Knik River Lodge and Talkeetna

Earlier this spring we bought a Groupon to the Knik River Lodge. It was about an hour from Anchorage, just off the Knik (pronounced Kuh-Nick) River. We got in there about 7 last night. We checked in, went for a walk, and then had dinner.

Dinner was quite tasty--though we liked the appetizer and dessert better than the entree. We started with a caprese salad and their homemade bread. John had the fillet, and I had the seafood medley, which was really a seafood trio. We shared the orange cognac creme brulee for dessert. The dining room was a yurt, which was interesting all on its own. The service was terrible, but not for lack of effort... our waitress just seemed to be very frantic and confused--she was obviously new.

We had our own, 1 room cabin and, after finishing dinner at close to 10pm, decided to borrow a movie from the office. We watched (well, I fell asleep for the last half hour) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. We were glad to have seen this classic, even if it wasn't very uplifting.

Breakfast is brought to your cabin. It was a basket with muffins, oranges, juice, toast, and yogurt. We made coffee in the room. It was a nice way to start the day.

We wanted to explore a bit, but didn't have any plans. John suggested we re-visit Talkeetna.
We first went to Talkeetna when Mina and Dodd visited. We decided to go back. We were going to eat at the Talkeetna Roadhouse again and explore some.

It was a bit longer drive than either of us remember, but the scenery was beautiful. When we got to Talkeetna, we wandered the main street and checked out the stores. We were both disappointed... lots of commercial stuff marketed as art. For instance, we went into "The Chocolate Corner" thinking it was an artisanal chocolatier... nope-- all Lindt and other pre-packaged chocolates. We walked down to the Talkeetna river and then ate lunch (well, breakfast for lunch) at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. After that, we went to the Denali Brewing Company, which Tammy and Steve and Andrea and Kirk all recommended. John and I sat outside and ordered some taster flights. John had the Single Engine Red, Apricot Wheat, Mother Ale, and Cleopatra's Kiss. I had their homemade rootbeer, Big Mama (which was a blended black and tan between their stout and Mother Ale), and the Agave Gold. My favorites were the Apricot Wheat and the rootbeer. John liked the Cleopatra's Kiss-- but I hated the spices with the bitterness of the beer. He also liked the Agave Gold and the Apricot Wheat. I guess I'm just not much of a beer girl.

Then, we headed back to town. It was a fun way to celebrate the end of the school year and John's first year in Alaska (as of today).