Vegan in Alaska: Ultimate Guide for Plant-Based Travelers

Here is the ultimate vegan Alaska travel guide filled with tips on eating plant-based during your travels and some great sites to see.

Vegan in Alaska: Ultimate Guide for Plant-Based Travelers
Photo by McKayla Crump / Unsplash

Introduction

I got the pleasure of going on a family trip to Alaska. This was the first vacation I’ve been on since visiting my brother in Washington DC in September 2019. That was roughly half a year before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Even though some COVID-19 precautions were still a thing, we still got to continue with our Alaska plans for the most part.

How did COVID-19 impact our trip to Alaska?

My family and I all got our COVID-19 vaccines before going to Alaska. Despite the close end to the COVID-19 pandemic, it still changed how we vacationed:

  • We had to wear masks at the airport and on our flights when we weren’t eating or drinking. However, the arrival plane crew didn’t enforce these mask requirements, but the flight attendants were super strict on the way back.
  • Some places had social distancing stickers on the ground, but no one made you do it.
  • A few of our tours required people to wear masks.
  • The hotels only cleaned rooms between stays, so we couldn’t get clean towels during our visits unless we requested some at the front desk.
  • Some places closed temporarily due to COVID-19 (i.e., some of the cruises’ hotels in Denali).
  • The majority of the open places had limited staff and/or hours.
  • The restaurants were short on food supplies. For example, we went to a restaurant with vegan options on its online menu but no vegan options on its actual menu board.

Here is the ultimate vegan Alaska travel guide filled with tips on eating plant-based during your travels and some great sites to see in the following places.

  • Anchorage
  • Palmer
  • Valdez
  • Fairbanks
  • Denali
  • Talkeetna
  • Seward

5 Pre-Alaska Travel Tips

Before heading to Alaska, I wrote the top five tips I thought you would need when traveling to Alaska. Note that my post-Alaska travel tips are incredibly different from what I thought you would need to know.

1. Pack extra food in your checked bag.

No matter where you’re vacationing, it’s good to have some food packed and ready in case there are places with scarce vegan options. Make sure it’s just pantry items, not anything fresh because it’ll go bad with the changing temperatures underneath the plane. Also, there are many more restrictions on fresh food than other food items.

I originally put some Clif bars, Silk chocolate soy and chocolate almond milk, Safe + Fair granola, Arrowhead Mills puffed rice, and some vegan microwavable popcorn in my checked bag for future reference. After realizing my checked bag was over sixty pounds, I downsized to only bringing four Clif bars.

Plus, putting food in there leaves you room for souvenirs when heading home.

2. Bring a sack lunch for your trip to the airport.

Many airports don’t have vegan options besides whole fruit and overpriced sliced veggies, depending on where you’re flying out. Come on, airports. I want some warm food in my stomach before I travel or something better than that.

Easy sack lunch ideas are sandwiches, wraps, salads, and bento boxes with your favorite sliced produce with hummus and/or nut butter. If you would rather have takeout, some vegan-friendly restaurants include but are not limited to Panera Bread, Blaze Pizza, Freshii, and Pita Pit.

3. Make room in your luggage for a cooler.

From the looks of the Alaska itinerary my dad sent me, he booked several tours that served lunch aboard a ship that lacked vegan options. I would need a sack lunch on those days.

Either way, you can benefit from bringing a cooler no matter your dietary preference because you can save money on food expenses and eat fewer calories.

4. Go grocery shopping after you arrive.

No matter the size of the place you go, the best place with vegan options is the grocery store. You don’t have to worry about cross-contamination as much because you can warm up the food in your hotel microwave. Besides, you’ll find healthier options with all the fresh produce available there.

In Alaska, some grocery stores that you can find are Fred Meyer, Safeway, Carrs, and Walmart.

5. Become besties with HappyCow.

HappyCow is a great website that allows you to find vegan and vegetarian options while you travel or just locally where you’re from. That made me realize that Anchorage has way more vegan options than I thought. Remember to scope out the restaurants’ websites because HappyCow’s restaurant information isn’t always current.


Day 1: Arrival (7/17/21)

Day 1 was a travel day from my parents’ farm in Iowa to the Twin Cities. We flew from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska.

Breakfast: Family Farm (Iowa)

For my pre-travel breakfast, I had some Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn with Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chips on top, a chocolate brownie Clif bar, a couple of Chiquita bananas, and a little bit of Silk Soymilk. I tried drinking the remaining Silk Chocolate Soymilk I had left in the fridge, but I failed because I was full when I started drinking it, and I didn’t want to go to the bathroom excessively while we were traveling.

These are some of the usual things I have for breakfast while visiting my parents, except I don’t have 50 glasses of Silk Chocolate Soymilk at a time.

Lunch: Kwik Star (Clear Lake)

On the way to the airport, we stopped at the Clear Lake Kwik Star, the same place we stopped at on our way to the Mall of America during Memorial Day weekend. I had some blueberries, Snyder’s pretzels, and Lenny & Larry’s protein cookies.

The blueberries were okay. I liked the pretzels, but the miniature cookies were terrible. They were harder than crackers and didn’t taste like cookies.

Supper: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (Twin Cities)

I tried some chips and salsa from Cocina del Barrio at the airport, which were no bueno. The chips tasted burnt while the salsa was weird, probably because it was made with tomatillos instead of tomatoes. One of my sisters liked and ate them. I also brought an apple and baby carrots from my parents’ place.

On the airplane, I had the rest of my Stacy’s plain pita chips and some Extra gum while watching some downloaded episodes of La Doña on Netflix.


