Alaska: Northern Lights, Fishing Towns, Glacial Bays, Denali, More

Places I Remember with Lea Lane

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Fran Golden and Midgi Moore, authors of 100 Places To Do in Alaska Before You Die, talk with Lea about the travel superlatives of the biggest, most northern and most spectacular state.
-- We start with cruising. Does size matter when it comes to seeing glaciers, up close? (Not that much, as in other things.) We name glaciers and describe some of the best excursions off the ship, including food tours, whale watching, flight seeing to a salmon bake, sports fishing, the Skagway train -- and dive bars, of course.
-- Fran loves snorkeling in the cold Alaska waters, among the "surprisingly colorful purple, orange and red starfish," and even an octopus. And she wants to try standup paddle boarding among the icebergs.
-- Midgi suggests you "get into the sky" to see Alaska, land on glaciers, dogsled, hike and flightsee. Lea tells of flying from Ketchikan to the Tongass National Park to see bears, and helicoptering to a glacier that had never been walked on before -- maybe.
-- We talk of Alaskan coastal cities including Juneau, Haines, Ketchikan, Skagway and Sitka.
-- Then we turn to the land. Denali National Park "wild, like the Serengeti. And Fairbanks, with its spectacular northern lights.
-- Fran and Midgi each talk of five of their favorites of the 100 Things they write about.
-- Then they each end with their favorite memories of Alaska. (And Lea adds hers!)
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Fran Golden is a long-time Alaskaphile and author of numerous books and articles about Alaska. An award-winning travel writer and specialist in cruises, she has explored Alaska by land and sea. Fran lives in Cleveland with her travel-writer husband, David Molyneaux. Midgi Moore, who lives in Juneau, is a culinary travel professional who owns Juneau Food Tours and Global Tours Connect, an online marketplace.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter, Travelea on Instagram, and blogs about travel at forbes.com . Contact her on her Facebook page, Places I Remember by Lea Lane, or her website, placesirememberlealane.com.
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Follow Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts. New travel episodes every Tuesday. And please review it on Apple!

Chapters

1. Alaska: Northern Lights, Fishing Towns, Glacial Bays, Denali, More (00:00:00)

2. Highlights of Cruising, including glaciers (00:01:57)

3. Small ship make a difference? (00:01:58)

4. Famous glaciers, with names (00:04:46)

5. Interesting tours off the ship (00:05:29)

6. Coastal cities: Juneau, Haines, Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka (00:09:19)

7. The land part of Alaska, including Denali National Park and Fairbanks (00:12:52)

8. Fran's 5 favorite Alaska things (00:15:48)

9. Midgi's 5 favorite Alaska things (00:17:36)

10. Fran's very favorite Alaska memory (00:21:10)

11. Midgi's very favorite Alaska memory (00:22:30)

12. Lea tells of the most memorable Alaskan she ever met (a real surprise) (00:24:24)