Traveling with the Jones

The tiny town Whittier, Alaska is located 58 miles southeast of Anchorage at the head of Passage Canal on the west side of Prince William Sound.

Popular with photographers, hikers and hunters thanks to its natural beauty and wildlife, Whittier is most visited as the embarkation/debarkation point for one-way cruises between Anchorage to Vancouver by Princess and other cruise lines. Whittier is also a port for the ferries on the Alaska Marine Highway.

13 Facts You Might Not Know About Whittier, Alaska

1. Whittier is the wettest city in the United States, receiving an average of 197.8 inches of rainfall each year. The city also averages 249 inches of snow each winter.

2. The area that is now Whittier, Alaska was once part of the portage route that Chugach Natives of Prince William Sound traveled to reach Turnagain Arm for fishing.

3. Prospecting miners used this same passage during the Alaska Gold Rush as the quickest passage from the Sound to Alaska’s Cook Inlet and Interior regions.

4. In 1915, a glacier in the area was named for American poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 –1892) known for his anti-slavery writings as well as his book Snow-Bound. The name of Whittier Glacier eventually became the name of the town.

5. The area where Whittier sits today was developed during World War II. The United States Army constructed Camp Sullivan, a military facility with a port near Whittier Glacier. When a spur of the Alaska Railroad was completed to Camp Sullivan in 1943, the port became the primary debarkation point for cargo, troops, and dependents of the Alaska Command. Population in the area reached 1,200 people.

6. Since the Port of Whittier was an ice-free, deep water port strategically located to Anchorage and Interior Alaska, the U.S. military planned to develop a large complex in the area for its personnel after World War II. Two large buildings completed between 1953 and 1957 still dominate Whittier’s skyline.

7. In 2016, the city of Whittier is home to 218 citizens, according to its website.

8. Whittier has been described as a “town under one roof” since most of its residents live within the same 14-story Begich Towers apartment building which includes a post office, a general store, hospital, the Whittier Police Department, and the mayor’s office. There is also a church, a grocery, laundry, a small hotel, conference room, and a play area with an indoor pool within the complex.

9. Completed in 1957, the 150-unit Hodge Building was named for Colonel Walter William Hodge, who was a civil engineer and the commanding officer of 93rd Engineer Regiment on the ALCAN Highway. The apartment building was renamed in 1972 in memory of U.S. Congressman Nick Begich from Alaska who died in a plane disappearance near the area.

10. The Buckner Building — constructed by the military in 1953 – is the other dominant building in Whittier. The building was shuttered in 1966 and remains abandoned today.

11. Whittier suffered $10 million of damage from the Good Friday earthquake on March 28, 1964. It was the largest recorded U.S. earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale. The after-quake tsunami that hit Whittier reached 43 ft. in height and killed 13 people.

12. The only way to drive to Whittier is via the 13,300 ft. long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel through Maynard Mountain. Both trains and highway traffic use the tunnel at alternating times.

13. Known by locals as the Whittier tunnel or the Portage tunnel, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage with Whittier. It is the longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America.

Have you visited Whittier, Alaska? What fun fact can you add?

Learn more about Whittier, Alaska with this book:

The Strangest Town in Alaska: The History of Whittier Alaska and the Portage Valley

Check out these other Fun Facts posts:

• 9 Fun Facts About Kristiansand, Norway
• 21 Interesting Facts About Stavanger, Norway
• 50 Interesting Facts about Cuba
• 18 Fun Facts About Taipei 101
• 20 Fun Facts About Juneau, Alaska

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Today in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, we walked along the river front of the Upper Mississippi River, passing by the Saint Anthony Falls, which was the only major natural waterfall on the river.

The natural falls were channeled into a concrete spillway, and their water power helped Minneapolis become the “Flour Milling Capital of the World” between 1880 and 1930.

We visited the Mill City Museum, which is built within the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, the world’s largest and most technologically advanced flour mill when it was completed in 1880. Millers at this complex owned by Washburn-Crosby Company (the forerunner of General Mills) perfected a revolutionary process for milling that made white flour available to the masses.

In the museum’s gallery, you can view vintage advertising for flour products, see 19th-century flour milling equipment and trace the journey of wheat from farms on the surrounding plains to market.

There’s also a water labs you can learn how water power from St. Anthony Falls made Minneapolis the ideal Mill City.

One of the museum’s highlights is the Flour Tower elevator show that transports you through eight levels of the mill, as it would have been found during its heyday.

This tour includes a visit to the rooftop observation deck which offers unbeatable views of the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls.

The Mill City Museum is run by the Minnesota Historical Society. It is open 7 days a week in July and August, and every day except Monday the rest of the year. We found the museum an interesting way to learn about Minneapolis history, and cool off during a hot and humid July day.

