My husband and I decided to take a cruise tour to Alaska for our 30th wedding anniversary. I'd been squirreling money away for this for several years, and I didn't want to be disappointed. I saw an advertisement for Holland America, but when I started to do some research and found out that Princess has five lodges around Alaska, I looked into that.

My husband was not interested in a cruise, and I wasn't really, either. We usually go to national parks to camp and hike for our vacations. However, I really wanted to go to Denali, ride a glass-domed train and see nature. It turned out the best way to do this is through a cruise tour. We saw Denali and so much more!

We arrived in Anchorage the day before our tour was to begin and stayed at the Comfort Inn Ship Creek. It was tourist season, and there were some grumpy travelers, but I guess that is to be expected. The warm chocolate chip cookies soothed some nerves. We got in late and asked our shuttle driver where to go for a bite to eat. He suggested the Snow Goose which is the home of Sleeping Lady Brewery. The appetizers were quite good, but the beer was amazing! I had a delicious porter, and my husband had what he said was the best I.P.A. he's ever had. A group of German tourists at the next table each had Alaska-sized slices of New York Style cheesecake. When in Rome! Read more