Wedding Week II: Honeymoonin’ Where The Sun Don’t Set
So now that we’ve spilled some pre-wedding details, we’ll turn our attention to post-wedding: our ten day honeymoon in Alaska. Our goal was to share a glimpse of America’s largest state through our eyes, but more than likely we’re just highlighting the weird ways we Petersiks like to entertain ourselves when away from home (like this ring photo we snapped on an Alaskan hike during our one-week-of-being-married anniversary).
First, let’s tackle the obvious question: why Alaska? After all, it doesn’t really scream “dream honeymoon” to the majority of the population. We ended up in Palin-territory for two main reasons: we wanted to bring Burger along so domestic travel was much easier (he’s such an easy travel companion and definitely a part of our little family) and we wanted to go someplace new to both of us (and I had vacationed in Hawaii with some college friends just months before beginning to date Sherry so that was out). With one not-contiguous-US-state crossed off, our attention immediately turned to the other. And we figured we were just adventurous & quirky enough for it to be the perfect destination for us. Plus those 19+ hours of daily sunshine meant comfortable July temps of 60 – 70 degrees with glaciers and ice caps just an uphill drive away (elevation completely changes the climate there- it’s like two or three destinations in one). Here we are posing in front of an outdoor clock at 11pm to show how light it still is (we’re yawning to demonstrate that it’s the evening).
We’re pretty low-key plan-as-you go travelers, so we landed in Anchorage with a hotel booked, a rental car reserved, a chihuahua in a bag and a wide open schedule. We quickly filled the first day exploring downtown and getting a sense of the city. But Alaska’s all about the wilderness and the great outdoors, so we didn’t stick around in the city center too long… but apparently long enough to let our newlywed giddiness get the best of us around some souvenirs. Don’t I make a fetching moose? And isn’t Sherry a ferocious polar bear?
How about when we play the role of bear victims? We laughed at this photo for hours on the plane ride home.
The next few days consisted of a road trip on the uber-scenic Highway 1 (we love a good road trip – and that’s actually part of the reason that we opted out of seeing Alaska via cruiseship). It was possibly the most beautiful drive of our lives – the glacial waterfalls, snowcovered peaks, sunny skies and occasional wild animal-sightings caused us to stop constantly for photos (we saw dall sheep perched precariously on jagged cliffs just a few yards away from the road and even stopped to stick our toes in melting glacier water- yeah, it was cold).
Our first road trip pit stop was the Alyeska Resort. This is the one day we got fancy, thanks to a couples hot stone massage someone had pre-booked for us as a wedding present. Alyeska is truly a ski resort by definition, but even in July it was beautiful. The resort actually sits in the middle of a rainforest (who knew Alaska had so many different climates- it’s really amazing) so one minute we were hiking through damp and lush rainforest greenery…
…and the next we were taking a tram through the clouds to the top of a mountain (where we ate lunch overlooking snow capped peaks).
After a night spent in the lap of luxury (their hotel was the nicest one we’ve ever stayed at), we found ourselves back in the car on a scenic drive to Seward. Along the way we stopped several times to enjoy the scenery – including an up-close-and-personal look at a real live glacier and a hike that was narrowly thwarted by a recent bear sighting (on our wedding day, no less).
Once back in Anchorage we still did our best to enjoy the great outdoors. We rented bikes one day for a 14-mile ride along a coastal paved trail. And like true pet parents, we even rented a “kid caboose” so our fur baby could come along for the ride (I imagine many of your are giving us the strange look we got all too frequently that day – “you have what in there???”). Hey, at least we’ve got a funny story to tell two years later. And Burger loved it. Really, he got mad when we stopped pedaling.
With our honeymoon soon coming to an end, we decided to go out with a bang by way of a private seaplane tour. Our hotel was right next to Lake Hood, the world’s busiest seaplane base so it was only natural that we experience Alaska that way (taking off right from the lake and landing with a splash two unforgettable hours later). Don’t worry, Burger stayed at the hotel as we flew over expanses of wilderness towards an active volcano. The trip gave us the chance to rock some stylish headphones, snap about a bazillion photos (one of which we once framed in our house) and spot a bunch of animals from above (moose, seals- even a momma bear and her cubs). It was amazing to watch all the green…
…turn into frozen glaciers and arctic ambiance as we went (check out the icy backdrop of this photo).
We even got to land in a secluded lake in the middle of nowhere and explore a tiny island full of wild flowers before heading back. Now that’s rugged…ish.
So that’s a look back at our first official vacation as a married couple. We’d love to hear more about where you guys have honeymooned (or where you dream of honeymooning someday…). And pipe up if you have any other great Alaska vacation stories (we know Mrs. Limestone recently posted some amazing pics from her trip).
Check out more photos from our Alaskan Honeymoon in our Flickr album (and try to view ‘em with captions so you know what the heck is going on).
