In early May 2018, I had the privilege of venturing to Anchorage, Alaska for the 2nd time in two years. This was another business trip where I staffed a medical education conference. Anchorage is quite an adventure and I never could get used to the beautiful snow-capped Chugach mountains in the distance. They were everywhere you turned; it looked like a painting. Thankfully, I didn’t run into any wild bears, but I did get my fair share of moose in! Anchorage was just getting out of their winter season, so there was still a bit of chill in the air.
The conference was held at the Sheraton Anchorage. I had no issues with my accommodation request; the step stool was available upon checking in at the hotel. The flight was a whopping 8 hours, which included a layover in Denver.
I flew in on a Wednesday afternoon and left on Saturday evening. The conference ran from Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning. After I got to the Sheraton, I met with my counterpart, Jackie, to do some last minute conference preparations. Dinner was at the Haute Quarter Grill. Last year, I remember having sauteed prawns with a seared risotto crab cake – it was divine! Sadly, they took it off the menu so I had to settle with a seafood pasta. The pasta was drenched in a white wine cream sauce with shrimp and scallops. It was tasty but pretty heavy in the stomach.
Overall, the conference went very smoothly. We had a higher number of attendees than last year, and the physician leaders were appreciative of our efforts in making this a success. The hotel staff was responsive to our needs and displayed a great level of customer service. There was one incident where Jackie’s husband brought fresh halibut for me to take home; he stored it in the hotel freezer until I was ready to take it. What happened was that the halibut was accidentally discarded by the hotel kitchen staff. Our conference contact person diligently arranged for the hotel to replace it by having someone pick up an order of halibut at a nearby market.
Unfortunately, I fell ill on the first day of the conference and it lasted for the entire time I was in Anchorage. The leaders at the conference suggested I might have caught the flu before I left Chicago. As much as I yearned to go to my hotel room and rest, I couldn’t abandon my conference duties and pushed through with Dayquil, liquids, and Kleenex. The overnight flight back home was hard; I was unable to get any sleep. It put a damper on the entire trip, and I’m afraid it was enough for me to no longer have a desire to visit the “Last Frontier” again. It’s a sad conclusion for me to come to especially since it would have been exciting to get a chance to see the Northern lights.
Just a Little Traveling... 