Any 'Buds thinking about attending in 2018?

[flowerpower]

My sweet husband hit me up with the idea of visiting the Iditarod THIS year as a birthday gift. His idea was to sign up for tour, but that's not really my style. I like to research and plan my own trip. So, I will be researching carefully this year, and if anyone is thinking about going in 2018, let me know!

[txbennett]

WOW Candy -- Great trip to plan! Go for it, and remember to thank sweet Hubby for the Birthday gift every step of the way.

[StarDancer]

YES! I'm seriously thinking about it! Wouldn't it be fun to meet?

[Holly Golightly]

Barring any disaster, 2018 would be my 11th straight Iditarod--but I'm usually "on the jump" from before dawn until after the KTUU 10 PM news, going here and there and everywhere. You're wise to plan your own trip instead of going with one of those tours, BTW.

[jplife]

that is my next plan

[fladogfan]

Barring any disaster, 2018 would be my 11th straight Iditarod--but I'm usually "on the jump" from before dawn until after the KTUU 10 PM news, going here and there and everywhere. You're wise to plan your own trip instead of going with one of those tours, BTW.

Holly, what do you recommend Iditabuds do and see? Could we have a taste of one of your days? Do you go to the finish also? Do you fly to some of the checkpoints?

I highly recommend attending the finishers banquet in Nome if you are there, it was fun and the food is great.

[libby the lab]

I think 2018 would be awesome! I might actually have recovered enough from the Real Estate disaster years by then!

[sc-race-fan]

I have always hoped to go and handle for Tanglefoot, (Matt Hammersely of North Cerney, UK), but not sure he's going to make it anytime soon and I'm not getting any younger!, So, it's on my like to do it next year list!

[Holly Golightly]

Wel-l-l-l...before I describe a typical day for me in AK, I must confess that since I go every year, I don't do a lot of things that most first-time tourists do. For instance, I know many people think Gwennie's is a great restaurant, but I've been there once and it didn't impress me *at all*. Do the Glacier Brewhouse, do Pil's Deli (great for a quick bite when downtown!), do Arctic Sushi, or even Ginger, instead.

Things to see and do: the Anchorage Museum is a must, even tho' it's not open on Mondays. I'm annoyed that the big renovation won't be complete when I'm up this year, but then again, it gives me something to look forward to in 2018. If shopping, go to Title Wave Books and the Arctic Rose Gallery in mid-town, the Rusty Harpoon, Grizzly's Gifts and Cabin Fever in downtown, and the Iditarod shop at the Millennium Hotel (now renamed "Lakefront", much to my chagrin). Trapper Jack's is nice, but not quite at the top of my list; Polar Bear Gifts is a been-there-done-that.

Accommodations and getting around: I stay downtown so I can walk to important things like the Rondy race, the Pre-Race Banquet, the Ceremonial Start, and the joys of downtown itself, not to mention the People Mover (Anchorage's bus system). I only rent a car for one day; the Friday between the Banquet and the Ceremonial Start is when the annual Happy Trails open house takes place, and it's an hour's drive from Anchorage to there, and another hour back again. Getting to the Restart usually involves hopping a taxi to the Millen--I mean the Lakefront--and catching the shuttle from there to Willow (buy tickets early!).

I don't go to checkpoints--first off, price is a consideration; second, my POV is once the mushers hit the trail, that's their "work". I wouldn't want people showing up unannounced at my workplace, so I don't do it to anyone else. (I realise my POV isn't shared by everyone, but it's how I feel.) As for the finish, each year I say "This'll be the year I fly home long enough to do laundry, warn work that I'm leaving again, and fly to Nome for the finish because my favorite is gonna win!" It hasn't actually HAPPENED yet during the time I've been going, but I can always hope.

I'll add more later after I refer back to prev years' journals and see if I've missed anything.

[Holly Golightly]

Continuing: I used to go to the Miners' and Trappers' Ball, which is held the evening of the Ceremonial Start, but the last couple times I went the music (live band) was MUCH too loud. While the beard-judging and costume-judging contests were fun, getting a headache from the top-volume audio assault was most definitely NOT fun.

For great views of the mountains, go to Earthquake Park.

The Running of the Reindeer (afternoon of the Ceremonial Start) is fun to watch, tho' sometimes the reindeer get a bit testy.

The 4th Avenue Marketplace has arts and crafts, food, and a little theater that shows mushing-themed films during both the Rondy race and the Ceremonial Start. In 2014 they showed -MUSH-, which is a volunteers'-eye-view of the Iditarod; there's also an interactive film about the 1964 earthquake (I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say why it's "interactive"). The Federal Building has great displays on wildlife, heaps of Alaskan books, and a theater that shows short AK films too--the one about the Denali sled dogs is a must-see. While Rondy Headquarters (right on the corner of 4th and D) is small, they have a fair amount of sprint-racing memorabilia on the walls, plus a cafe with reindeer sausages.

It's a bit hard for me to know what else I should be mentioning, unfortunately.