Day 2: Anchorage (7/18/21)

I started the day by exercising in the hotel’s fitness room. After breakfast, we took the shuttle to Downtown Anchorage. My dad got our rental car while we went to church at the Holy Family Cathedral. Then, we watched some ships move ocean containers and saw a statue of Captain James Cook.

After lunch, we visited Kincaid Park and Chugach State Park to find some moose, but we never found any today. While we waited forever for the restaurant to make our supper to go, we headed to Cabela’s and Target.

The one thing to remember about Cabela’s is that they have many taxidermies (stuffed corpses) everywhere. I’m used to seeing dead animals because of being the corpse cleaner-upper on the farm, but many vegans may find these taxidermies offensive and/or depressing.

We had our supper outside the hotel on picnic tables with a great view of the airport’s planes coming and going. I finished my night by watching the second half of Runaway Bride before typing today’s travel journal entry and going to bed.

Breakfast: Hotel (Anchorage)

While in Anchorage, we stayed at The Lakefront Anchorage Hotel. We ate breakfast at our hotel’s restaurant, The Flying Machine. There weren’t any vegan options besides a side of fruit. I ordered a fresh fruit plate that came with more fruit and yogurt. I gave the yogurt to my mom and got some extra fruit from my uncle’s fruit side.

I also brought one of the chocolate chip Clif bars I had in my bag. Overall, they gave me way more fruit than expected, and it was all super ripe and good. That’s abnormal for fruit dishes because something’s usually spoiled or tastes weird because of being out of season. I hope tomorrow’s breakfast will be just as good as today’s.

Lunch: Middle Way Cafe (Anchorage)

My parents considered eating lunch near the ships, but there wasn’t much there. However, I found a couple of places that were on HappyCow that we didn’t go to. The Snow City Cafe had a huge line and didn’t have that many vegan options. The other one, the International House of Hot Dogs, was closed.

My dad found the Middle Way Cafe online and thought it would be a good option because it had vegan options, but he was mistaken. I had the vegan breakfast burrito, a blackberry lavender cupcake, and banana bread.

The cupcake was adequate. The cupcake itself tasted like a store-bought chocolate muffin mix. However, I liked the flavor combinations of blackberry, lavender, and chocolate.

My main issue with the banana bread was that I didn’t realize it had walnuts until I ate it, which was annoying because I don’t like nuts.

The burrito was horrendous. Middle Way Cafe didn’t completely press the tofu, so when you added cooked spinach into the mix, the burrito tasted super slimy and had no flavor that remotely resembled Mexican cuisine.

My biggest complaint about this establishment had nothing to do with the food. Instead, after we returned to the restaurant to pick up the takeout, it took 10–15 minutes for any staff to notice us. They even had a sign saying where the takeout customers were supposed to wait and go, and nobody paid attention to us until we talked to some other people who didn’t seem in charge of takeout orders.

Supper: Moose’s Tooth (Anchorage)

My dad said we’re going to a brewery or pub for supper since I got to pick out something for lunch. Granted, they went to Subway instead of getting anything from the cafe I got lunch at. I found Moose’s Tooth on HappyCow, which served vegan pizza. Even a local raved about how excellent this restaurant was before we told them we would eat there.

I’m disappointed we had to wait over two hours to get this pizza order via takeout, but it was worth it. This was the best vegan restaurant pizza I’ve ever had, even with it being a little cold with the drive back to the hotel. My family enjoyed the pizza, and I bet we all would have given this place five stars.

I had a Honeycrisp apple and some baby carrots while watching TV for a snack.


Day 3: Palmer (7/19/21)

I skipped exercising this morning because my sisters had all the room keys. I hung out outside after getting ready for the day. It was a bit windy and chilly this morning. It’s best to bring a light jacket with you during the day to be more comfortable outside.

After breakfast, we visited Palmer to see The Musk Ox Farm and Reindeer Farm. After lunch, we headed towards Valdez. On the way there, we stopped at Matanuska Glacier and every baby waterfall alongside the road. We stayed the night at the Totem Inn in Valdez.

Breakfast: Hotel (Anchorage)

The hotel’s restaurant (The Flying Machine) only had a buffet for breakfast. Sadly, there weren’t any vegan options, so I was stuck with having a Clif bar for breakfast.

I could have had an apple too, but I’m saving those for later.

Lunch: Fred Meyer (Palmer)

While most of my family got some Philly cheesesteaks at a local restaurant, my mom and I headed to Fred Meyer, thinking that would have the best vegan options for me. Yesterday, I was disappointed with the slim fresh produce options in Anchorage’s Target. My dad responded that it was normal because it’s super hard and expensive to ship things to Alaska, so get used to it.

Fortunately, he was wrong, and I left Fred Meyer super impressed by the selection. Even though Palmer only has a few thousand people, it had way more produce than my area’s biggest Hy-Vee and the local Super Target. It had about the same produce as the nearest Trader’s Joe.

It had some vegan options that my local Natural Grocer’s lacked, like some more vegan dairy products and some new plant-based brands I’d never heard of before today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long because we had to get on the road, but I want to make a vlog on shopping vegan at Fred Meyer the next time I’m vacationing out West.

I made a sandwich from sourdough bread slices, Daiya American cheese slices, lettuce, and spinach for lunch. I also had some baby carrots with plain hummus and a peach.

Supper: Ernesto’s Latin Cuisine (Glennallen)

Supper options were sparse, but we found something with vegan options. Technically, nothing on the menu was vegan, but the workers were willing to make a special dish for me. I told the worker to make sure my dish had no meat, dairy, and lard, and they made me some small bean tacos with tomato, lettuce, and beans.

