Day 5 - Talkeetna

The famous Talkeetna sign, right in front of the Visitor's Center.

June 7, 2011 - The next morning we woke up in a nice, leisurely manner and took the shuttle back into Talkeetna.  Just a little word of advice, be a few minutes early for the shuttle. You’ll need to purchase your round-trip ticket at the tour desk right inside the lodge from the shuttle stop, and there can be a line. 

The Roadhouse - made famous on Man vs. Food

Once in Talkeetna, we made a bee-line for the Roadhouse and had one of our best meals of the trip. We ordered their standard breakfast (half) and a sourdough pancake (half order) and shared.  The homemade apple butter and raspberry jam are fantastic and the toast was from thick slices of home-made bread. We ordered the daily pancake special, with wildberries cooked in. They were amazing. The pancake overflowed the plate and was absolutely wonderful. The seating is family style around big tables.  We seated ourselves on the end of one table, away from everyone else; no fun! The next day we hit the Roadhouse during a rush and were lucky to find a seat at a large table, we had a blast talking with everyone and getting their stories.  Be brave, dive on and and sit with someone.  The Roadhouse is also a boarding house, and several of the climbers stay there before and after their summits. On our way out as we were paying our bill, we spoke with the owner who was featured on Man vs. Food and mentioned that we’d seen her on the show. She told us about the filming and had some great stories. Be brave, ask shop owners what brought them to Talkeetna, you'll be glad you did.

The grocery store is to the left - go on in and meet the mayor!
The West Rib Pub is to the right, it also was featured
on Man vs. Food.

We spent the rest of the afternoon slowly making our way through the shops on Main Street. I really enjoyed Talkeetna, it has a definite “cool” to it, as if it really doesn’t care what anyone thinks.  It is what it is. They call themselves a drinking town with a climbing problem.  All the climbers who attempt Denali use Talkeetna as their starting point, so there is a rather cosmopolitan feel to the place. It was fun to talk to the shop owners and get their stories.

One of the funky moose on display.

This one is called Forever Lost in Alaska

The Visitor's Center (left) and a couple of gift shops near
the shuttle stop.

Some people seem to consider their stay at McKinley Princess Lodge as out in the wilderness, or stuck in the middle of nowhere.  My husband and I decided that Talkeetna was our favorite stop on the entire cruisetour.  It was more authentic Alaska (at least how we pictured it) than any other stop. We liked the little town so much, that we came back early the next day to spend a couple of hours here before we took the train to Whittier.

We took the shuttle back to the Lodge in time to have dinner at the 20,320 Restaurant on the property. We split the appetizer (potato skins with blue cheese – fabulous) an entrée (fish and chips – very good) and dessert (wildberry pie – very small slice), which was perfect for us. This was our favorite meal at a Princess Lodge. Since our luggage had to be out by 6:00a the next morning, we made an early night of it.

Up next - The train to Whittier and embarkation.