Winter in Alaska

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Winter in Alaska
February 26 - March 6, 2011
Starting from $2,599 per person
For Jewish Singles in their 30's, 40's and 50's

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Northern Lights, Ice Festival and Iditarod

Imagine the majesty of Alaska in the winter. Snow covered peaks, clear night skies. We’ll show you the Alaska we know and love so well, in a different season…winter! Come with us and experience several once-in-a-lifetime activities all rolled into one on our week long tour, including the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, the Ice Festival in Fairbanks, and the Northern Lights (auroras borealis) at Chena Hot Springs, perhaps Mother Natures “greatest show on earth.” We’ll take you dog sledding, snow mobiling, touring on a snow coach tour at sunset, and top it off with the Musher’s Ball just before the start of the Iditarod. You’ll see things you never knew existed. All this plus a great group of Jewish Singles from all over North America and beyond, who will share this experience with you as we travel to the Great State of Alaska.

Co-sponsored by the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh

Day 1 – Saturday, February 26, 2011 Home City – Fairbanks

Welcome to Fairbanks, Alaska! Group members will arrive at Fairbanks Airport throughout the day. After claiming your luggage, the hotel shuttle will pick you up and take you to our hotel for this evening, just 4.5 miles from the airport. As most flights arrive late to Fairbanks, you will have the opportunity to relax and get a good night’s sleep before our adventure begins tomorrow morning.

Day 2 – Sunday, February 27, 2011 Fairbanks – Chena Hot Springs

This morning after breakfast, we’ll gather together for a Group Orientation and Ice Breaker. After, we’ll board our vans and travel about an hour to Chena Hot Springs. After checking into our deluxe rooms at the Moose Lodge of Chena Hot Springs, we have a full gambit of activities planned, beginning with a choice of a guided snow mobile tour or sleigh ride. These 30-minute tours will offer you the opportunity to enjoy winter at its finest. Once we are back to the hotel, warm up in the 105F hot springs at the Rock Lake. Later, we’ll take you into the Aurora Ice Museum where we will tour the beautiful sculptures presented in an incredible backdrop, like a winter wonderland! Share with us an icy Apple-tini as we toast what will be an incredible homage to winter and the start of our amazing Alaskan Adventure. After our group dinner, we’ll go in search of the Aurora Borealis. Chena Hot Springs is known as one of the best places in the world to capture this magnificent display of lights strewn across the night sky. (B, L, D)

Day 3 – Monday, February 28, 2011 Chena Hot Springs

After a hearty local breakfast, we’ll begin our day with a tour of the area by a team of dogs as they pull us through the snow on a sled. Upon our return, we can once again warm up in the hot springs this area is known for in the Rock Lake. Later, we’ll take a sunset Snow Coach Tour in a “mini-tank” as we go over hilly snow-covered terrain. Once at our destination, enjoy the sunset before heading back to our hotel. Tonight, after a group dinner, we’ll take a short hike to a cabin in the woods, warmed by a “pellet stove” to look for the Northern Lights. Using our cabin to warm up, we’ll supply the hot chocolate. After our return, we can once again enjoy the hot springs as we look towards the night sky and hope to see the Aurora Borealis while in the Rock Lake. (B, L, D)

Day 4 – Tuesday, March 1, 2011 Chena Hot Springs – Fairbanks

Following breakfast, we’ll pack up and head out for Fairbanks. Our group will board our vans and drive one hour into Fairbanks in anticipation of the Ice Festival. After checking into our hotel, relax at the facility, enjoy the gym or indoor pool, or explore town from our well-located spot in the center of town. Today, we’ll take you to the home of Mary Shields, a true Alaskan in every sense of the word. Mary was the first woman ever to have finished the Iditarod, and through her stories you will come to know the real Alaska. She will show us her team of sled dogs and how she spends her winter with just she and her dogs and the trails as she shares with us “Tales of the Trails.” There is a possibility that Mary will be out on her yearly journey with her dogs (it’s very weather dependent and she always travels during the month of March) and if so, we will replace this tour with another dog sled team and their owner, or alternate activity. You will get a true sense of what the Iditarod is all about, and how dog sledding is more than just a sport in this part of the world. Tonight, we’ll enjoy an Amazing Journeys cocktail party. Following, you’ll have the rest of the evening free to do as you’d like, including the opportunity to try a local restaurant with others from the group. (B)

Day 5 – Wednesday, March 2, 2011 Fairbanks

This morning you will have some free time to relax over a leisurely breakfast, sleep late, enjoy the hotel pool, or shop for souvenirs in town. Later this morning, we head over to Ice Park, home of the Ice Festival, where over 40 teams from international locations compete in the “Multi-Block” category. Teams are composed of two to four sculptors that often work round the clock to complete their massive pieces. Each team is given 10 blocks of ice. Artists receive the aid of heavy equipment and skilled operators to lift and position the ice. We’ll have the opportunity to see these amazing sculptors at work, and enjoy some of the creations of those teams that have already finished. The competition in this category goes from February 27 – March 4. The entire Ice Festival lasts one month.