This was not the best Latin cuisine I’ve ever had, but considering that they don’t usually have vegan options, and went out of their way to accommodate me. I was happy that they didn’t mess up my order.

Also, I ate my entire meal, which says something because if I have any issues with the food’s texture or taste, I throw it away.

If you like tacos, read my blog post on vegan taco recipes.


Day 4: Valdez (7/20/21)

I exercised some on the exercise bike shortly after getting up. I made it just in time for the start of the breakfast buffet. After breakfast, my dad and I drove around Valdez while my mom cut up produce for me, and the rest of the crew slept.

We spent much of the day on a cruise ship to see Columbia Glacier, booked with Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises. After that ride, we returned to the hotel before supper. Then, we saw sea lions and seagulls eat salmon at the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. We ended the day by going to a waterfall we went to yesterday and an unfinished railroad tunnel.

Breakfast: Hotel (Valdez)

The hotel had a decent breakfast. The breakfast potatoes were good because they were made with oil instead of butter. I also had a banana.

Lunch: Columbia Glacier Cruise (Valdez)

The cruise had clam chowder for the regular option and minestrone (vegetable) soup for the vegetarian option, but I had a sack lunch instead because the cruise lacked vegan options. Each lunch had a plain bagel, Philadelphia cream cheese, and Oreos.

I asked one of the boat attendants if the soup was vegan because Olive Garden had vegan minestrone soup. Unfortunately, the soup contained eggs, probably due to egg noodles.

I just had the sack lunch that I made that morning for lunch. I had two veggie sandwiches made with Daiya American cheese, cucumber slices, lettuce, spinach, plain hummus, and sourdough bread. I also ate cucumber slices, watermelon, and two Clif bars (one chocolate chip and one chocolate brownie).

Supper: Hotel (Valdez)

I was highly disappointed with the vegan options in Valdez, not because there weren’t any. Instead, they didn’t work for me.

My parents ate at Mike’s Palace for supper, which had no vegan options besides vegetable sides. The server seemed clueless about what veganism was and how to accommodate one. Also, restaurants usually add cheese or something else on top after making a side dish, so I didn’t want to risk it.

After my family ordered, my uncle and I checked out The Fat Mermaid. On the way to Valdez the night before, my family chatted with an Iowa State student, and he recommended eating at The Fat Mermaid while you’re in Valdez. I saw a few mentions of vegan on the menu, so I thought I would try it. When we went there, I asked the server if they had vegan pizza, and they said no.

When I asked if something was vegan on a menu, restaurant staff often mentioned their available vegan options. Still, since the server at The Fat Mermaid didn’t say what was vegan on the menu, they lost a sale to someone who would have probably liked their pizza just fine without cheese.

My last attempt at getting anything vegan in Valdez was at Nat Shack. One of my brothers found the place online and thought I would like it. I’m incredibly particular about my condiments, and I didn’t want to waste money on food that I probably wouldn’t like due to a weird condiment.

I headed to the Nat Shack and spent $20 on a vegan crunchwrap without cilantro lime rice and an order of chips and salsa. As I predicted, I didn’t like the crunchwrap due to its condiments. I also wasn’t a fan of the chips and salsa, and since that was the second chips and salsa I didn’t like on this trip, I shouldn’t spend any more money on an appetizer that I kept not liking.

I returned to the hotel sunburnt, sad, disappointed, and grumpy. I bought a vegan Amy’s Kitchen burrito at the hotel and warmed it up. I tried watching some more of La Doña while waiting for the rest of my family to finish eating, but I didn’t get that far into eating my meal and watching my telenovela before they returned to the hotel. I only had an adequate burrito and a peach for supper.

After returning from our evening activities, I had some pretzels and a Honeycrisp apple for a snack to make up for not having as big of a supper.


Day 5: Road Trip (7/21/21)

I exercised before having breakfast. After we left the hotel, we spent most of the day driving from Valdez to Fairbanks. Before leaving town, we got some sack lunch, snacks, and cold medicine at Safeway. We stopped at an old log cabin chapel (Chapel on the Hill) and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the morning. On our way to the hotel, we stopped at some scenic nature spots near the Alyeska Pipeline in the afternoon.

We got to the hotel (River Edge’s Resort) a little after 8 PM, where we stayed in some cottages. Some of my family and I briefly walked before heading to bed.

Breakfast: Hotel (Valdez)

I had a banana and some more breakfast potatoes like yesterday, except I also had an orange and a chocolate chip Clif bar. I had a peach for a snack in between breakfast and lunch.

Lunch: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (Copper River Valley)

We picnicked in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. I had a veggie sandwich with sourdough bread, lettuce, and vegan American cheese; watermelon; and apple cores. I ended up throwing away the hummus and cauliflower because they were terrible.

Supper: IGA (Delta Junction)

My family decided to eat at The Cave, which had zero vegan options. After my uncle asked the server for possible vegan options, they said they had a vegan there yesterday, and the restaurant made them a sandwich without half of the toppings.

Instead, my mom and I went to a grocery store called IGA while my family waited for their meals. I brought a nectarine, blood orange, and apple chips into the restaurant. I forgot that I disliked these chips’ texture since I hadn’t eaten them in a while, so I gave the remaining apple chips to my mom because she liked them.

I also had some Tostitos restaurant-style chips, Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies in the car, and more Tostitos chips and a Honeycrisp apple in our cottage.


