July 14 -- Anchorage

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Here's the view out our hotel window in Anchorage. Turn one way and see the harbor, turn the other and see the mountains. It seemed that all the tall buildings were hotels.








We arrived in Anchorage at 8:00 pm. We left the next morning at 8:00 am. Frustrating! Most shops were closed (including the quiviot co-op store my sil especially wanted to visit -- we gazed longingly in the window....). All museums were closed.

So we enjoyed the gardens, and shopped in some touristy places that were open.












Alaska's short but intense growing season lends itself well to growing flowers and some vegetables. I had been told that the flowers in Anchorage were amazing, and that was certainly true. We saw many flowers I know and love (and have in my own windowboxes), much larger than they grow in Michigan.

I think these are the same begonias I have in the windowboxes. Mine are about 6-8" tall. These were well over a foot tall, and the flowers were at least twice the size of mine.






Sweet alyssum, at least twice the size of mine, and so fragrant......






Say what you will, you will never convince me that there is anything more beautiful than a cabbage. Well, maybe the words "complete remission"..............

Given that all the flowers are big, too, it's hard to see how big this cabbage is. We tried to photograph it with my sil's hand, but since she couldn't get close enough to have her hand right on top of it, it didn't really show how big. I would say the head of this cabbage was about a foot across, so the outer leaves span a distance of about a yard.....






I have no idea what this is, but isn't it cool? The way the leaves are blue at the tips......






It drizzled when we were out, enough so that I put the camera away. Luckily there was an awning to stand under so I could snap the rainbow without endangering the electronics......






The camera has trouble focusing in low light. This was taken at 12:04 am. Isn't it cool that the camera and computer remember for you when your pics were taken??? I suppose at some point the camera will have a gps and will remember *where* the pics were taken, too......





In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these posts, a link to the next one is here.

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