The Championship Ice Carving Team from Harbin, China came down to Town Square December 26 – 30 creating a Disney Themed Children’s Ice Park. They transformed 4000 lb. blocks of ice into works of art! Members of this team have won at least ten first place and multiple top five finishes in World Ice Carving competitions including Italy, Canada, Russia, China, Holland and Alaska and have been competing for 30 years.

Last weekend the Symphony performed “The Planets” by G. Holst with an amazing video created by the Adler Planetarium of THE PLANETS. It was footage from NASA and computer renderings of researched data from the planets.

If you had any interest at all in the planets it was pretty amazing stuff. The music was awesome too. If you don’t listen to classical and never heard of Holst there was still a good chance you could enjoy this concert.

Next up the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra is tackling Queen. I’m not talking about British Royalty I’m talking about Rock N Roll. Yup. The Music of Queen.

Rock musicians from Jeans n Classics will be joining the Symphony. Take a trip back to the 70′s and 80′s with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra.

Think Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions, Somebody to Love…this will be one fun concert!

The concert takes place February 10th and 11th at 8 p.m. in the Atwood Concert Hall. You can get tickets at www.centertix.net or call 263-ARTS (2787).

This is the way to learn to enjoy the symphony! If you never thought you would want to hear a symphony you may want to rethink. It is the music of Queen.

New name, new look, more great information about Anchorage.

Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau is now known as Visit Anchorage.

The point all along has been to give people the information they need as they plan how to make the most of their visit to Anchorage and the surrounding area.

Now the name fits the purpose. Visit Anchorage.

When people think of visiting Alaska they don’t always realize how much there is to do in the state’s biggest city that is uniquely Alaskan.

Visit Anchorage gives information on things to do in Anchorage and helps connect travelers with adventures in and around Anchorage.

The updated website offers such a wide variety of information you will probably need more than one look.

www.anchorage.net has links to train travel, boat tours, places to stay, places to eat…you can read comments from tourists who have tried various tours.

Currently you can even see a clip of highlights from the movie “Big Miracle” which was filmed in Alaska. This clip contains comments from the cast too.

As a local I was excited to see information I always search for when friends and relatives visit.

I even found some package deals on things I’ve always wanted to try.

Go to www.anchorage.net and find out what you never knew you needed to know about Anchorage.

Collect a sticker by purchasing an entree at any restaurant on the game card. You get one sticker per restaurant, meaning you need to try new places in order to fill up your card. But when you do, turn in your card to win:

6 stickers = $10 dining certificate
12 stickers = $25 dining certificate
20 stickers = (2) $25 dining certificates
25 stickers = (2) $25 dining certificates & (2) $10 Dining certificates
* Reward dining certificates are randomly selected at time of card drop off *

To Redeem Card

To redeem your card, please drop it off or mail it to:
Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd.
333 West 4th Ave. Suite 317 Anchorage, AK 99501

Grand Prize

Every card that you redeem automatically becomes your entry into our Grand Prize drawing for weekend get-away packages, dining certificates, tickets to the hottest shows & much more!

Deadline for Drop Off:

Cards must be turned in by May 15th, 2012

Participating Restaurants

Starting this Saturday, January 21st, you can get game cards from any of the participating restaurants and collect stickers to win gift certificates to your favorite downtown restaurants.

This year we have 25 restaurants participating. More eating fun! More places to get dining certificates to eat more!

You can only collect one sticker per card from each restaurant. The idea is that you want to try some new places.

You can turn in as many cards as you complete…so don’t limit yourself.

Every year people tell me how glad they were they discovered some new restaurant they might not have tried if it weren’t for this contest.

Try some place new, enjoy your old favorites, challenge yourself to eat out more often.

6 stickers gets you a $10 dining certificate to one of the participating restaurants.
12 stickers gets you a $25 dining certificate.
20 stickers gets you TWO $25 dining certificates
All 25 stickers gets you TWO $25 dining certificates AND TWO $10 dining certificates.

That is a LOT of certificates! A lot of great restaurants and a lot of fun!

Consider this contest your chance to chase away the winter blahs. We all have to eat don’t we? Why not win while you do it?

The contest runs until April 30th. You can turn in completed game cards at Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. 333 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 317.

We are in the big blue building on 4th between C and D Street. Come in the D Street entrance and take the elevator (on your right as you enter) to the 3rd floor.

Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. is right in front of the elevator doors. Call if you get lost, 279-5650.

Bon Appetite!

The Town Square Winter Center is dazzling. Come enjoy the work of the World Champion Chinese Ice Carvers who created a Disney themed Children’s Ice Park and while there take a ride in the Ice Spinners, bring your ice skates and enjoy the groomed ice rink, get your photo taken in front of the 30,000 lb. ice fountain. It’s all free and a gift from ConocoPhillips, Easy Park, MOA Parks & Recreation and Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd.