Day 6: Fairbanks (7/22/21)

I couldn’t exercise in the mornings as I did in Valdez and Anchorage because our hotel in Fairbanks didn’t have a fitness room. After breakfast, we headed to the North Pole (Alaska, not the actual North Pole). We got more sack lunch supplies in Safeway and saw some reindeer at Antler Academy. We took family photos in front of the town’s giant Santa statue and went to the Christmas gift shop where I got a totem pole jigsaw puzzle as a souvenir.

After lunch, we went on an afternoon cruise with Riverboat Discovery on Discovery III. On that boat ride, we saw some sled dogs, reindeer, caribou, Native American artifacts, and lots of nice stuff at their gift shop.

Before we went to the hotel, we saw the Moose Antler Arch, visited The Great Alaskan Bowl Company, and watched my brother have a few high school senior pictures done by my mom by a rustic metal building. We returned in the early evening, so I had time to watch Netflix and enjoy the spotty internet while I ate supper.

Breakfast: The Crepery (Fairbanks)

My brother picked this breakfast place out because he likes crêpes, and it happened to have vegan options for me. This was my first crêpe: a vegan Caprese crêpe without Balsamic glaze because I don’t like Balsamic vinegar. That meant it contained vegan mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and fresh basil. It was so tasty that I devoured it.

The Crepery had four other vegan crêpe options: three sweet crêpes with a vegan version of Nutella plus some sort of fruit and another savory crêpe that was Mediterranean flavored.

If you like breakfast food, please read my blog post on vegan breakfast ideas.

Lunch: Hotel (Fairbanks)

For lunch, I had some plain Stacy’s pita chips, baby carrots with plain hummus, two apple cores, and some white grapes. Most of this food was from North Pole’s Safeway, while I had the rest of an opened bag of carrots (a different package than what was in this photo) from Fred Meyer in Palmer.

Supper: Hotel (Fairbanks)

For supper, I tried finishing some of my leftovers before we went grocery shopping again tomorrow. I had the rest of my sourdough and Daiya American cheese slices with spinach, some Tostitos chips, a banana, and four mini Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies.


Day 7: Denali (7/23/21)

I got ready for the day and then ate some breakfast. My parents and I got more groceries at Fred Meyer near our hotel an hour before departure. We traveled from Fairbanks to the northern part of Denali.

On the way there, we stopped at the Nenana Depot, which is the home of the Alaska State Railroad Museum. This place is significant in Alaska’s history because The Serum Race in 1925 went from Anchorage to Nenana by train and then from Nenana to Nome by sled with the help of Balto, the sled dog. We also took pictures at other sites and found a mommy moose with her two babies.

We got to Denali in the early afternoon in the pouring rain. We visited some gift shops at The Broadway Mall in the Denali Rainbow Village. While there, I bought an ulu (a knife) and a T-shirt at The Canyon Gift Co.

Afterward, we checked into Denali Bluffs Hotel before heading to supper, which didn’t have a workout room like the previous hotel. Then, we took more pictures at other places around Denali before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Breakfast: Hotel (Fairbanks)

I had two bananas, a peach, and a chocolate chip Clif bar for breakfast. I didn’t get that we were eating out for brunch later, but it was better to be safe than sorry because breakfast places usually don’t have many vegan options.

Brunch: Denny’s (Fairbanks)

My family and I had brunch at Denny’s. I had a fruit bowl with red grapes, banana slices, and Red Delicious apple slices. It wasn’t too bad, but I wish there were more vegan breakfast options on the menu besides fresh fruit.

Snack: Miller’s Gourmet Popcorn (Denali)

I had some buttery and salty popcorn for a snack. The popcorn tasted delicious and was made with coconut oil to get its buttery taste. I just wanted bigger or different bag sizes because the larger ones would be better for families than individual serving ones.

Supper: Prospectors Historic Pizzeria & Alehouse (Denali)

I had some vegan margherita pizza for supper, and it was pretty yummy. This restaurant had many vegan options: three vegan pizzas plus customizable pizzas, a Tuscan white bean soup, a meatball appetizer, a meatball sub, and a side salad.

Another local place with vegan options we didn’t go to was Moose-Aka’s, right by this pizzeria. We originally planned to eat there for supper earlier in the day, but the restaurant was too small for our group size. We had eight people in our group, which was too much for a restaurant with around 20 people.

There were also vegan options at 49th State Brewing: a vegan salad, one burger, and a flatbread. I noticed this option too late, but feel free to try their vegan options for me if you’re ever in Denali.

I had some watermelon for a snack while watching the last and first episodes of Friends before heading to bed.


Day 8: Bus Tour (7/24/21)

We were supposed to spend most of the day on a 13-hour bus tour of Denali National Park because buses are the only way to go into most of the park. We had to be ready to leave the hotel at 6:30 AM, so my dad told us to get there at 6:15. I got there a few minutes after 6:00 because I wanted to sit in the front, but ironically, since we were the second to last hotel to be loaded onto the bus, my family and I got the pleasure of sitting in the bus’s last two rows.

These 13-hour bus tours would start at 7:00 AM, not including the half an hour spent loading the buses at multiple hotels. These tours typically end in between 7:00 and 8:00 PM. They usually would stop hourly inside the park for a potty break and at a restaurant in the middle of the park for a late lunch, which I wouldn’t eat. They would have had a chicken and a vegetarian option that wasn’t vegan, so I would have sucked it up and given my family the chicken meal I was supposed to get.

Instead, at our first bus stop, the National Park Services told our bus driver that the road was closed at Mile 37 due to the road washing out because of the flooding. Since we were at the farthest bus stop before then (Mile 30), we had to turn around and get back from the tour 9 hours early. At least we saw some moose on the way there and back.

