Attractions

Besides the Alaska SeaLife Center, most of Seward's in-town attractions are of the modest, small-town variety. The Iditarod Trailhead, on the water just east of the SeaLife Center, is where pioneers entered Alaska. The broken concrete and twisted metal you see on the beach walking north are the last ruins of the Seward waterfront, which was destroyed by a tsunami wave in the 1964 earthquake. Sometimes you can see sea otters swimming just offshore. During silver salmon season, in August and September, it's possible to catch them by casting from shore here, although your chances are far better from a boat.

The Seward Museum, at 3rd and Jefferson (tel. 907/224-3902), is a charming grandma's attic of a place, with clippings, memorabilia, and curiosities recalling the history of the town and of the Iditarod Trail, painter Rockwell Kent, and the ways of the past. Admission is $3 for adults, 50¢ under age 18. It's open during the summer daily from 10am to 5pm, in winter usually weekends noon to 4pm (call ahead). Evening slide programs take place during the summer months.

The steep-roofed St. Peter's Episcopal Church (tel. 907/224-3975; www.stpeters-seward.org) is a sweet little chapel under the mountains at 2nd Avenue and Adams Street finished in 1906, within a few years of the town's founding. Behind the altar is a mural painted in 1925 by Dutch artist Jan Van Emple showing the Resurrection as if it had happened at Resurrection Bay. The apostles are depicted as real Alaska Natives and pioneers who were living in town at the time, in their contemporary dress. To get into the church, attend a Sunday morning service at 8 or 11am, or ask for the key at the Seward Museum.