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Movie Travel / Nature Travel / Alaska Travel / Animals / Whales / Movie Set Travel / → All Tags

'Big Miracle' Beefs Up Big Interest in Alaska Whale-Watching

Today, Big Miracle opens in theaters across the country and the timing couldn't be better with Alaska's whale-watching season right around the corner.

The film, starring Drew Barrymore, is based on the real-life rescue of several gray whales near Barrow, Alaska in 1988. Barrymore plays a Greenpeace volunteer who, along with her reporter ex-boyfriend (John Krasinski), convinces rival world superpowers to come together and help save the whales.

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Big Ash Problems / Volcanoes / Delays / Travel News / Weather / Alaska Travel / → All Tags

There's a New Volcano to Worry About, and This Time It's in the USA

As you know we’re still in the first week of the new year, but there’s already a brand new volcano—complete with ash-cloud potential—getting ready to wreak havoc on air travel. Unlike the volcanoes over in Europe or down in South America, this one’s a little closer to home, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to pronounce.

Mount Cleveland—just rolls off the tongue—is located within the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska, and scientists believe that it’s getting ready to celebrate 2012 by starting to shake, rattle, and roll. Just over a week ago there was a little volcano hiccup that sent a whole bunch of ash and other particulate into the skies, but things quickly dissipated and flights weren’t really affected. The concern still remains, as the tippy top of the volcano is right in the way of one of the main commercial flight paths between North America and Asia.

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Alaska Airlines / Airline News / Airlines / In-flight WiFi / WiFi / Gogo / Travel Contests / Facebook / → All Tags

Alaska Airlines Gives Facebook for Free to Celebrate Their WiFi-Equipped Fleet

Alaska Airlines has been slowly but surely working to get all their airplanes fully equipped with the magic that is in-flight internet access, and right now they’re pretty much all the way there.

They’ve got a couple more planes here and there to finish, but by the end of June they’re thinking that around 92 percent of their planes will be equipped and able to hit up Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and more from around 35,000 feet in the sky thanks to Gogo—and this even includes flights in and around Alaska.

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In-Flight Entertainment / Alaska Airlines / Airline News / Travel Tech / In-Flight Comfort / → All Tags

Whoop Dee Doo: Alaska Airlines Updates Already Outdated In-Flight Entertainment

It’s hard for us to complain about any type of in-flight entertainment, because as long as it’s something a little more involved than the in-flight magazine we’ll try out it. Alaska Airlines isn’t installing seat back televisions or fancy iPad adapters into their planes, but they are upgrading their portable—and unfortunately not complimentary—in-flight entertainment system they call the digEplayer.

The airline has been passing these out on longer flights for quite some time, but it looks like the next generation of the fun has arrived. No need to endlessly mash buttons on this new player, as touch screen controls are just one of the updated features on the lighter weight device. Being away from live sports will now be much more bearable up in the skies thanks to access to NFL Network, and there will also be plenty of Hollywood hits loaded up with a little help from the ReelzChannel.

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Alaska Airlines / Airline News / Airlines / WiFi / In-flight WiFi / → All Tags

Free WiFi on Alaska Airlines, But Only If You're Flying Within Alaska

If you find yourself up in the air over Alaska anytime soon, you won’t have any problem checking your email or getting a head start on a little online holiday shopping. Alaska Airlines has been hard at work to add WiFi to their fleet, and now they’re proud to announce the ability to connect at 35,000 feet between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

To celebrate their recent accomplishment, the airline is offering complimentary—as in totally free—access to those traveling between the two cities. The service will be free until the rest of their planes within the Alaskan network get the necessary internet goodies installed.

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Train Travel / Alaska Travel / Beer Travel / Fall Travel / → All Tags

Lagers and Ales While You Ride the Rails In Alaska

If you’re looking for the ultimate designated driver, Alaska is where you’ll find one. The Alaska Railroad usually runs trains through the scenic mountains and rivers of Alaska, and this weekend they’ll be doing what they usually do; however, they’re adding a little more fun to their bar car. The Great Alaska Beer Train runs on Saturday, October 2, so you’ve only got a little more than a week to get up north.

Tickets are $159 per person, which is a little pricey, but that does include plenty of adult beverages as well as a pretty scenic ride through the wilderness. Your booze cruise train will depart at 4pm, and then will travel around 80 miles from Anchorage to Portage. You’ll be back around 8:30pm, so be sure to have a taxi waiting to take you back to the hotel.

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Alaska Travel / Animals / Fall Festivals / Fall Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags

All Hail The Bald Eagle At Alaska Festival

The sight of a Bald Eagle always makes us feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. Obviously we love traveling the globe to experience new countries and cultures, but the nifty fifty is where most of us call home. That’s why we were kind of excited—in a nerdy way—to hear about the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. This isn't some cute little festival either, it's pretty hardcore when it comes to learning about all things eagle.