The park rangers started working on the road last night, but they could not fix the streets in time for today’s tour buses since the rain continued. However, they allowed buses from hotels inside the park to drive to the park entrance with people needing to leave town.

We finished the bus tour around 10:35 AM instead of 7:00 and 8:00 PM. We didn’t reschedule this tour because we were traveling to the park's southern section tomorrow. They had Nutri Grain bars and water bottles for snacks, which I didn’t have.

After eating lunch in the hotel, we drove through Denali and hiked in it. We saw some moose, caribou, and birds. We also attempted to go to the Sled Dog Kennels but missed out because we arrived at closing time (4:00 PM).

We did some more souvenir shopping before and after supper. I watched La Doña while eating my evening snack (popcorn) and lunch earlier.

Breakfast: Hotel (Denali)

Before our partial bus tour, I had some Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus Raisin Bran cereal, a peach, and a chocolate brownie Clif bar. I wasn’t a big fan of the cereal, but I saved the rest of the box in case I needed more breakfast food later on this trip.

I had a Silk Chocolate Almondmilk for a snack during the bus tour.

Lunch: Hotel (Denali)

After returning from the bus tour early, I had two vegan deli sandwiches, chocolate almond pudding, Silk Chocolate Almondmilk, a peach, a Honeycrisp apple, and veggies with hummus.

I ended up throwing that pictured bag of cauliflower and broccoli away and eating out of one with those veggies plus baby carrots instead because the original bag spoiled.

I had a chocolate brownie Clif bar for a snack in between meals.

Supper: Thai & Chinese Food To Go (Denali)

I ordered some broccoli and tofu sautéed with white rice and vegetables, like zucchini, carrots, and celery. At the time, I was okay with this because I thought the only possible culprits for these dishes not being vegan were meat and eggs. I forgot that some cuisines use fish oil or chicken broth to cook their food.

It wasn’t too bad. I had no idea what the sauce or oil was made of. I waited too long to eat it with had to deal with dirty laundry so I ate it cold.

After returning to the hotel for the night, I had popcorn for a snack while watching La Doña.


Day 9: Talkeetna (7/25/21)

We spent more time in the morning in Denali before heading to Talkeetna. We drove into and out of the Denali National Park and Preserve on the park’s only road (15 miles into the park). If we had gone on the complete bus tour, we would have gone 90+ miles into the park instead of the 30 miles we went yesterday.

We saw a mother moose and her two babies while driving in the park. We saw these same moose two days ago, and we knew that because the mother moose had the same cuts on her legs and had twin moose. As always, we made some stops throughout the day to take pictures of the scenery and for my mom to take senior pictures of my youngest sibling.

Before lunch, we visited the Sled Dog Kennels. This place was significant because Denali is the only national park with a kennel of sled dogs. I waited forever for everyone else to have lunch and for some custom T-shirts to be made. After that, we left Denali and made our way to Talkeetna.

We got to Talkeetna in the late afternoon. After settling in at the hotel (Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge), we had supper and did more souvenir shopping there. I got a cat shirt at Nagley’s Store. I ended the night by posting a link to my vegan blackberry blog post on my blog’s social media accounts, which I published on my website this morning.

Breakfast: Hotel (Denali)

I had a breakfast fruit cup containing blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple. The fruit was fresh, and the fruit cup had a lovely combo. I ate breakfast with my dad and uncle while everyone else was asleep.

For a snack, I had the rest of my Tostitos chips with plain hummus and a Granny Smith apple while we were driving through Denali National Park and Preserve.

Lunch: The Black Bear (Denali)

I saw this café advertised in one of the tourist magazines, and it caught my attention because it emphasized being vegan-friendly there. I had some avocado toast and an oat berry bar. I didn’t like the dessert because it fell apart and had no taste. Meanwhile, I disliked the avocado toast because there were weird condiments, and the toast was hardly toasted.

I had some more things for lunch because I threw the food from The Black Bear away: some watermelon slices, cucumber slices with hummus, apple slices and cores, and chocolate almond pudding.

For a snack, I had a chocolate brownie Clif bar and some Silk Chocolate Almondmilk.

Supper: Mountain High Pizza Pie (Talkeetna)

I had some pizza for supper. At this point of the trip, I was tired of Alaska's lack of vegan restaurant options. When there were vegan options, they were horrible, or pizza. When a restaurant had no vegan options, I had deli sandwiches, even though I don’t like sandwiches, let alone deli sandwiches.

This pizza was a small cheeseless pizza with fresh basil, tomato, and mushrooms. It was probably my least favorite pizza from the ones I had on this trip, but it was far from the worst pizza I ever had.

If you are a pizza lover, check out my vegan pizza blog post.


Day 10: My Birthday (7/26/21)

Today was my birthday. I was used to going on vacation during my birthday, but I wasn’t as used to figuring out what vegan options were available in the area. Sadly, Talkeetna didn’t have that many vegan options beyond cheeseless pizza, so I didn’t enjoy any yummy meals to celebrate my birthday.

This morning, I started writing my vegan corn blog post. After leaving the hotel, we hiked around X Lake in Talkeetna Lakes Park. We saw fresh bear poop but no bears. We picnicked in that same park.

After lunch, we saw Montana Creek and Benka Lake. After supper, I played a couple of rounds of estimate (a card game) with my family. Then, I finished the movie I started earlier that day on Netflix, The Last Letter From Your Lover, and blogged a bit before bedtime.

