Vegan MoFo Post #10!
HALFWAY THROUGH MOFO BAM! This post is going to be image/heavy, get ready. Off to Alaska I go, by plane this time, leaving my little car in San Mateo. Besides lots of beautiful scenery, I was surprised to find that Anchorage has a vegan scene! I think Anchorage was the most nature-y place I’ve ever been, evidenced by the fact that I went foraging for wild berries twice in six days. I was there visiting a friend and partook in lots of nature, Alaskan beer, the very interesting Anchorage gay scene and eating lots of kale from my friend’s awesome garden.
Right next door to La Bodega in Anchorage was Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge. When I went in the people there knew what vegan was and immediately pointed out their vegan chocolates to me and some were even labeled vegan. My friends told me the shop also supports lots of good local community events, etc. so I felt good spending my money there. I went with these almond butter and peanut butter chocolate bombs in the box and a coconut salted caramel (on top).
There were two cafes in Anchorage that had lots of vegan options, one called Snow City and one called The Middle Way Cafe. I didn’t make it to the former, but Middle Way Cafe was great. It also looked like a good place for getting work done, lots of space, tables, wifi, outlets, etc. I got the avocado melt sandwich. I also got a vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that was pretty awesome.
This place wasn’t actually in Anchorage, but in Girdwood after a trip for some wild berry foraging. We stopped at this place called Chair 5. They had awesome beer, but not many vegan options. However, I got this veggie burger and checked with them that it was vegan. I also asked for avocado on top. Not life-altering, but not bad!
Speaking of wild berry foraging, here is one of our hauls. I got pretty good at identifying some wild berries by the end of my trip. Here we have mostly salmon berries (the bumpy ones) and watermelon berries. So colorful!
Right near where we were foraging there was this rushing creek/river with some rocks I climbed up on. I like that the color of the water was so light since it was from melting glaciers.
Bad picture, but here are some watermelon berries before picking.
My first time seeing a glacier! It’s the blue part, pretty cool right?
Icebergs! I don’t know why, but seeing real icebergs was pretty awesome. Especially because they are super blueish ice. Watch out, Titanic!
This random sunken house it a pretty interesting story. Apparently in the 60s this was liveable land and then there was a really bad earthquake and salt water from the ocean came in and turned this area into marshland. This house used to be on the liveable land, but now it’s sunken into the ground and their now brown rusted truck is also sunken in next to the house.
I even went to one of the farmer’s markets in anchorage and got this vegan chocolate chip oatmeal cookie! They also had vegan chili and a couple other vegan breads and baked goods including one stand with lemon lavender vegan shortbread.
Strangely enough, I got the best mango I’ve ever had in my life at a Red Apple regular grocery store in Anchorage. Add the accidentally vegan awesome coconut milk ice cream and some wild foraged and you have some serious noms.
Pacific Service-berries before picking, yum!
High bush cranberries before picking off the tree! They were suuuuper sour, but otherwise have nothing to do with actual cranberries.
Groceries
As for vegan groceries, Fred Meyer is in Anchorage and huge and has ALL the standard vegan products. Daiya, Tofurky, etc. Red Apple has less vegan stuff, but good produce and accidentally vegan coconut ice cream.
Booze
We went to this great liquor store called La Bodega that had tons of craft beer and let you buy single beers out of different six-packs so you could try lots of different things. I went for this Denali Brewing Mother Ale and Sockeye Red India Pale Ale.
Books
As for non-eating things to do, Anchorage had the biggest used book store I have ever been to and it was freaking awesome. It’s the size of Barnes and Noble, but all used books. It’s called Title Wave and if you’re in Anchorage and into books, you must check it out.
Overall, Alaska is pretty rad and I’d love to explore more places. There are some places only reachable by plane, which seems totally badass to me and I’d love to take one of those tiny planes sometime.
Next stop…the Bay Area in California! Wanna catch up on past road trip destinations both in the States and abroad? Check out my Posts by Location page or follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!
I’ve never thought much about visiting Alaska beyond a vague “of course I want to go, I’ve never been” but now I’m totally convinced.
It was pretty cool, such an interesting mixture between extreme hippies and extreme gun-carrying hunter wilderness people! I just went to visit a friend and only went to Anchorage and the surrounding area, but it was quite unique! Definitely go in the summer though, I’d say! If you find a local or couchsurf or get an Alaskan berry book you can forage your face off. I was lucky to have some natives with me to show me the ropes!
Thank you for the beautiful photos! I’ve never seen those types of berries before, what gorgeous little gems!