Souvenirs from Alaska

When traveling it’s only natural to pick up some souvenirs along the way. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped (or tried to stop) buying souvenirs that are too kitschy or useless knick knacks and get things I’d actually use or want to display. On my most recent trip, I picked up more than usual. Usually, I’ll get a Christmas ornament and maybe one other item, but this time around I ended up with a few more things so I thought I’d share my haul of souvenirs.

First up, my family bought some cans of Captain Jim’s Alaska Smoked Salmon when we were on the Fairbanks Riverboat ride that I wrote about here. They served it on the boat and it was so good! They shipped it back home for us so it was very convenient.

Not really a souvenir, but I bought a few Alaska Candy Company chocolate bars. So far I’ve had the milk chocolate one with almonds. It’s a little too sweet for my liking.

So before we went to Alaska, my mom kept talking about how she wanted to buy an Ulu knife because she kept reading online about how it’s the thing to buy from Alaska and I kept saying how it’s so weird to bring home a knife. Mind you, I had no idea what an Ulu knife looked like at all. But it’s true – they are everywhere! So of course, I ended up with one.

Also when I was on that river boat ride, you may remember that I saw a kennel that trains dogs for the Iditarod. The owner who spoke to us wrote this book, Granite. My cousin was kind enough to surprise me with a signed copy!

My favorite souvenir to get when traveling is a Christmas ornament that represents the place I’m visiting. I picked up two on this vacation. One is a handmade Eskimo Angel Ornament that I bought on the train ride to Whittier. So adorable! The other one I got was a metal Christmas Tree and Bear Ornament. I love how minimalistic this one looks but has the cool look and feel of the metal.

I don’t normally buy clothes that have the name of the place I’m visiting on it. A little too “touristy” for me these days, but I was looking for a warm hoodie and I really liked how this one doesn’t look like your typical travel t-shirt but is instead a striped hoodie. Very wearable!

When I was staying at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge I went inside one of the little shops. They were having a sale on these infinity scarves and I really liked the prints of these two so I picked them up!

Lastly, I apologize this photo is blurry! I didn’t realize it until way after I took it. While I was on the cruise ship I went inside the Effy shop where they were having a raffle where a few lucky winners would get free gifts. They were also having a special sale and had 2 of the jewelry cases/counters covered up with tissue paper until a certain time for the unveiling. Sadly, I didn’t win the raffle and I definitely could not afford the special sale items! They kept saying the sale was so good with items between 20-50% off but the items were still thousands of dollars! I didn’t, however, walk away empty handed. Everyone got a small free gift – a necklace (right). I also got a necklace, similar to the free one but larger, with matching earrings for $10 for being part of the drawing.