Breakfast: Hotel (Talkeetna)

For breakfast, I had a Silk Chocolate Almondmilk, a chocolate brownie Clif bar, and a blood orange.

I hadn’t minded my breakfasts throughout this trip. I only wished there would be more vegan breakfast options at hotels besides fresh fruit because I already had fruit readily available in my stuff.

Lunch: Talkeetna Lakes Park (Talkeetna)

My sack lunch was a couple of vegan deli sandwiches, some veggies with plain hummus, apple slices, chocolate almond pudding, and Silk Chocolate Almondmilk. I ate it in the car to avoid the mosquitos.

I had some popcorn for a snack while watching The Last Letter From Your Lover.

Supper: Denali BrewPub (Talkeetna)

I tried again to find something yummy and vegan for my birthday supper in Talkeetna, which lacked vegan options beyond cheeseless pizza. The server at Denali BrewPub tried their best to accommodate me, but since they weren’t as informed on what was vegan at their restaurant, they asked the kitchen cooks for more information on what was vegan there.

I had the rib curry dinner without the ribs and Naan and with extra veggies. The server initially gave me the dish with the non-vegan Naan on top of the curry. I requested a new dish because it had Naan on top. Instead, their solution was to take the Naan off the original dish and return that to me.

That was a huge no-no because that dealt with cross-contamination. This was bread, not a sauce, but restaurants should treat specialty diets like allergies to accommodate vegans. If a dish contains an allergen, a server would never scrap it out of the dish and call it good because it still would harm the person with the allergy because its cross-contamination would still cause an allergic reaction.

The dish was tolerable. I ate half of it, but overall, it wasn’t that good because it had no curry taste due to being mild. Granted, the curry recipe wasn’t supposed to overpower the ribs in the original dish, but if something claims to be curry, I want it to taste somewhat like curry.

Before we started playing cards, I had the rest of my plain Stacy’s pita chips, some baby carrots with plain hummus, a Honeycrisp apple, and Silk Chocolate Almondmilk.


Day 11: Seward (7/27/21)

Today, we drove from Talkeetna to Seward and stopped in Anchorage for lunch. On the way there, we saw the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Turnagain Arm, Williwaw Creek, and Portage Glacier. After we got to Seward, we saw the Seward Mariners’ Memorial before supper and hiked by Exit Glacier after supper.

Breakfast: Hotel (Talkeetna)

Before leaving the hotel, I had a chocolate brownie Clif bar, a Granny Smith apple, and some chocolate almond pudding.

I had the rest of my pita chips with some plain hummus for a snack.

Lunch: Spenard Roadhouse (Anchorage)

I liked this restaurant’s looks with its old license plates, warm wall colors, and various types of furniture. The menu was available on mobile devices with a QR code, but it wasn’t mobile-friendly because it was in a PDF and arranged in multiple columns.

In terms of vegan options, I liked how there was a label for vegan on the menu and no vegetarian label because these labels on the same menu look almost identical, which can get pretty confusing when you’re trying to order something vegan. They had an Impossible burger; a side of blackened, fried Brussels sprouts; and a house garden salad. The server we had was excellent at knowing how to sub things to make them vegan.

I ordered an Impossible burger without onions, vegan mayo, and pickles without a side because the vegan sides didn’t seem appetizing. I was happy when my order came to me as requested.

Overall, the burger was adequate, and I ate it all. Granted, I ordered a burger, even though I don’t like burgers.

I ate the remaining Enjoy Life mini chocolate chip cookies for a snack.

Supper: Hotel (Seward)

I ate at the hotel again since Firebrand BBQ had no vegan options. I ate vegan deli sandwiches, baby carrots with hummus, and a Honeycrisp apple. I originally planned on eating a peach but decided to have an apple instead because the peach was spoiled.

We stayed at the Windsong Lodge while we were in Seward.


Day 12: Last Cruise (7/28/21)

Today, we had our last boat tour around Alaska, a 6-hour Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise via the Tanaina ship. Before that, I did some blogging, and my family and I checked out the Seward Boat Harbor.

Before we went aboard, my youngest brother dropped his cruise ticket in the water, and one of the cruise workers joked by calling my brother a seagull killer. They felt terrible because they didn’t want to be too mean to him, but I thought they were hilarious because they were rough on him, just like I was.

On the cruise, we saw mountain goats, bald eagles, glaciers, porpoises, sea lions, puffins, ravens, cormorants, several more types of birds, jellyfish, sea otters, and harbor seals. After supper, we drove around the area, going through the town of Moose Pass and Chugach National Forest.

Right before we went to bed, we experienced our first tsunami warning because of the major earthquake that occurred off the coast of Alaska. Lucky for us, we were far enough inland, and the tsunami was so puny that it was harmless.

Breakfast: Hotel (Seward)

For breakfast, I had some vegan cereal, a chocolate chip Clif bar, Honeycrisp apples, and a blood orange.

Lunch: Kenai Fjords Tours (Seward)

When my dad checked in this morning, they said the vegetarian option is also vegan, but as I suspected, that wasn’t true. They gave me a vegetarian lunch with a Nature Valley bar containing honey, some Andes chocolate with milk, a wrap, and potato chips.

The chips were vegan (potato, oil, and salt), but I gave them to someone else because they did not seem appetizing. Later, I tried one and thought it was gross. The veggie wrap had plain hummus, two types of lettuce, and a tortilla shell, which was probably vegan. Although, I wasn’t sure because I didn’t have the ingredient list for the wrap and hummus. The wrap was so-so, meaning it was good enough to be eaten but nowhere near delicious.

