Sauerdough Lodging Blog | Sauerdough Lodging

What’s In A Name?

Looking north up Fourth Ave. Seward, Alaska

If you visit our ‘About’ page, you’ll find little tidbits about the history of our building. It’s a colorful and surprising history that is not an uncommon story across the United States, but everything is a little bit more special in Alaska (in our humble opinion, of course).

Built in 1907 by William Sauers (hence the reasoning for the spelling of Sauerdough Lodging), our building sits on Fourth Avenue in downtown Seward, near the corner of Adams Street, and was originally the Seward Commercial Company General Store. The upstairs, which is now the lodging, served as a town meeting hall.

Seward Commercial Company General Store. William Sauers at right.

As is common with life, time passes, and things change, and our building is no exception. During the Roaring 20’s the town meeting hall evolved into five separate apartments that served as a local brothel (see our blog archives for more of that fascinating history). Sometime in the mid-1900’s, the general store (which is now the Sea Bean Café) became a Western Auto Hardware store. Since then, the café space has been a video rental store (RIP to all video rental stores, right?), a juice bar, and most recently before the Sea Bean, and most surprisingly, a museum honoring the University of Oregon’s football team, the Ducks (so random!). The current owners overtook the building in 2006, opening the Sea Bean Café on July 3, and continuing the Sauerdough Lodging upstairs.

The preservation of the building has been an important factor in the minds of the current owners, right down to the decorative tin ceiling and old-timey feel. A stay at the Sauerdough Lodging feels like a luxurious journey back in time. History swirls around while still providing you with the most modern conveniences. Right outside the door to the lodging, downtown Seward thrives and continues to create its own unique history. Also, with your stay at the lodging, the tasty coffee, sandwiches, and house made pastries await you downstairs. Awake to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and come enjoy a glass of wine in the evening, on the house.

Present Day Sea Bean Cafe, below Sauerdough Lodging

Seward is a place like no other – a place that exists, literally, at the end of the road; a place that tangles itself harmoniously with the grand nature of Alaska. Book your stay online to come immerse yourself in our history.

Blog by Liberty Elias Miller. Visit her website here: https://www.libertyeliasmiller.com/

Land of the Midnight Sun

Alpenglow over Denali. Photo: Ron Niebrugge

Personally, my favorite thing about Alaska is the alpenglow. It nearly rivals the Northern Lights. Nearly.

As we approach the end of February, the Seward area is gaining 42 hours of daylight each week. After March 20, we boast more hours of daylight than any state in the nation. This is truly the Land of the Midnight Sun.

No matter which state you’re in, Spring ushers in hope for the summer to come. In Seward, sunshine spills from the sky and covers snow-capped peaks with the most stunning alpenglow – an awe-inspiring cocktail of orange and pink and a special soft color that seems only the Alaskan sky can create. As the mountains drape themselves with this beauty, it’s impossible not to stop and simply watch.

Similar with the Northern Lights, the alpenglow seems to fill your soul with a little bit of everything good: hope, joy, love, serenity, awe, and oddly, insignificance. For me, watching the alpenglow makes me realize that I am only one speck in this universe. Life seems to put into perspective while you watch Mother Nature work her magic in a place as gorgeous as Alaska.

Springtime also brings an abundance of activity to Alaska. Humans and wildlife alike brush off the dust of hibernation after a long winter and emerge squinty-eyed and sleepy, but revitalized and ready.

The whales begin to return to Resurrection Bay, the moose calves wobble and shake on their new legs, and people prepare for the short but busy tourist season.

Moose mama and calf. Photo: Stock

In Seward, Major Marine Tours and Kenai Fjords Tours prep their many boats for whale watching, glacier cruises, sunset cruises, and so much more. The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center mucks out pastures and coos at the baby wildlife. And us here at Sauerdough Lodging, though we’ve been open throughout the winter, we drink lots of coffee from our café downstairs, the Sea Bean, and amp ourselves up for spring cleaning.

Sauerdough Lodging and the Sea Bean Cafe, with a rainbow-shrouded Mount Marathon behind. Photo: Stock

Spring puts the world into a mode of renewing and rebirth. People begin to come together at festivals and other events, such as the Spring Carnival and Slush Cup at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, just south of Anchorage. The many kayak companies in Seward begin to haul their boats out of storage and train their new guides. Coffee is brewed, sidewalks are swept, windows are cleaned, and smiles are shared.

Seward, and tourism-based communities throughout the state of Alaska, are all preparing for your visit, because we love where we live, and we want to share our beautiful home with you.

When you book your stay at Sauerdough Lodging, you’re not just booking a hotel room in a tourist town – you’re booking a home-away-from-home in a community of people who are genuinely excited to share our slice of beauty with you.

Visit these websites to book your Seward activities:

Major Marine Tours: https://majormarine.com/

Kenai Fjords Tours: https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/

Blog by Liberty Elias Miller. Visit her website here: https://www.libertyeliasmiller.com/

“The Last Great Race on Earth”

Dallas Seavey at the start line of the Iditarod. Photo: Stock.

There once was a trail…

It was a trail that ran nearly 2,300 miles into the wild heart of Alaska, from Seward in the south, to Nome in the north.

Named after the now-ghost-town of Iditarod, Alaska, it was a rugged and snow-covered track that was used by Gold Rush prospectors and mailmen.

As President Kennedy announced that a man was going to the moon, Alaska was still commuting via sled dogs. It wasn’t until years later that dogs were nearly completely replaced by “iron dogs”, or snowmobiles.

The original Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was the brainchild of a woman (you go, girl) named Dorothy Page.

Dorothy was a chairman of the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee, which was formed in 1964 with the intention of looking into Alaska’s history for the 100^th anniversary of its statehood. She proposed a 56 mile race between Knik and Big Lake to resurrect and memorialize the use of sled dogs. The race happened in 1967 and 1969 before interest dwindled.

