of favorite things we did in Alaska during our trip.

It also had a bunch of little play areas, perfect for energetic kids who love to run around outside. We grabbed lunch and hot apple cider at the farm as well and had such a wonderful time!

Afternoon: Eagle River Nature Center (Eagle River, Alaska)

The Eagle River Nature Center was the perfect pit stop along the way of our 50-minute drive back to Anchorage from Palmer. The nature center is located about 15 minutes off the main highway and the absolute kindest people in the world seem to work at this center! They were knowledgeable and enthusiastic and great with our boys as they directed us to the walking path that worked best for our crew in the rainy weather.

We walked along pathways and boardwalks out to see a beaver dam which was seriously impressive and clearly very effective!

We were not able to see any animals or the mountain views we were told are usually so breathtaking due to thick fog and rain but despite this minor bummer, we still all enjoyed this little detour.

Evening: Ship Creek + Hotel Pool Swimming + Bread & Brew Dinner + Ice Cream at Wild Scoops (Anchorage, Alaska)

Our rough travel to Alaska meant our hotel and rental accommodations got all messed up and we had to adjust our itinerary quite a bit. We ended up booking a last-minute stay at the Hilton in Anchorage before our 6 a.m. flight out the next morning. (Months ago we pre-booked a non-refundable room at the Clarion where we stayed the night before and the hotel did not have availability for us to extend our stay.) Worth noting: The Hilton is clearly a recommended hotel for those boarding Alaska cruises because the lobby was slammed when we arrived with people waiting for their rooms.

Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we took that as a cue explore downtown Anchorage. We stumbled upon The Bait Shack and the boys immediately wanted to stop in to see if we could squeeze in an hour or so of fishing. Unfortunately all their rental rods were spoken for but we still had fun watching people reel in salmon from Ship Creek right in downtown Anchorage!

We then headed back to our hotel where our room was ready. Ryan took the boys to the hotel pool while I did some major organizing of our bags. The boys were thrilled to have a place to splash and swim and it was a treat for me to have a quiet hotel room to myself to get everything in order before a full day of travel back to North Carolina the next morning.

Once we were in a better place for the next day’s early-morning travel and the boys and Ryan were done at the pool, we were ready for food! We grabbed burgers from Bread & Brew and ice cream from Wild Scoops before calling it a night.

Our flight out the next morning took off at 6 a.m. and by 11:30 p.m. we were back in Charlotte. It was a long travel day but truly it felt like a breeze after our travel challenges getting out to Alaska. It made us realize that, should travel go smoothly, a trip to Alaska is long but not horrible with three kids. I hope to share more about the activities, games and toys that kept the boys entertained during our long travel days in the future, as well as what we packed for Alaska, so stay tuned for those blog posts, should they be of interest.

I hope you all enjoyed coming with us on our journey to Alaska! We loved this trip so, so much! I’m also more than happy to answer any questions you may have about our trip, the activities we chose and why we did what we did during our trip. And thank YOU all again for those who helped shape this itinerary by recommending so many of the things we did to our family that helped make this one of our best trips ever!