During the cruise, I had two vegan deli sandwiches, a Honeycrisp apple, a chocolate chip Clif bar, and baby carrots with plain hummus.

Supper: Hotel (Seward)

I had a complaint about The Crab Shack. The menu said there were vegetarian options that probably could have been customized into vegan dishes. Still, the restaurant’s menu board only mentioned seafood and no plant-based options.

Instead, I had the rest of my bread, deli, and cheese slices, baby carrots with hummus, and some white grapes.


Day 13: SeaLife (7/29/21)

Before we left Seward, we visited the Alaska SeaLife Center. I got a Hairy Otter T-shirt at their gift shop, and one of my siblings and father copied me by buying it too. Right after we left the aquarium, we saw the Lowell Creek Waterfall. We did some more souvenir shopping before and after lunch and saw more of the Seward Boat Harbor before leaving town.

On the way to Anchorage, we saw the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Historic Area, which was very pretty. While we waited for our table at Olive Garden, we walked around Dimond Center (a mall in Anchorage). This was my uncle’s birthday supper due to having an early August birthday.

After supper, we checked into The Lakefront Anchorage Hotel, the same hotel we stayed in right after arriving at Anchorage. I did a little more blogging before heading to bed.

Breakfast: Hotel (Seward)

For breakfast, I had some vegan cereal, a chocolate chip Clif bar, a Honeycrisp apple, and a blood orange.

My dad and uncle got me a fruit cup from the hotel for breakfast, but I didn’t eat it because it spoiled before I started eating it.

Lunch: Klondike Pizzeria (Seward)

I had a custom 11″ pizza with no cheese, regular marinara, spinach, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Next time, I shouldn’t have put bell peppers on my personal pizza because I don’t like bell peppers as much as I used to.

Supper: Olive Garden (Anchorage)

We ate at the Dimond Center Olive Garden for supper. I had a create-your-own pasta with rigatoni noodles with traditional marinara sauce on top, two bowls of minestrone soup, and six breadsticks.

This was my second time going to Olive Garden since the pandemic started, and I missed it so much. I might have gone a little overboard with the breadsticks though.

Here is Olive Garden’s vegetarian and vegan menu.


Day 14: Hello Again (7/30/21)

Today was our last travel day before heading back to Iowa. I exercised in the morning before breakfast. Before we headed out, my dad took me to Carrs to get some food for lunch and tomorrow’s travel day. We spent the morning at Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Boardwalk and Potter Section House Snow Plow Train.

My dad wanted to go to the boardwalk to see some more moose, but we only saw many types of birds there. We ate a late sack lunch in the hotel while watching some 2020 Olympic swimming events.

That afternoon, we visited the Alaska Botanical Garden, a fur store (Alaska Fur Trade), and a chocolaterie called Alaska Wild Berry Products. We walked on the Lowenfels-Hoersting Family Nature Trail at the botanical garden, hoping to see some bears. Still, the closest thing we came to seeing bears on this trip was my youngest sister drawing a mother bear and her two cubs in a photo on her iPhone.

If you’re vegan or trying to accommodate one, I recommend not going to the fur store or the chocolaterie. Vegans are against wearing and using fur, and seeing the animal pelts made me cry inside. Alaska Wild Berry Products isn’t vegan-friendly due to no vegan candy.

We did some souvenir shopping before and after supper. We didn’t do much that night. My family played cards while I watched some Netflix and wrote more of this blog post.

Breakfast: Hotel (Anchorage)

I ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant with my dad because everyone else slept in. I had breakfast potatoes and a fruit platter with strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, bananas, blueberries, grapes, and orange slices.

I had a chocolate chip Clif bar for a snack.

Lunch: Hotel (Anchorage)

I had three leftover Olive Garden breadsticks for lunch, an Alpha Foods Steakless Ranchero Burrito, some baby carrots, and watermelon slices. The burrito was okay, but I’d had a lot better.

Supper: 49th State Brewing (Anchorage)

I had a small vegan cashew pizza for supper from the 49th State Brewing. The pizza was average. I wished I ordered it with vegan Daiya cheese on top or just had one of their other vegan pizzas because it didn’t taste that good with only the vegan Parmesan.


Day 15: Departure (7/31/21)

We spent almost all day traveling from Alaska back to Iowa, from 9 AM AKDT to 1 AM CDT, meaning lots of episodes of La Doña for entertainment and airport food, snacks, and fast food on the way home.

The airplane ride wasn’t too bad. I sat by my youngest sister and brother instead of my parents. I went to the bathroom more often than once every 18 hours. Side note: my dad likes to make fun of my lack of going to the toilet because I went to the bathroom in my layover (Rome to Chicago) in Zurich, Switzerland, and I didn’t go again until I returned home.

We stopped at Culver’s and a gas station on the way home. I didn’t eat there because of their lack of vegan options. I got to ride in my uncle’s car again until we had to go to my parents' car since he lived an hour away from us, and it was less out of his way to stop part of the way back to take another road back home. We got back safe and sound.

Breakfast: Hotel (Anchorage)

Before we headed to the airport, I had three leftover Olive Garden breadsticks, a chocolate chip Clif bar, and a flat peach for breakfast. I was happy we requested a microwave the day before, or the breadsticks would have been cold.

At the airport, I had some raisins, an apple, and another chocolate chip Clif bar.

Lunch: Airplane

I had some popcorn from an airport food vendor on the airplane and a couple of blood oranges. I would have had more food on the airplane if the flight crew hadn’t been as strict on making sure we had our face masks covering our faces every time we chewed and swallowed food with our sticky hands.

