alaska

Cruise West Terminates Round-The-World Voyage

Small cruise ship operator Cruise West has announced that it is terminating the Spirit of Oceanus' Voyage of the Great Explorers, a 335-day world cruise as part of a company restructuring. In a statement on its website the company says that it is not accepting any new bookings. There is talk that the 120-passenger Spirit of Oceanus may be put up for sale.

The statement says that Cruise West plans to continue to operate its other ships through October and will also complete cruises or land tours already underway in Alaska. The company is not doing any interviews and it's not clear if Cruise West has been sold to new owners. The company has been in business for nearly 64 years providing small scale cruises focusing on Alaskan itineraries and on river travel. The company provides what are known as "soft adventure" cruises and has been popular with those looking for a more personal cruising experience.

Tags: alaska, cruise west

Kenai River Estate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Our quest for luxury real estate auctions doesn't generally take us this far north. Today's home, which will be auctioned off on August 12, is located on the banks of Cook Inlet and the mouth of the Kenai River in Alaska. This home is on nearly 12 acres and has around 815 feet of beachfront property. The Victorian home is four stories and provides sights of Tustamena, Mt. Lilliamna, Mt. Redoubt, and Mt. Spur mountains. The four-bedroom home has oak and marble flooring throughout and four fireplaces. Other details include a formal dining room, gourmet kitchen and a cozy circular entertainment room. The master suite has a personal fireplace, sitting room and a master bath with a jetted tub. One particularly charming detail is the fourth floor turret with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the surrounding mountain ranges. It's a perfect place for an office or retreat. The land also includes a three-car garage, two outbuildings, and an airplane hangar and landing strip. It is being auctioned off through J.P. King.

Gallery: Kenai River Estate

Tags: alaska, alaska real estate, j.p. king, jp king, kenai river, luxury real estate, luxury real estate auction

Continue reading “Kenai River Estate, Estate of the Day”

Fly Fishing's Finest Destinations, Courtesy of Orvis

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Books

When it comes to fly fishing, legendary Vermont-based sporting outfitters Orvis is the recognized authority. The company celebrates nearly 50 Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing lodges across the U.S. and Canada in a nifty new book for the armchair angler, Great Fishing Lodges of North America. The perfect tool for planning your next outing as well as a rich visual feast for anyone interested in sport fishing or the lodge lifestyle, the book highlights the best destinations from Alaska to Florida, Montana to Maine, and across Canada.

Each lodge is profiled and portrayed along with detailed information on the local waters and its game fish, the lodge, amenities and activities, landscape, and game species and wildlife in the area. Featured lodges in include the Alaska Sportsman's Lodge (Lake Iliamna, AK); The Essex, Vermont's Culinary Resort & Spa (Burlington, VT); Lake Placid Lodge (Lake Placid, NY); Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock (Blowing Rock, NC; The Blue Damsel Lodge (Clinton, MT); North Fork Ranch (Shawnee, CO); Cow Creek Ranch (Pecos, New Mexico); Moose Lake Lodge (Anahim Lake, British Columbia); and more.

Gallery: Great Fishing Lodges

Alaska Sportsman's Lodge, Lake Iliamna, AK

Morrison's Rogue River Lodge, Merlin, OR

Tags: Alaska, books, British Columbia, Canada, coffee table books, fishing, fly fishing, fly-fishing, Lake Placid, Montana, Orvis, outdoors, sporting, sporting goods, Vermont

Dry Ice: A New Exhibit of Alaska Native Art in Soho

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art, Green

With last week's publication of Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, Alaska is once again in the headlines, so it's easy to forget that there's far more to our 49th state than its red-suited former governor. I've been working on a book project in the Bering Strait of Alaska sporadically for the past few years -- above is a photo from Shishmaref, Alaska. These are places where you really can see Russia. And while these locales aren't much for luxury in the traditional sense, they are the places where simply astonishing Alaska Native art is produced -- where artists utilize the landscape to create everything from delicately carved bracelets to bold mobiles, traditional masks to photographs, amber-jewel like kayaks to paintings.

Alaska's natural resources aren't just used for art, of course -- many Native Alaskans still live at least partially off the land and sea. In part, this is to preserve a traditional way of life, but it's also because the price of basic necessities is so high: a dozen eggs can cost as much as $22. In addition to the challenges of preserving tradition that are faced by native communities everywhere, the raw materials of life are in jeopardy because of global warming. This is the part of the United States that is the most dramatically affected by climate change: The state's wintertime climate has warmed by 40 degrees since 1950, sea ice has thinned by 60 percent since the 1960s.

