My wife Gosia and I love visiting small cities in Alaska. The last two years, we’ve popped over to Sitka, King Salmon, Kodiak, Seward and Nome.
This time we chose Cordova, Alaska.
On the plane to Cordova we met our seat-mate Matt, a good-natured young fisherman awaiting the start of silver season.
“Got any restaurant recommendations?” Gosia asked.
“Many people like the Reluctant Fisherman Inn, but it’s pricey,” he said. “The Baja Taco has good fish tacos.”
Upon landing, I walked across the short-term parking lot to a red building. The Red Caboose Lounge was also home of Chinook Auto rentals at $85 daily.
The Airbnb apartment awaiting us was perfect. It was spotless, equipped with full kitchen gear, and provided a picturesque view of Eyak Lake and the Chugach Mountains beyond. It cost $500 per night for a kitchen, living room, and big bedroom.
We raced to our first destination: a history museum.
The museum gets five stars from us for its displays of Cordova’s fishing industry, boomtown mining relics, and panels devoted to the historical peoples on whose land we trod.
Me, a lifelong ink-stained wretch, loved an exhibit with the 19th Century linotype machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler that put out the pioneer Cordova newspaper
Hungry, we voted to get chow.
A beat-up hippie bus greeted us at Baja Taco, along with two friendly servers at the window. We scanned the extensive menu.
We each ordered the halibut taco. We ate inside the comfortable eating area.
I’d give the taco joint five shiny stars: huge chunks of meat, super sauce, tasty shell.
As always, Gosia and I decided to pick up provisions to save money. Nichols’ Back Door Company was a local supermarket celebrating its 20th year in business.
We purchased breakfast fixings for Saturday and Sunday morning. We went back to the cabin and read that evening on the comfortable sofa.
As we dressed for bed at 8:50 p.m., the Airbnb landlord’s Black Labrador went nuts with barking.
I figured it was a moose in the yard.
Next morning I read a phone text from the landlord.
“I was trying to call you last night!” he wrote. “Seems like there is a black bear hanging out in neighborhood. It was around the house around 9 p.m.”
We left and drove the Copper River Highway and passed the Eyak River with a fair number of fly anglers. We stopped at a display informing us about the enormous Copper River Delta and drove to stunning Sheridan Glacier and found an easily traversed trail.
Gosia loves landscape photography, and so she was in heaven clicking away.
Next, we drove to the once-booming town of Orca, admiring its views of a rocky beach and close-by island. The town had an abandoned cannery, a café, coffee shop and lodging belonging to a wildlife adventure company.
The Orca Beach is famous for tide pooling, where seekers can find mussels, gunnels and other organisms.
We came back to Cordova and stopped at the Little Cordova Bakery. There we purchased, with tasty coffees, a cinnamon roll that bulged in its container.
We wiped our sticky faces with napkins and went next door to investigate Sue’s Knives and More.
The “More” turned out to be musical instruments, Alaska souvenir paraphernalia, clothing, toys, swords, red salmon windsocks, and clever handmade crafts and rope art by craftsperson April Beedle.
We elected to explore another side of Cordova. We turned onto the road to Hartney Bay. We followed it until the road ceased, enjoying uncountable numbers of seabirds, lavish-colored wildflowers, and breathtaking views.
At 4 p.m. we explored the Net Loft, a dazzling place with gorgeous stationery offerings, craft goods, silk clothing, and skein upon skein of colorful yarn.
The next morning , we went outside for our last walk at the beautiful lake. A couple mallards swam past. A jay scolded us from a pine tree, and Gosia turned her camera, too late, to catch a young bald eagle aloft.
“Let’s come back as soon as the bridge gets fixed so we can see Miles Glacier,” I said.
