The Alaska Baseball League is celebrating its 50th year. The league’s five teams, all from the Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula areas, play an annual season that begins in June and wraps up with a post-season “Top of the World” tournament in early August. The collegiate league uses equipment that meets Minor League specifications, and its players are unpaid so they can maintain NCAA eligibility.
Happenings Around Alaska in July and August
We could have filled several issues of Alaska magazine with driving excursions in the Great Land. Instead, we decided to focus on a few tried-and-true road trips and will direct you to our sister publication The MILEPOST® as the definitive guide to making your way mile by mile throughout every region of the state, along with the places to stop for rest, food, lodging, and activities—as well as how to stay safe and be prepared in remote regions. On the following pages, you’ll find easily accessible journeys with manageable mileage and plenty to see and do enroute and upon arrival. Let’s hit the road!
Alaska’s regulations regarding gambling and games are somewhat complicated. Although there are many tribal casinos in the state, and betting on some forms of games is allowed, online casinos and most gaming machines have been outlawed in the past. Dive deeper and see what the current state of play is.
The Alaska Railroad is taking summer train adventures to the next level by offering passengers a wide-ranging lineup of new and returning add-on experiences. From thrilling helicopter glacier adventures to educational historical tours, there’s something for everyone to enjoy; and all are available and customizable through the railroad’s reservations team.
Not everyone likes eulachon, so loaded with oils they are nicknamed candlefish, but this Alaskan family does, and they load up every spring.
Fisheries experts are concerned about invasive European green crabs spreading in Alaska, especially during this year’s El Nino climate pattern. Research shows the crabs can expand their range during El Nino years, which often bring warmer Pacific Northwest ocean temperatures.
Hawaiian and other Polynesian cultures have an ancient relationship with Alaska, and today Pacific Islanders comprise the largest growing ethnic community in Alaska. Anchorage alone has a Polynesian florist, various Hawaiian restaurants, and a handful of Samoan churches. If you look a little harder in some convenience stores, you’ll find the piece of culinary heaven brought to us from the south Pacific, the Hawaiian delicacy known simply as “musubi.”
A skier pulls a backflip into a pond at the Alyeska Slush Cup. Courtesy Ralph Kristopher, Alyeska Resort SALMON CULTURE EXHIBITION Celebrates connections between salmon and Alaska Native peoples and honors salmon as a resource that has nourished communities physically and spiritually for thousands of years. At the Anchorage Museum through September 2024. Visit: anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/salmon-culture. ALASKA HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVAL Annual event begins April 5 with a juried art show and reception at the Southeast Discovery Center in Ketchikan. Exhibits, bird walks, talks, and more continue through April 27 to welcome the annual return of rufous hummingbirds. Contact Tongass National Forest: 907-228-6220. ALYESKA SPRING CARNIVAL April 19-21 at the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood. Food trucks, live music, a costume contest, a tug-of-war into a frigid pond, and the always popular slush cup ski competition, where costumed skiers launch over a jump and attempt to ski across a pond. Visit: alyeskaresort.com. NATIVE…
It’s not easy getting a Broadway show to Alaska. In the case of Hamilton, which ran in Anchorage last August, it took over two years of planning and a 757 commercial aircraft. Smaller shows require a mix of trucks and barges, with delivery times that must somehow squeeze into a production’s national touring schedule.