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Comments
My husband (it hasn’t even been a whole month since our wedding!) and I vacationed at TERRANEA RESORT in Palos Verdes, CA after our low key wedding. It was beautiful with wonderful ocean views. It’s definitely a place for more lounging which is good to keep in mind. Of course it’s in southern CA and there were lots of things to do a drive away but since we’re natives to the area this did not interest us too much. We opted to stay on the cliff resort and just relax.
Beautiful pictures of Alaska – thanks for the inspiration. And oh, Happy Anniversary. We just celebrated our 15th in June. We spent our honeymoon hiking from inn to inn in Austria. We splurged and spent the last few days in Salzburg. A friend upgraded our airline tickets to first class as a wedding present, so even the flights were a comfortable adventure.
Sounds like a great honeymoon :)
My husband and I travel a lot with our dog too. I would say it’s a great perk of having a little dogger is that you can take them with you on trips and they get to enjoy the fun too! We have even bicycled with our dog, but she actually rode in the basket of my bike! (We securely latched her into the basket using her harness and leash). I really like the idea of renting the kid carrier to use for them though, I think that looks like more fun and even more safe.
My husband and I went to Costa Rica for twelve days for our honeymoon. Unfortunately the dog couldn’t go with us on this trip! We drove to Arenal Volcano, Monte Verde–where the cloud forest is, Manual Antonio, and then flew from San Jose to Tamarindo and finished our trip with some days on the beach. Costa Rica was so, SO much fun. It provided the opportunity to do a lot of activities we love doing from hiking to swimming in the ocean and doing new things too, like riding a zip line through the jungle and exploring amazing hot springs. I highly recommend it! :)
We honeymooned in Alaska also, for 2 weeks. Half by cruise, half on land. We did everything as a Princess tour, but we REALLY want to go back some day and “do our own thing” like you guys did. Looks like you had a blast. Thanks for sharing!
It’s great reading your stories! There are many parallels between your relationship and mine with my wife! (we too secretly dated at work and didn’t tell anyone until we were engaged after 6 months! And, both being architects, we’ve been fixing up our city rowhouse since we started dating.) After spending our 2 year engagement planning a wedding up on the east coast of Long Island (we live in Maryland) and after going back and forth on honeymoon ideas, we decided to really save hard and splurge on both of our dream vacation and went to Fiji. We stayed on a small island, Matangi Island, and with only 12 bungalows on the whole island, our beachfront bure was spectacular. We knew we wanted a honeymoon that would allow us to relax but also had opportunities to do some outdoor adventures, and this was the perfect mix. Kayaking in the ocean, snokeling in Horseshoe Bay (and also at a shipwreck!) and hiking the island was perfectly balanced with walking and relaxing along the beach. It was more than we had originally planned for our honeymoon, but worth saving for in the future! On a side note, my wife has cruised to Alaska and LOVED it. I’m sure we’ll be taking a trip up there in the future!
I love the bear sighting sign. How do you “announce yourself as human” to a bear? “Hello bear, I’m a human.” Do they understand?
My husband of over two years and I went to Greece, namely Mykonos, Santorini and Athens.
Like you two, we both wanted to go somewhere we’ve never been.
Enjoyed reading about Alaska! Will have to put on the Bucket List.
Loved getting a sneak peek at your gorgeous honeymoon! We went to Venice, Florence, Rome, Athens, Santorini and Paris. Can’t believe it was almost a year ago. Fond memories… There’s pictures from our trip on my blog.
There is nothing wrong with taking Burger along for the ride!
We will only stay at Kimpton Hotels when we go on vacation because they are dog friendly (more like dog enthusiastic…I think Baxter usually gets a better reception than we do).
Awwww…I love that Burger went with you! This post made me flash back to this time three years ago when I was counting down to our wedding and VACATION! Because of grad school and jobs, we didn’t travel at all for almost two years leading up to our NYC wedding (I’m from VA, husband is from LI, so home sweet home NYC was the most neutral territory for us). We totally splurged — one week in Dubai and just over a week in the Maldives. Between the wedding and honeymooon, I think I was away from work for 3 weeks…it was the trip of a lifetime. I can’t wait to post for our three-year anniversary in September and take us back halfway around the world!
I want to honeymoon in New Zealand…ah, that would be lovely.
Your ring is outrageously beautiful. Tiffany novo?
Wow! These pictures and your honeymoon story make me drool. We are having a December wedding and have decided to go somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere to a little island country Mauritius. Now I kinda want to do another summer honeymoon and go to Alaska!!! The plane ride sounds superb!
Nice glacial pics! We honeymooned in Iceland a few years ago and get the same “Why there?” questions. It was totally wonderful and I completely recommend it, although we aren’t the sit on the beach type of people so a resort vaca was never in the cards; hiking and sight-seeing is way too much fun!