Nine Native Alaskan artists have produced works in response to this fraught landscape, which opens at the Alaska House New York gallery in Soho on December 10th. Working in a variety of media, ranging from mask-making, to skin sewing, to photography, Brian Adams, Susie Bevins, Perry Eaton, Nicholas Galanin, Anna Hoover, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Erica Lord, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, and Larry McNeil create works that capture this particularly delicate moment for Alaska -- and works that are certainly highly collectible. Check out the preview below to get just a sample of this extraordinary art.

If Dry Ice inspires you to travel to the places where these works are created, Alaska House New York (which is as much of an "embassy" for Alaska as it is an art gallery) has many resources to guide you through the parts of the state that you're unlikely to see on your own. And if you're more of an armchair traveler, check out this thoughtfully curated selection of books about Alaska -- a good place to start is 50 Miles from Tomorrow, by William L. Iggiagruk Hensley. You'll also find a list of online resources, including the very entertaining online newspaper, Alaska Dispatch.

Gallery: Dry Ice: Art Exhibit at Alaska House New York

Tags: alaska, art, native americans, NativeAmericans, soho

Permafrost, The Alaskan Vodka

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Alaska's first distillery is set to soon release their first vodka, Permafrost. Toby Foster, a former commercial pilot and CEO of the Glacier Creek Distillery is hoping that the Alaska's recent media attention because of Gov. Sarah Palin will help drum up attention for the vodka. Permafrost is made from Alaskan potatoes grown in the Matanuska Valley and Alaskan glacier water. The vodka will be priced at about $50 a bottle to wholesale distributors. Martini Groove reports that the distillery's 750-milliliter bottles are imported from Italy and made of a heavy glass. Because they cost a hefty $6 a bottle, the company is considering offering a return deposit. Glacier Creek Distillery is also green, the ethanol from the distilling process will fuel generators that run the plant and the potato leavings from the vodka processing will be composted.

Source

Tags: alaska, permafrost, vodka

Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC), Charity of the Day

by Star Sutherland (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity, Green, Charity of the Day

By now we've all heard about the devastating effects of global warming, (I picture a polar bear trying to find his favorite ice berg that just isn't there anymore). The Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) is based in Anchorage, and it's members include marine scientists and conservationists, as well as concerned citizens from across the globe. While the rapid loss of ice in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean is a main concerns of the AMCC, they also focus on helping the local economy and preserving coastal traditions. Protecting local bays from certain types of damaging fishing practices are also among their efforts to preserve the beautiful coastal area. The AMCC receives much praise for their work and they rely on the growing concern of the general public to help them further their achievements. Visit the website to sign up for their quarterly newsletter, Sea Change to learn more. Simple practices like turning off lights around your house or buying products that have earned the "energy star" are easy ways you can help preserve Alaskas fragile costal environment.

Source

Tags: alaska, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, AlaskaMarineConservationCouncil, AMCC, charity, charity of the day, CharityOfTheDay, conservation, donation

Anchorage, Alaska, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

I have never done an estate of the day from Alaska before so I decided it was time to show the state a little love. This luxurious home was built a few years ago and has an ideal location on a hill surrounded by five acres. The home has over 7500 square feet of space with five bedrooms a home theatre room, multiple family rooms and an exercise room with a sauna and shower. The property includes a three-stall horse barn. The home is listed at $2.2 million. After the jump, the ubiquitous travertine floors make their way to the far north.

Source

Tags: alaska, anchorage, estate of the day, luxury real estate

Continue reading “Anchorage, Alaska, Estate of the Day”

Iditarod Race Start Package

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

If seeing the Iditarod Race is on your list of things you want to do in this lifetime, the Millennium Alaskan Hotel has the package for you. They are offering a "Head Start" package which includes two nights accommodations, two tickets to the Iditarod fund-raising dinner, transportation to and from the Iditarod starting line in Anchorage on March 4, 2006 and access to the Iditarod race activities at the hotel such as the Musher’s Champagne Toast. The package also includes complimentary breakfast in-room or in the hotel’s Flying Machine Restaurant, use of the hotel’s health club with sauna, steam room and hot tub and shuttle service to the 5th Avenue Mall. The package is priced at $499 and is available for booking for the dates of March 1 – March 6, 2006. Activities for the Iditarod such as the Musher’s Champagne Toast (afternoon of March 2nd) and the Iditarod Fundraising Dinner (night of March 3rd) begin during that time period. Additional nights at the hotel are available at $139 per room, per night.

[via Travmedia]

Source

Tags: alaska, anchorage, iditarod, millennium hotel, MillenniumHotel

alaska

Featured Galleries

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular

Also on AOL