One of the more impressive paintings at the
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
The cozy bar at Club Paris
Day 13: Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Anchorage Daylife and Club Paris
We got up in the morning and ate a continental breakfast at the Copper Whale. Then we hit the town to check out some Anchorage daylife. Our plan was to visit the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the largest museum in Alaska.
The museum consists of rotating exhibits on the first floor and permanent exhibits on the second. On the first floor we caught "Birds of Prey," an exhibit depicting an unimaginable amount of dead raptors stuffed and placed in their "natural" settings. The exhibit was pretty impressive. The most impressive specimen was the nearly extinct California Condor. With a wingspan of about 9 feet, it was by far the biggest bird in the room. I think it could have lifted our RV.
The second floor took visitors through a chronological walk through Alaskan history — everything from the early Athabaskan culture through the oil boom of the state. The other permanent display focused on Alaskan art — mostly scenes of mountains and wildlife. Much of what you'd expect from Alaskan artists. What was impressive was getting a sense for each artist's take on the land in which they work.
After the museum, we walked around downtown some and then went over to Club Paris where we had made reservations for dinner a few hours beforehand. The reviews of Club Paris said that this historic restaurant had the best steaks in Anchorage. Since I botched my attempt at steaks early on in our trip, we thought we'd give the professionals a chance. The reviews were right. The steaks were huge and perfectly done. What was even more memorable was the atmosphere. Club Paris is dimly lit and almost eerie. I felt as though we were the only people in the place without a connection to the Mob.
After a late dinner and dessert, we were so stuffed we had to waddle back to our hotel and call it a night.