My Alaska vacation has never ended. I was born, bred, and still reside there (and devoutly loathe Palin). Thanks for showcasing my home – though I live much farther north, right outside Fairbanks.
And, guys, it’s dall sheep…not doll (though it is pronouced that way).
this is actually where i would like to go for our honeymoon; i have family in alaska and i hear it’s nothing short of phenomenally beautiful. thanks for the tour and i’m glad you two/three had a blast!!
We’re getting married in less than 3 months and are honeymooning in Italy. We decided to spend a little less on the wedding so that we could do this. My fiance has never been to Europe, and I’ve been just to Ireland and Paris. This pretty much is our dream trip: we are both really into food and wine, and he especially is into ancient Roman history and architechture. We are spending a few days in Rome doing the tourist-y thing, including a trip down to Pompeii for him, and then renting a farmhouse in Chianti for a week to relax and just explore the local villages.
Looks like so much fun!
Our Boston Oakley has his own “chariot” and loves it! I’m sure Burger would be thrilled if you got him for everyday!
Hi guys! Haven’t had a chance to read your blog lately, and as I was scrolling through some old posts I found this one about your honeymoon in Alaska. Found it funny being that I just got back from a 2 week vacation there! A friend of mine just finished up grad school there and I jumped to visit her before she moved back down to the “lower 48″ as they refer to it. It was the trip of a lifetime!! Was (barely) able to narrow down my 600+ pictures to a measly 300 to post on my facebook page (and quite a few contained a picture of my cell phone with the time showing the daylight at midnight!) Also stayed in Anchorage, but ventured out to see the glory of the state. Truly amazing. Now I’m just trying to figure out how I can rearrange my life so I can live there in the summers…
sidenote- you guys are awesome. I just bought my first place and can’t WAIT for all the DIY projects… with your site’s assistance, of course :)
Thank you so much for the lovely depiction of my “home”! I live in Eagle River just outside Anchorage and get to enjoy said scenery 12 months out of the year. I am glad you had a nice stay and thank you for the fresh perspective of a sweet and happy young couple. Sometimes when it hits November/December the days are very short and the nights so long and cold. I embrace the 24 hour sun of summer as you did. Love your blog. Love the dog Burger too!
What? No pictures of Seward? I grew up in AK before I married my southern husband and my by far favorite place is Seward. The rainy days, the little bakery, boats in the harbor and the otter that swims in between them. LOVE IT! We married in 2004 and actually spent our wedding night at Alyeska. We then vacationed in Kona, HI. It was surreal to be hiking on a frigid glacier one week and then hiking an erupting volcano exactly a week later.
I just happened upon your AK honeymoon photos. My husband and I went to Alaska for our honeymoon as well (sans cruise ship – to get the real experience, of course!). We had a lot of “why Alaska?” questions. The trip was amazing – and I would return to Alaska in a heartbeat. I’m glad you both enjoyed it as much as we did!
I check your blog a couple of times a week, but I never knew that you honeymooned AK, which is amazingly cool.
I was born in Anchorage and have split my time between AK and WA. If you love Alaska, then you’ll like a lot of WA too. :)
It’s weird seeing pictures of places that I’ve grown up frequenting, but I’ve got to say that your food choices were perfect. Double Musky and Snow City = WIN.
And I think not liking sourdough is a sin in the PNW. haha
If you ever go back, be sure to do a Kenai river tour (you don’t have to fish, but if you do then there’s nothing like it!) and go to Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs! You can ride on a steamboat and drive a sled-dog team, and sit in super nice hot springs afterwards. :)
Your whole wedding was adorable! I did almost everything for ours too (except that we had it at a place that did weddings) and was exhausted about halfway through the reception. Good thing I took two days off before leaving on our honeymoon to Disneyworld! We’d never been there (now we own a timeshare there and my husband works for a Disney subsidiary, but that’s REALLY a coincidence).
Love your site!
I loved your honeymoon and inclusion of your little Burger. We have one large and one small and the small is certainly a great travel companion- I loved the bike trailer for including the doggie! Thanks for the inspiration.
We’re driving to Alaska for our honeymoon! We can’t wait.
We love the idea of a road trip with our dog and thinking about all the things we’ll get to see.
Your pictures are beautiful and I love your blog!
Waht a fun and fabulous honeymoon! I’m trying to plan our vacatiosn for next year right now, and you jsut put Alaska at the top of my list.
We wetn to Japan for 2 weeks for our honeymoon. We had a super-teeny wedding, so we had lots of spare change to splurge on a honeymoon. Best decision we ever made. It was so fabulous to spend two weeks together, totally isolated from everything. My husband had spent the previous 18 months of our engagement going to gradaute school and traveling back and forth to Hong Kong. So our honeymoon was a really great opportunity to reconnect aftr 18 months of craziness.
I don’t know how I’ll concentrate at work today now that I need to plan a trip to Alaska…