The next day we headed into downtown Anchorage in the hopes of visiting the zoo, but it was closing early for an event, so we found ourselves at the Anchorage Museum and Imaginarium. The exhibits were outstanding and we learned a great deal about gyres which collect all the plastic debris in our oceans due to the swirling of ocean currents. It is astounding how much plastic ends up in the waterways of the world and the provocative art brought the message home beautifully. The museum had a wonderful exhibit of Native artifacts on loan from the Smithsonian and the girls got a great opportunity to see how the Native people lived differently off the land, depending on their environment. The Aleutians of the islands have a very different diet, culture and dwellings than the people of the interior. The girls were also amazed by how the Russians and then others shaped the land with the Gold Rush. It was a great example of living history. Finally, the hands-on exhibits in the Imaginarium made science really come alive and they had a great time trying out all of the experiments with their engineering father.
On Sunday, we celebrated Mark's 40th birthday with a great lunch watching Germany win the Fifa World Cup. The girls cheered on their team and Mark was ecstatic to see the Fatherland bring home gold. After a few hours of television, we headed out to the Alaska Zoo to see the wildlife. The wolves and wolf pups were impressive, but the animals seemed a bit sad or neurotic and you had to wonder if zoo life was such a good life after all.
Anchorage Museum and Imaginarium
Alaska Zoo
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