Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Ale on Rails
“BEER TRAIN.” There are two words which, in conjunction, should make anyone sit up and
take notice.
The Great Alaska Beer Train, the product of a brainstorming session between the people
at Glacier Brewhouse, an Alaskan restaurant and brewery, and the folks at Alaska Railroad
is an annual four-hour train ride from Anchorage to Portage and back, with beer and food
served on route.
It is also the answer to any Anchoragite's prayer for deliverance from the dark dog days
of October, especially when there still isn't any termination dust on the Chugach Moun-
tains.
So Saturday afternoon my friend Rhonda and I arrive at the Alaska Railroad depot on
Second Avenue at 3:30 p.m. to find a line of blue-and-gold railcars on the tracks outside,
and a crowd of two hundred thirsty people waiting with foot-tapping impatience for the sig-
nal to board inside.
Which comes not a moment too soon. “It's our second year,” Denise tells me as we all
push forward. She and her husband David had such a good time during last year's inaugur-
al run that this year they coerced neighbors Nora and Dale to come along, not to mention
friend Paula down from Fairbanks. “They just talked about it so much we couldn't stay
away,” Nora says Denise says, “Yeah, we go through people's back yards and get to look in
their windows.”
“Yeah, and sometimes people moon you,” David says.
Rock and roll blares out of overhead loudspeakers as we roll past Elderberry Park on the
Coastal Trail. The bar is open and people are amazingly quick to adapt to the motion of the
train on route between their seat and the two bars. Dennis, one of the bartenders, is pushing
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