I have to start this post by saying what an amazing friend I have that watched my kids so that I could go on this fabulous getaway with Nate. That being said here I go...
On the 21st of September got to go on a getaway (I know I have know established that....twice) I got the kids ready for school and waited very impatiently for Nate to wake up. So impatiently in fact I feel asleep on the couch. Finally Nate got up so I was able to get ready and pack for the weekend. Our destination was the Alyeska resort in Girdwood, AK. Which is only 40 mins from Anchorage but, when your kid free it seems a whole country away.
We first stopped in Anchorage at one of our favorite places to eat, Moose's Tooth for lunch. We love the pizza there and since Nate had a bad experience the last time he went he was looking forward to eating there. We then went to the bookstore. Our intentions for the weekend was to relax and that meant read a book if we wanted to. Plus because we were so anxious to start our weekend we ended up leaving way before we should of and had to stall for time for a bit. Then we stopped at the herb store to pick up some vanilla beans so that I could make more vanilla. We then decided that we had stalled long enough that we could head to the resort. Along the way we stopped at several turn offs to hike around for a little bit. The fall is so pretty up here in Alaska. It is full of vibrant yellow and orange hues. The one color that it is lacking most in red. But on our hike I found a red bush so I had to get a picture of it. It is behind Nate and I in the first picture.
We arrived in Girdwood and went right to The Hotel Alyeska about 15 minutes prior to check in. They were very kind about letting us check in anyway. We dropped our bags off in the room and went to explore the hotel. It is quite a nice hotel with some beautiful scenery. Especially since it is nestled right in the middle of a mountain. We looked through several gift shops and found where our breakfast would be served. We then headed back to the room to get ready for our dinner. I made reservations at 7 Glaciers restaurant which is located on the top of the mountain in Alyeska. You have to take a tram up there.
When we were on the tram the operator was very nice to tell us about the area and the different things we saw out the window on the way up to the restaurant. Which wasn't much because of the fog. The tram operator and I did see a giant bull moose. We tried to point it out to Nate, but he never could see it. I of course embarrassed Nate on the ride up. The conversation between the tram operator and me went something like this.
Tram guy: Wow that is a big bull moose.
Me: It really is. This is the first bull I have seen.
Tram guy: What a huge rack!
Me: You are talking about the moose right?
Awkward Silence. Oh your welcome for that tram guy. At least something exciting happened that you can go home to the place you share with the 7 other guys and tell them. Maybe it will be so epic that they will let you sleep in one of the rooms instead of the couch for the night.
Our dinner was Amazing. We got the 5 course chef's meal. The first thing we got was a coconut curry amuse bouche. It was very tasty. They also brought us out bread and crackers with butter. Our first course was a heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. It was topped with some crispy procuto and a calamata olive dressing. It was so light and fresh. What a great way to start a meal.
The next course was a lobster and scallop bisque. With a herb crusted crouton and a basil oil topping. This bisque was so Delicious.
The third course I forgot to take a picture of was king crab legs with a lemon risotto. It was really tasty too.
The fourth course was a Wagyu Beef fillet. It came with a truffle oil infused mashed potato and asparagus. It was topped with crispy potato fries and a roasted mushroom demo. This meat was so tender it was cut with a butter knife. It melted in my mouth. It was the best steak that I have ever had. I wasn't a fan of the potato. I have recently learned that I am not a fan of truffle oil and that is all I could taste.
The last course was a mascarpone cheesecake with a creme brulee topping. It was also topped with a blueberry compote and a sweet basil reduction. It was also very yummy. All in all the meal was divine. I would definitely eat there although I would only order the steak and soup. The courses were perfectly spread out with just enough time to want to eat more.
After our dinner we went back to the room and just hung out. After all the meal took 2 hours to eat.
The next morning I was awoken because the fan turned off when the power went our. We have been having power outages at our house off and on all week long so I wasn't really shocked when the power in the hotel went off. We were still able to use the elevator and the restaurant was still serving most of the breakfast foods. After breakfast Nate and I went out to explore Girdwood. It is a very small ski resort town. It is not what you think a typical ski resort town would be like. There is not quaint main street or busy coffee shops. There is 1 gas station and a very yummy bakery. There are several different restaurants to choose from up there. We decided to drive up to some hiking places even though we weren't going to hike because of the pouring rain and all. We were trying to find the old mine that they have up there. On our way up Nate commented on how cool it would be if we saw a pack of wolves. Not 5 minutes later up the road from us came some animals. Nate points and exclaims that he has found a pack of wolves that I need to hurry and get my camera out. I told him that they were just dogs. He then argues with me about them being wolves. As we drove closer to the animal with their tongues hanging out and their funny little smiles you could tell that they were just DOGS!!! I did tell him that if he happened to be right that they were wolves he really needed to say how cool it would be if we ran into a leprechaun with its pot of gold.
After exploring for a while we stopped at the bakery to get some lunch and then headed back to the hotel where we had a marvelous time hanging out in the room just talking and getting to know each other better. We haven't been able to do that in such a long time. It was wonderful!
Look I have host eyes!
Nate with the wild mushroom he was pretending to eat. He did say that it felt like it stung him when he picked it.
After dinner. I know he is photo bombing my picture I had actually planned it that way. I was so lucky to spend the weekend alone with this guy! He always laughs at my mustache obsession but now he is just feeding into it!
For dinner that night we went to the Double Musky. It is a Cajun restaurant in Girdwood. The Double Musky was voted one of the top 10 restaurants in the nation by food network and also voted the top steak in the nation by the same people. The top steak is a pepper steak. It is rolled in a flour batter then deep fried. Rolled in pepper and then grilled. It has a Cajun gravy on the top. That is what Nate got to eat. It came with some amazing jalapeno rolls to eat.
I ordered the Cajun shrimp. It came on a bed of cheesy rice. The shrimp had cinnamon and maybe honey on it. It was delicious. We also got some wonderful desserts to take back to the hotel with us.
The rest of the evening was spent in the room as we debated on if we should watch Men in Black 3 on Pay per View or not. I am glad we voted not to because we both fell asleep before it would of gotten over. We watched SNL instead.
The next morning we took our time getting up and getting ready. We once again had breakfast in the hotel. We walked around the outside. Of course it was raining some more. Which really sucks. Then we packed up and headed home. We did stop at the bakery on the way our of town and picked up some huge cookies for the kids.
What a breath of fresh air it was to get away. We really needed that. I now wish I could do go to a different hotel on a weekly basis. Too bad I will have to wait so long to do that again.