Things take flight from November 11 through 15 as folks and fowl head to Haines, Alaska to celebrate the festival’s fifteenth anniversary. The highlight of the festival is the Flight For Freedom Eagle Release on Saturday afternoon. Here lucky participants get a chance to release rehabilitated birds back into the wild blue yonder. There’s an auction to get the opportunity to do so, so bring the checkbook—it all goes to charity, so don’t be a cheapskate. For those who prefer a little art with their wildlife, there will be plenty of photographers, artists, and other creative types in attendance to share their secrets and to share their wares.

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Cruise Travel / Alaska Travel / Green Travel / Travel News / → All Tags

Alaska's Nome Is So Hot Right Now

We know someone whose biggest travel dream is to visit the Alaskan town of Skagway while on a cruise along the Alaskan coast. It's hardly unattainable, with cruise ships hitting up Skagway and other towns like Sitka and Ketchikan all through the summer. But what to do once you've done the typical Alaskan cruise? Thanks to melting of the polar ice caps—or rather not, since this is a very bad thing, environment-wise—cruise ships are discovering ports further north than every before. Now you can add the Bering Sea town of Nome to your must-see in Alaska list.

The LA Times drives home exactly what a big deal it is for big ships to be calling in Nome: "More than 500 roadless miles from Anchorage, rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors." But after Nome spent $90 million dollars renovating their port to accommodate big ships, the temptation of venturing beyond the tried-and-true Alaskan itinerary is majorly attracting tourists.

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Train Travel / Alaska Travel / Beer Travel / Tours / → All Tags

Let The Alaskan Railroad Be Your Designated Driver

There's travel blog bait, there's travel blog bait, and then there's a train that takes you along one of the most scenic routes in these United States and serves you six half-pints of microbrews plus appetizers. Well played Alaska Railroad, well played indeed:

Take a scenic journey along Turnagain Arm with the world's best designated driver—the Alaska Railroad. The Microbrew Express travels 80 miles roundtrip from Anchorage to Portage and features an impressive assortment of the finest local microbrews and incredible scenery of Turnagain Arm.

We got tipped to this via The LA Times, which also notes that the BrewHouse beer menu includes Brewhouse Blonde and Oatmeal Stout. Tickets are $149 per person and cover the rail trip plus everything else. The event takes place Oct. 3 and purchases are obviously 21+.

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Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Alaska Travel / Alaska Air / Ski Travel / → All Tags

Cross-Country Ski Beneath Anchorage's Air Traffic

We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.

It's cold and it's snowy and you just want to stay inside with a nice steamy mug of hot chocolate. Gosh, how we long for days like that while the weather is muggy like now. But in Alaska, the hot chocolate days are long and you've got plenty of time to get our your cross-country skis for a little winter weather plane spotting at Anchorage International Airport.

In fact, two accessible parks bookend the airport, so you've got your pick of views. For the more active, we recommend the larger Kincaid Park, also known to be one of the USA's premier cross-country ski destinations with 16.5 miles of trails. And you can see in the video above how close your encounter with air traffic will be.

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Alaska Travel / Sarah Palin / Tours / Politics / Political Travel / → All Tags

Say Bye To Sarah Palin As You Swing By Her Alaska Office

Whether your heart is still aching over her loss in last year’s election or the fact that she's still around, you better hustle up to Juneau, since time is running out for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Over the long weekend, she decided to light off some of her own fireworks by announcing she wouldn’t be seeking a second term, nor would she even be finishing out her term in office; she’ll be wrapping up her duties and stepping down by the end of July.

Go to Alaska and bring home a souvenir eBay can be proud of: go to Alaska’s Capitol Building and try to get her to sign your ticket stub. The facilities are open all summer, obviously to take advantage of all those cruisers looking for glaciers, moose, and 2012 presidential candidates. The tours last for about thirty minutes, are totally free, and run daily. The state legislature, governor, and lieutenant governor all call this building their home away from home.

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Alaska Travel / Tours / Fishing / → All Tags

Become An Alaskan Fisherman, At Least For A Few Hours

If your summer vacation plans include a cruise to Alaska with your grandparents, then you might want to seriously start considering some alternate shore excursions. Sure you can wander through some shops and check out the Totem Poles in Ketchikan like everyone else, or you can pretend that you're a true deep sea fisherman fisherperson.

Imagine being on the Deadliest Catch TV show, except not having to lift a finger. On the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen’s Tour, you’ll sit in a heated amphitheater right on the deck where you’ll be free to watch all the action while remaining totally safe. The crew will share some information about the ship, and before long you’ll be watching them haul in rockfish, cod, octopus, and king crab. Too bad they don’t bring drawn butter along.

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