But Joe Redington didn’t lose interest.

Joe was heavily involved in the first two races in the late 60’s and never lost hope. He worked tirelessly to not only bring back the race, but to raise interest. Eventually, Joe’s hard work paid off, and the long-distance Iditarod Race became a reality. Joe is now known as the “Father of the Iditarod”.

Joe Redington, Sr. Photo: Stock.

The year was 1973. 352 sled dogs yipped and pulled while 22 mushers fogged the cold Alaskan air with their warm breath of life. The course ran from Anchorage to Nome and covered nearly 1,000 miles, with one of the many checkpoints being in the race’s namesake – Iditarod, Alaska.

The man who won that first long-distance race was Dick Willmarth. It took him nearly three weeks to reach Nome. Now, top mushers reach the finish line in under 10 days (wow!). Musher Mitch Seavey holds the record for fastest time – in 2017 he won the race by reaching Nome in eight days. His son, Dallas, finished second that same year, crossing the finish line only two hours and 44 minutes behind his father. Dallas is also the youngest Iditarod champion, winning the race in 2012 at the age of 25. In 1985, the first woman to win the race was Libby Riddles. Her victory has since been inducted as a “Hall of Fame” moment. Libby has written three books about her Iditarod experience. The second woman to win the race, in 1986, was Susan Butcher.

Libby Riddles. Photo: Stock.

Seward, Alaska claims Mile Zero of the original Iditarod Trail, though the race begins in Willow, 80 miles north of Anchorage, the first Saturday of March each year.

The Iditarod Race has done exactly what Joe Redington always dreamed it would do – bring a part of Alaska’s history back to life. Sled dog rides are now a large portion of tourist attractions throughout the state, and while controversy shrouds it due to animal rights concerns, the history behind it shines brightly.

Want to try your hand at mushing during your visit to Seward? Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey and his family run the Seavey’s IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours on Old Exit Glacier Road outside of town. Visit their website to book your tour.

https://ididaride.com/

Check out these books by Libby Riddles about her victory as the first woman to win the Iditarod.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=libby+riddles+books&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=77996660168487&hvqmt=b&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7xfov41cwn_b

Blog by Liberty Elias Miller. Visit her website here: https://www.libertyeliasmiller.com/

Seward Mile Zero of the original Iditarod Trail. Photo: Stock.

The Call of the Wild

The Line, Seward’s Red Light District, is the row of small houses in the bottom left corner. Photo: stock

Alaska seems to have a voice louder than any other place. She has called over the centuries to the souls of outcast men, and lured them to her from far and wide. John Muir, Georg Stellar (no, I didn’t spell his first name wrong), Chris McCandless, and countless others. Hundreds, thousands, have risked it all in the hopes of finding peace within the wilds of the 49^th state.

Though our history books regale us with the tales of wild men, what about the women who have felt the pull of Alaska? I certainly am not exempt from her siren song.

From 1914 until 1954, there stood 26 houses between 2^nd and 3^rd avenues in Seward, Alaska. This area of town went by many names – Alley B, The Line, and the Red Light District. If you stand there today, all that remains is a row of cottonwood trees, but in the days of yore, it was the beating heart of Seward commerce.

In 1930, the population of Seward was 504. Only 130 of that population was female, thanks to the waves of young, single men who were stationed in Seward during WWII. And of those 130 females, only a small handful were Ladies of the Night. Men would stand in line waiting for admission into these bawdyhouses, and one man, then young, but now weathered with age, remembers being terrified of the Madam as she would step out onto the porch and holler “who’s next?!”.

But those Madam’s, they were the wealthiest in town. A local man who used to do the taxes for Madam Stella Brown claimed that she earned one of the highest incomes in the entire territory, and tax records show that the Madam’s of Seward owned more property than any man. As they say, prostitutes are always the wealthiest in town. The cost of visiting a bawdyhouse was either $2 or $5, depending on the services provided. Five dollars in 1914 would be the equivalent of nearly $121 dollars in 2018.

Of course, prostitution wasn’t exactly legal, but since these ladies were not drug addicts, were not impoverished, and had no turf battles between one another, each house was simply fined $25 per month, an income that the city of Seward desperately needed. The Good Time Girls were not trouble makers in any way, and according to many historical documents, they are remembered as women with kind hearts who donated vegetables from their gardens to the community. They are also remembered for their fashion. With dresses shipped from New York City, the women were the best-dressed in town, and apparently never dressed provocatively, feeling that their services didn’t need “selling”.

People say that the Seward prostitutes were also “unusually old”, most of them in their 50’s. Perhaps due to their age, there was a noticeable absence of unwanted pregnancies and children, so the respectable women of Seward seemed to have no qualms with the ladies and their chosen profession, resting easy at night knowing that their children had no unsolicited siblings.

Back in the good ‘ole days, young boys had paper routes. Seward was no different. What was different, however, is that apparently the local boys fought over who got to deliver the paper to Alley B. One boy paid his boss $20 (the equivalent of $483 today) for the joy of calling that route his, and he bragged to his friends one day about seeing a naked woman in the window of one of the houses.

None of the Good Time Girls of Seward were locals. Each and every one of them had come from the lower 48, heading the call of the wild north. They arrived on ships to a new land where the promise of money lured them as strongly as it did any man. Alaska’s history was created by strong and adventurous men, but it can be argued that the reason those men prospered was due to the companionship of equally strong and adventurous women.

Seward 2018. The Line used to be in the alley, Alley B, between 2nd and 3rd avenues

By Liberty Elias Miller. Visit her blog here: https://www.libertyeliasmiller.com/