Artwork from ice blocks

The Crystal Gallery of Ice Competition took place on January 6- 8 and the sculptures are a glowing addition to the Winter Center. Don’t miss this artistic ice display while it is still in it’s prime. Thanks to all of the businesses that provide support for this spectacular event!

1st place: Where We Dwell: Paul Hanis and Jenny Rosenbaum
2nd place: Fragmentation of Winter’s Charm: Gina Eaton and Anita Tabor
3rd place: Out of our Element: Ben and Josiah Firth

Ice sculptures that you can play on!

The ice sculptures in Town Square feature a number of designs that are meant to be played on! Come down and check them out!

Thank you to our Town Square Winter Center sponsors:

Thank you to our Crystal Gallery of Ice sponsors:

And additional support from:

• Municpal Light &Power
• United Rentals
• Lynden Transport
• Alaska Railroad
• Day’s Inn
• Wiley Brooks Co, Inc
• NCP Design/Build, Ltd.
• Diamond Airport Parking
• The Insurance Center
• Linford of Alaska
• Alaska Travel Industry Alliance
• Visit Anchorage
• AIM Broadcasting
• The Anchorage Press

The survey asks questions about the existing housing choices of downtown employees, as well as questions about potential demand for downtown housing, downtown housing type preferences, and what price points people are comfortable with.

Click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NDRQVSC

It is almost like a sophisticated drinking game.

You buy a prepaid card and then select and “pour” your own wine. This high tech system allows you to try some more expensive wines that you might not think to taste otherwise.

You can select from 32 different wines. Don’t worry if all your friends aren’t wine snobs. Whale’s Tail still has a full bar and a fun selection of foods.

My friend and I brought our appetites so we each got a burger and split a giant order of sweet potato fries. Yum. Our burgers were cooked to perfection and came just as we ordered them. They were delicious.

We were both more impressed with the self-serve wine system than we had anticipated. It was fun.

We enjoyed looking at all our options and getting small samples of a number of different wines. The great thing is we both have money left on our pre-paid cards so we have an excuse to go back again.

You can find hours and a menu for Whale’s Tail at http://captaincook.com/dining/whales-tail.

There are so many different reasons to go to Whale’s Tail…the food, the wine selection, the full bar. Pick whichever reason suits you and enjoy yourself.

Whale’s Tail is located inside the 4th Avenue entrance to the Hotel Captain Cook at 4th and I Street. Stop in.

The Town Square Ice Rink is part of the annual Winter Center. Other activities include the annual Crystal Gallery of Ice, where carvers transform Town Square into a magical ice wonderland; the Children’s Ice Park with interactive ice sculptures designed for children; and the FREE ice skating in Town Square!

Thank you to our Town Square Winter Center sponsors:

Thank you to our Crystal Gallery of Ice sponsors:

And additional support from:

• Municpal Light &Power
• United Rentals
• Lynden Transport
• Alaska Railroad
• Day’s Inn
• Wiley Brooks Co, Inc
• NCP Design/Build, Ltd.
• Diamond Airport Parking
• The Insurance Center
• Linford of Alaska
• Alaska Travel Industry Alliance
• Visit Anchorage
• AIM Broadcasting
• The Anchorage Press

You can help offer support to teenagers who are homeless. Instead of giving a gift that may or not be appreciated why not give a gift that could change a life.

Give to Covenant House Alaska in honor of friends and family that don’t want another candle or tie or holiday ornament.

I struggle with gift ideas for several people on my list every year. I don’t have a big budget so I feel like I often end up with things they don’t need or really want.

Last year I decided that instead of trying to find something in the $10 to $15 range that others would appreciate why not just give that $10 or $15 (or more) to a charity that could really use the money and would be something those friends wanted to support.

This year I gave to Covenant House Alaska in honor of two friends that I know work a lot with youth. Not a minute passed before I got a call from Covenant House thanking me for my donation.

This year Covenant House is more crowded than ever. I was told that my gift would make a difference in offering each of those kids a special holiday.

Covenant House Alaska is committed to making sure every homeless teen has a place to stay and the support they need to get their life on track.

I know you can think of someone or maybe several people on your shopping list that would appreciate a donation in their honor that helped a homeless teenager.

You can donate online at http://www.covenanthouseak.org/. There is also a wish list of items in case you don’t want to give cash. You can call 339-4407 to talk to someone about a donation.

Being a teenager is hard. Being homeless and a teenager just shouldn’t happen!

Covenant House Alaska offers what homeless teenagers need! Give because it helps.