I understood that we still were in a pandemic, but at the same time, our hands were making our masks super dirty when we took our masks on and off to eat and drink anything.

Supper: Car

On the way home, I had a couple of chocolate chip Clif bars, some cucumber slices, and a few pretzels for supper. I disliked the vegan white cheddar pretzels, and since I forgot to give them to the sister who loves them, I ended up throwing those away.


5 Post-Alaska Travel Tips

After experiencing Alaska, here are some Alaska travel tips I would tell you if you want to visit there.

1. Bring extra warm clothes.

Iowa typically has hot and humid summers, so I’m used to around 90°F in July. When I heard that Alaska’s summer weather was colder than usual, I packed a few pairs of pants, two hoodies, and one raincoat. I should have packed additional warmer clothes because Alaska mostly had fall weather during the summer months.

It was over 70°F when we landed in Anchorage, which was unusually warm for them. I wore pants during the entire trip and usually had at least a light jacket on. I was somewhat cold on the boat rides from not having enough layers.

Also, places like Valdez were very misty, making the outdoors even colder.

2. Stay at an Airbnb.

If I went to Alaska again, I would stay at an Airbnb over a hotel because Alaska’s vegan options were sparse. Even when places did have vegan options, I didn’t like them. For example, many places didn’t cook tofu correctly, so it was slimy instead of pressed and cooked properly.

Also, it’s harder on your stomach when you’re not so used to eating out all the time and then eating out for two weeks straight. I wanted some fresh homemade meals, but it was almost impossible without staying at a rental home.

For example, here are some available Airbnbs in Fairbanks.

3. Have a cooler be a checked bag.

My parents considered having a big cooler as a checked bag, but they instead put a foldable one in one of our checked bags. I brought another cooler in my stuff. The main problem I ran into was food preservation.

When you have to eat so many sack lunches because of the lack of vegan options at dining places, I didn’t have enough refrigerator space to put all my stuff in the fridge, let alone share it with my sisters. Then, I hardly had any room for food in my cooler on travel days, so I tried putting ice in gallon Ziplocks to keep my extra food cold in regular reusable plastic shopping bags without any success.

I ended up throwing a lot of food away due to spoiling.

4. Rent a vehicle, instead of cruising.

Most Americans book trips to Alaska through a cruise line where they spend one week on a cruise ship and another on land. The uncle who went on this trip with us first traveled to Alaska with Princess’s cruise and land tour a few years ago.

Fortunately, my dad was skeptical about COVID-19 and rented a van for the entire trip instead. I was glad he did that because Canada’s borders were closed due to the pandemic, and all of this year’s Alaska cruise and land tours got canceled.

Even if there was no pandemic, car rentals allow you to travel around without so many travel restrictions. I doubt we would have gone to Seward, Valdez, or Talkeetna unless we had driven there alone.

5. Bring sunscreen and bug spray.

Remember to bring sunscreen and bug spray in your day bag. Even though it was colder and cloudier, don’t underestimate the sun and its ability to get you sunburnt. We spent most of the day outside during our whole trip besides our days at the airport.

The bug spray is handy because most of our trip was in wooded areas near water, meaning many mosquitos are everywhere, ready to fly into your cars and bite you.

Bonus Tip: Have an Alaskan natural disaster plan.

Iowa doesn’t have that many natural disasters to worry about besides tornados. However, we did have a house fire during a holiday weekend, so 10 of us had to evacuate a house that eventually burned down.

Anyway, we had a tsunami warning in Seward because of the major earthquake in another part of Alaska. I had no clue how to prepare for it; fortunately, the tsunami was harmless. That experience made me realize we should have made a natural disaster plan before our vacation.

Here is some information on preparing for earthquakes and tsunamis in Alaska.


Vegan Alaska Rating (1–10)

Restaurants: 2/10

Many of the towns we stayed at didn’t have any purposely vegan options over being accidentally vegan on their restaurants’ menus. Even the majority of places with vegan options weren’t that good. They had many strange sauces and ingredients and were too complicated, from the cashew pizza at 49th State Brewing to the Nat Shack’s crunchwrap.

If I returned to Alaska, I would hardly ever go out to eat because the restaurants weren’t that good and were somewhat expensive.

Grocery Stores: 6/10

Most of Alaska’s grocery stores had decent vegan options. Anchorage’s Target was disappointing because there wasn’t enough produce (fresh fruits and veggies) and only a few vegan packaged foods. The one IGA we went to had a good chunk of produce but not many vegan processed foods.

Safeway had a ton of produce and varied the number of vegan options. Carrs had more vegan-friendly items than Safeway, and Fred Meyer was the most vegan-friendly grocery store we went to with the highest amount of vegan-friendly brands and the most produce.

The main reason I gave Alaska’s grocery stores a 6/10 over an 8/10 is that they had a lot of vegan options but lacked good vegan to-go food items that would be more suitable for tourists and car trips. We hardly had a microwave in our hotel rooms and never had access to an oven, so most vegan items weren’t helpful unless we had an Airbnb or lived there.

Overall: 4/10

Alaska had many more vegan options than I expected, especially in the grocery stores. I wasn’t surprised about the little vegan options in Alaska’s restaurants. If I were you, I would get occasional takeout and cook whatever you prefer at an Airbnb over eating out all the time.


Conclusion

If you liked this blog post, let me know in the comments because I’ll write more travel blog posts soon. Despite my small budget, I still have enough to check out vegan hotspots in the conterminous United States.

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