Next, we visit the famed University of Alaska – Fairbanks Museum. Noted for its research in many areas of study, we have the chance to visit many of the noted collections. The archaeology collection contains the material remains of prehistoric and historic cultures from throughout Alaska, as well as comparative collections from cultures outside the state. The collection consists of more than 750,000 artifacts representing sites dating from as much as 13,000 years ago, and has special strength in material from Interior Alaska, St. Lawrence Island, and the Bering Sea region. It provides an internationally recognized resource for studying the human occupation of the Arctic. The Earth Science collection contains more than 60,000 specimens in two sub-collections: paleontology and geology, and contains the world’s largest collection of polar dinosaurs. The geology collection includes minerals and gems from Alaska and the Pacific Rim, ore samples from Alaska and arctic Canada, and meteorites. And, the ethnology collection contains more than 12,000 objects made and used by Alaska Natives from the mid-1800s to the present, including exceptional examples of basketry, beadwork, ivory carvings, masks, dolls, clothing, tools used in subsistence activities and items made as souvenirs. The history collection contains more than 2,600 objects of Western manufacture representing Alaska’s history from the Nome gold rush through the present, including goods, folk art, tools, firearms, Russian-American material, aviation equipment and other memorabilia.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy dinner at a local restaurant. Afterwards, we’ll head back over to the Ice Festival for another look, this time after dark, where we can view the ice sculptures illuminated as they glimmer and glisten against the darkness of the night sky. Be sure to look up to the night skies as it is always a possibility to see the Northern Lights during this season, especially on a cold, clear night. (B, D)

Day 6 – Thursday, March 3, 2011 Fairbanks – Anchorage

After breakfast at our hotel this morning, we leave for the airport where we catch our one-hour flight to Anchorage. With any luck, we can see Denali, or Mt. McKinley as we fly past it. Just look out the window, it is almost at eye-level when flying at 34,000 feet!

Once we arrive at the Anchorage Airport, we will head over the Millennium Hotel, only one mile from the airport and the official hotel for the Iditarod. We’ll be on the lookout for dog mushers and their teams as many of the teams stay at this hotel before heading over to the ceremonial start of the race in Anchorage on Saturday, and then to Willow for the official start on Sunday. At the hotel, you can have lunch at the Fancy Moose restaurant, overlooking Spenard Lake. This is the busiest “float plane” landing strip, and in the winter, the planes land on their skis.

Our day continues with a short drive into Anchorage where we will check into our centrally located hotel. You will have some time to relax before we head off to the exclusive Musher’s Ball, a charity fundraiser and the beginning of the festivities for the annual Iditarod. Dress code is casual and the flavor is pure Alaska! These are coveted tickets and many will be left out in the cold! Not us—we have tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (B, D)

Day 7 – Friday, March 4, 2011 Anchorage

Following a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, today we will explore the “Fur Rondy” including the “Running of the Reindeer,” native markets, multi-tribal gatherings and more. This big event runs at the same time as the Iditarod and is loaded with fun. Right in the center of town is the Anchorage Museum including the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. There is time today for those who want to see this interesting museum. The city of Anchorage is chock full of galleries and local craft shops as well. For those who like expert skiing, Alaska’s only downhill ski resort is only one hour away and is yours to enjoy.

Tonight, after a Shabbat service, we have reservations at one of Alaska’s premier restaurants, Simon and Seaforth’s for those who want to join the group for dinner (pay your way). Otherwise, this evening is free at leisure to enjoy the sights and sounds of Anchorage after dark. Later, explore some of Anchorage’s bars and nightlife, as Fourth Street comes alive in anticipation of the sporting event that brings all eyes to Alaska tomorrow. (B)

Day 8 – Saturday, March 5, 2011 Anchorage

Following breakfast, we’ll walk over to Fourth Street, just around the corner from our hotel, to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. Teams of mushers from all over Alaska will be on hand, along with their teams of dogs, ready to compete in this annual competition. You can’t compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. With jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast, the mushers and their dog teams race through the frozen tundra to claim their prize. Add to that, temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs and side hills, and you have the Iditarod. A race extraordinaire, a race only possible in Alaska.

Once the dogs are on their way to Willow for the official start tomorrow, we have the rest of the day to enjoy the excitement surrounding this event. Tonight, join us for our Amazing Journeys Farewell Event where we celebrate the extraordinary adventures of winter in Alaska, with all of the beauty and once-in-a-lifetime events we have shared this past week. Dinner will be at one of the finest restaurants in Anchorage, Orso. (B, D)

Day 9 – Sunday, March 6, 2011 Anchorage – Home City

Throughout the day, group members will be transferred from our hotel to the Anchorage Airport for their flights back home. We’ll say good-bye to our Amazing Alaska Adventure. (B)