Anchorage Travel Guide

It isn't *wonderful* to live there. I call it something more like surviving. The weather creates unhealthy environments to live in, the wild animals are enormous, the sun rarely is ever seen unless it is summer, volcanos put ashes into the air and you have to wear a mask to go outside, there are minor earthquakes quite frequently, you have to scrape the ice off your windshield with a credit card, sometimes it blizzards so hard that you cannot see anything at all, it is socially isolated, the people are a bit odd because of the harsh envoronment and weather...but it serves for a learning experience!

When in Anchorage, check out the tide tables.  You really don't want to miss the tidal bore which works its way up Turnagain arm just after low tide.  It is strongest when there is a negative low tide. (Sometimes it's weak, sometimes it's a couple meters tall)
Here's a link to some more info (by no means the only info out there...) http://alaska.org/bore-tides.jsp

Just have an hour with kids and need a break?  Check out Arctic Playgroundz on Arctic Boulevard so they kid(s) can play while you have some coffee or yummy food.  (They have great food for kids, too).  Or, if you have a bit more time, head to the amazing Anchorage Museum and check out the Imaginarium...will keep your kids busy for hours!  Both were great places.