What’s your favorite attraction to visit in Minneapolis, Minnesota? 

Resources to learn more about Minneapolis:

Walking Twin Cities: 34 Tours Exploring Historic Neighborhoods, Lakeside Parks, Gangster Hideouts, Dive Bars, and Cultural Centers

Downtown: Minneapolis in the 1970s

Minneapolis in the Twentieth Century: The Growth of an American City

Check out these other museum visits:

• Visiting Finca La Vigía, the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Cuba
• The Little White House in Key West, Florida
• National Airline History Museum in Kansas City, Missouri
• A Visit to the Titanic Quarter and Titanic Belfast
• A Visit to The Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

Or, check out our boards on Pinterest and/or our photos on Instagram.

For the final installment of our photo tour of the ms Koningsdam, we are sharing views from walking around the ship.

We took these photos during our the July 3rd 7-Day Viking Sagas cruise from Amsterdam on Holland America’s newest ship, the ms Koningsdam, pictured while docked in Flam, Norway.

As the first in Holland America’s new, larger Pinnacle Class of ships, the ms Koningsdam has some special touches among its 13 guest decks.  One of those is the hallway carpet. I enjoyed “tip-toeing through the tulips” on throughout the ship.

There is also carpet emphasizing the ship musical inspiration, with different instruments in the pattern.

On each side of the ms Koningsdam you will find a glass-bottomed stairway connecting two decks that protrudes over the side of the ship.

This is a closer look peering through the glass-bottom stairway where you can see verandahs multiple decks below. The concrete pier in the photo above gives a sense of how far the stairway “overhangs” from the side of the ship.

There has been discussion on Cruise Critic recently as to which direction guests are instructed to walk on the Promenade deck. Above is the sign on the ms Koningsdam, which does not direct walking in a specific direction but does indicate that 3 laps equal 1 mile of walking.

One major design change on the ms Koningsdam compared to Holland America other ships is seen on the Promenade Deck. While guests can still walk laps around the ship, the deck is narrow in some spots. In other portions, the view is blocked by the life boats, and the iconic wooden deck chairs are not to be found.

We found walking the deck for exercise and outdoor views still worked for us. If you are a Holland America cruiser who enjoys reading or napping on a deck chair while staring out to sea, the ms Koningsdam is not the ship for you.

Since the ms Koningsdam is a bigger ship with a significant number of new venues, the detailed directory signs by each elevator come in handy when trying to find your way around.

How the emergency safety drill is conducted on the first day of the cruise is another significant change for Holland America Line on the ms Koningsdam. Rather than head to an assigned muster station, guests are directed to go to their staterooms and watch the safety video on the interactive television. The cruise director guides this process through the intercom in both English and in Dutch languages.

Cruise guests are encouraged to locate their life jackets, and put them on in their stateroom or suite following the video instructions on the television. These life jackets seem to be more robust models than we’ve experienced on other ships.

Then, guests are instructed to leave their life jackets in their cabin for the drill, and to make their way to their assigned muster station.

Our assigned muster station was in the World Stage theater on Deck 3, a significant walk from Deck 11. Once you reach you muster station, a cruise staff member scans your room key to mark your attendance.  The captain explains procedures to follow in case of a real emergency.

The entire process took much longer, but is more comfortable than the long wait on the promenade deck while cruise staffers are calling out cabin numbers still found on some other ships.

On Deck 3 near the front office you will find self-service statement printing kiosks on the ms Koningsdam. This is a quick way to check your bill throughout your cruise, rather than wait in line to have the front deck staff print one for you.

In the same area there was a luggage scale for guests who are flying to check the weight of their suitcases.

Have you sailed on Holland America’s ms Koningsdam? What new feature did you find interesting? 

Check out these other Koningsdam photo tour posts:

• A Photo Tour of Holland America’s Newest Cruise Ship: the ms Koningsdam
• A Photo Tour of Entertainment on Holland America’s Koningsdam
• Dining on Holland America’s Koningsdam Cruise Ship
• A Look Inside Stateroom 11001 on Holland America’s Koningsdam Cruise Ship

To tour cabins on other cruise ships, check out these posts:

• A Look Inside a Verandah Stateroom on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Ship
• A Look Inside Ocean-View Stateroom 700 on Holland America’s Maasdam Cruise Ship
• A Look Inside Suite 325 on the Seabourn Pride (now the Windstar Pride)
• A Look Inside Interior Cabin #10425 on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas
• A Look Inside Ocean-view Stateroom 2641 on Holland America’s Volendam
• A Look Inside Interior Cabin B-625 on the Star Princess Cruise Ship

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Or, check out our boards on Pinterest and/or our photos on Instagram.