Explore the journey — one trail, museum, meal, and memory at a time.
Dutch Harbor WWII History Museum
Getting from Dutch Harbor back to Anchorage should have been easy. Instead, the day turned into a series of delays, missed opportunities, and unexpected conversations. Along the way I finally visited the Aleutian World War II Visitor Center, where the story of the Japanese bombing and the Lost Villages gave me a much deeper appreciation for the people who call these remote islands home.
Alaska State Museum
After another rainy morning in Juneau, I set out in search of coffee and ended up spending most of the day at the Alaska State Museum. Exhibits on Alaska Native cultures, Russian settlement, mining, whaling, the Exxon Valdez disaster, and the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands offered a deeper understanding of Alaska's history. An unexpected highlight was a collection of clothing by Haida designer Dorothy Grant, whose work blended Indigenous art with contemporary fashion.