Road trip

Ah, life is good. Two old retired bags decided to head to Seward for the day on Tuesday, January 29. Lunch and a visit to the SeaLife Center were the agenda items for the day.

Jaz was the pilot of her Mini Cooper; I co-piloted and we got underway about 9:30 a.m. While the drive overall was quite relaxing both ways, there was a little bit of snow flurrying around us as we drove through some areas. But it was nothing we couldn't handle.

We arrived in Seward about noon and drove up and down a couple of the streets just to be sure we didn't miss anywhere that might be open for lunch that we might like to try. But it was back to an old standby – Cristo's. Not only was the food good, but it's just across the street from the SeaLife Center.

The SeaLife Center doesn't disappoint. I'd been down late in the summer last year to see one of the baby walruses that was on display before being shipped later to a zoo in the Lower 48. While there were no walruses, there was plenty to see. And it was a great visit because there were so few people there other than us.

I'd not mind having these crab legs on my plate.

We went into the bird area where there a number of birds in a big pond. They are separated from you only by the wall of the pond.

The birds don't seem to care how close you get to them as they come close to the wall where you stand.

The seals and sea lions are behind glass, but they are such a joy to watch. While photos don't turn out great, you can still see them pretty well. There is a lot of personality, and mostly it's playfulness and what rather appears to me to be a joking manner.

These two appeared to be sweet on each other.

This must be a female ... voicing her displeasure or whatever she might have been feeling at the time.

Not a bad shot considering all of these were taken through glass that had lots of water splash marks on it.

There is a petting zoo with starfish, but we chose to only take photos rather than touch. And there are tanks with starfish, salmon, rockfish and so much more.

This beautiful specimen of a starfish was so colorful with its purple and yellow coloring.

The SeaLife Center is a jewel for our state, and well worth the time to visit. Not only is it fun, but the drive or ride (if on a motorcycle), is usually pleasant with spectacular scenery and lunch is always in order.

Check it out at: http://www.alaskasealife.org/