Our Trip to Sitka

~ by Maria Benner

I decided to do a guest blog post today, to tell you all about our recent trip to Sitka. I have a tradition to visit places on, or around my birthday, where I’ve never been in Alaska. Since Alaska is such a big place, and some towns are only accessible by plane, or boat, my list is long. I’ve lived in Alaska for 30 years, and had never been to Sitka, the former capital of Alaska when it “belonged” to Russia. I used quotation marks, because Alaska Natives were here first.

The news has been making a big deal about how difficult it is to travel this summer, with flight cancellations being the norm, hotels and restaurants understaffed, and a high demand for all these services from travelers who have been cooped up too long during the pandemic. Well, the news was kind of right, but we didn’t really experience inconveniences to the extent that travel experts have been warning us about. Our Alaska Airlines flights were full, and on the way back, one passenger was asked to leave the plane, because he was non-revenue, so he lost his seat to a revenue passenger. He had already flown on our flight from Sitka to Juneau, but got kicked off in Juneau, and didn’t get to fly to Anchorage as he had planned. However, all our flights were on time! I was surprised at how few passengers wore masks, considering the transmission rate is high right now. All Alaska Airlines and airport employees wore masks, and so did we. I plan to always wear a mask on an airplane.

Sitka is a cruiseship port, so for most of the day the town was busy with cruiseship passengers. Lincoln Street is the main shopping district, and also where the famous St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral is. All the ships leave at 5pm, so after that, the town was ours! Getting lunch was our biggest challenge. All the restaurants were full, and understaffed. We had to show up to dinner at 5:30 to get a table, and had lunch at the Asian Palace both days, because it had tables available, probably since it was off the main street. I will never forget the silky, perfectly-cooked King salmon at Beak Restaurant.

Lincoln Street busy with cruiseship passengers

Deserted after the cruiseships left

We got super lucky on the weather. Last year my birthday trip was to Cordova, and it was raining sideways from every single side. This year karma really rewarded us with beautiful blue skies. I really wanted to see the famous Mt. Edgecumbe volcano, and got to see it! On our last day the cloud ceiling appeared, and blocked the tops of the mountains and the volcano.

Mt. Edgecumbe Volcano

The trip was a dream. I definitely recommend doing research about all the must-see places in Sitka, before you go there. I ended up being the guide for our little group of three: me, my mom, and Scott. They didn’t bother learning anything ahead of time, so I was in charge of our itinerary. You don’t need a car in Sitka. There are nice public buses that will take you everywhere, but you can walk to almost every attraction. My only regret was not having time to go on a hike. Two days is plenty of time to explore the most interesting places.

Next year I plan to visit Lake Clark National Park.

The Pros and Cons of Having My Studio at Home vs. a Commercial Space

It’s been a year since we moved into this new house and combined our living space with the workspace.  In 2015 I moved my studio mostly out of our home, which was a small condo in Fairview back then, to a corner space inside the 4th Avenue Market Place building.  I used to love working at home. It was easy to get to work, since the studio was just in the spare bedroom. But, I didn’t have enough space, and clients were less than impressed to see me working in a room less than 160 square feet large. Moving to the commercial space was okay, but I had a landlord and I was always worried rent would go up, or the building would sell, and I would have to move out. It was a great space with a view of the Port of Anchorage.  Although the heat was not consistent, too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, and the ventilation system didn’t function properly in a room that had huge windows that didn’t open.  There was also a lot of activity on 4th Avenue I was not too fond of. Converting the studio into a pop-up gallery for special events like First Fridays, holidays, or Fur Rondy and the Iditarod was really great! I met a lot of new people, and those events more than paid for the lease.

Old Studio on 4th Ave decked out for an event

Moving my studio into the house has been great! I get to work at home again, so I don’t have to pack a lunch, and commute on my bike in all types of weather. I can still have patrons visit the studio, and I finally have a garage where I can build painting supports, frames and sculptures. The downside is I have to find venues for First Friday art shows, and I’m not on 4th Avenue during Fur Rondy and Iditarod. But working and living in one place means I don’t have tools in two different locations, the kitchen is just upstairs and I don’t have to be worried about running power tools on the sidewalk downtown. I control the temperature of my workspace, the windows open, and I have a garage.  I have never had a private garage space in my life, since moving out of my parents’ house. When we return from an event, we can just park the truck inside, instead of having to drive to the studio to unload everything, before driving home.

New studio in our home

There were many pros to the downtown studio. I miss the view of Denali, and the Inlet.  It was very close to everything downtown, which was usually fun. I am not part of the downtown gallery scene anymore. Even though my studio was not really a gallery, it was fun to transform it temporarily into one. Now, when people come over to pickup/shop for art it’s at my home. We haven’t had a big open-to-the-public party like we used to at the downtown studio yet, and I’m not sure if we ever will. Instead, we prefer to schedule studio visits. Patrons can enjoy a home-brew while looking at my newest art. I almost always have home-brewed beer available in the garage, which is connected to my studio with just one door! Even-though I did lose something when I left downtown, the gains outweigh the losses.  This is better for me, and hopefully for you.

Summer Plans

Is it just us, or is summer crazy for everyone? I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, and running around with my head cut off. Most of the time crunch has to do with going out to our cabin in McCarthy, which is very time consuming, but so worth the 300-mile trip one-way! Because the drive takes so long, we try to make it worth our time by spending at least a week out there. When we’re back in Anchorage, we’re catching up on painting commissions, mailing orders, doing art shows, and managing to do some house chores and hang out with our friends in between. The unrelenting summer heatwave with endless sunlight also contributes to the hyper-activity. I guess we have all winter to rest.

So, what are our summer plans? Well, Maria’s mom really loves visiting us in McCarthy, but she’s fed up with staying in our small cabin with us, so she commissioned us to build her a log cabin on our property. I’m really excited about building another log cabin, but Maria says she already built one, and is not that stoked about doing it again, because she forgot how hard it is! This project will take up most of our time, and we hope to have it completed this summer.

The foundation for the mother-in-law cabin, and some of the D logs that we have to peel for it

Other than that, we will spend most of our time working on the art business. I have two art shows happening this summer that are kicking off tomorrow on First Friday, June 3. One is my regular show at Midnight Sun Brewing that I have every year, and the second one is at a new-to-me venue, Dos Manos Gallery. I have been selling my art there for several years, but this is my first time being the featured artist in the gallery room! We hung the art there today, and I’m really happy with how it looks! I hope you check out both of my art shows, and bring your friends!

My art show at Dos Manos Gallery

We will also be vendors at two events. The first one is the Eagle River Beer & Music Festival on Saturday, June 4th. I love having a booth at beer festivals, because that’s where I find fans of my beer art! We will also be participating in the Beer, Beards and Art Market at Anchorage Brewing Co. on June 18th, 4-9pm.

Besides work, and building a cabin, we’re flying to Sitka to celebrate Maria’s birthday. She likes going to places in Alaska for her birthday that she’s never been to. Of course, Salmonfest is not-to-be-missed, and then Maria’s cousin from Germany is coming to visit with her two sons, so we’ll get to do some Alaska tourist activities with them, which are always amazing!

I hope to see you at some of these events this summer, and if I don’t, I wish you a safe and fun summer! What are your plans this summer?