Seward Military Resort has many opportunities for service

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Robert Barnett
  • 673d Air Base Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  It's late winter. The temperature is cold, but perhaps not abnormally so for Alaska.
Trees wave in the wind, causing snow to fall to a ground already buried several feet in the white flakes.

Various objects such as street signs are just visible, poking out. This might not be the best time to be out attempting to go for a walk. It is, however, an excellent time to drive a snowmachine, and the mountain and glacier views surrounding the path are scenic.
Driving snowmachines, along with many other seasonal and recreational activities, can be arranged through Seward Military Resort.

Seward, a fishing city with multiple recreational opportunities, is surrounded by scenic water and mountainous views and is located roughly three hours south of Anchorage.
"In the resort we do snowmachining," said Scott Bartlett, resort manager. "We have a lot of special events such as holiday-themed events. We've done several murder-mystery dinner theaters that have been really good. We've partnered with Alaska Tech College Culinary Arts Academy, for five-star dining with the murder-mystery that's a lot of fun. You can do a New Year's Deal. We've got a Spring Fling coming up."

Other than snowmachining in the winter, other popular activities include exploring the city and visiting the Sealife Center.

"This facility is a major draw for our customers," Bartlett said. "In the winter time, it acts like major filler because they can come and snowmachine with us one day, and the next day they can explore the city. We've got a lot of scenic views and great shops and we have the Sealife Center."

The aquatic center strives to be as affordable as possible for military and those affiliated.
"The prices we negotiate are generally better than the military discount," said Jamie Walker, Sealife Center program manager of tickets and tours. "If there is a better rate, we'll offer that instead."

The center operates year-round. Parents bring children of all ages, who enjoy the many educational and hands-on experiences the Sealife Center offers.

"We're normally packed in the summer time," said Monica Chase, Sealife Center development specialist. "We normally get more than 3,000 people a month in the winter time. We still have a lot of people that buy memberships and can come all year; they bring their kids after school. There are also a lot of youth centers that bring their kids here on windy or otherwise nasty days. We get more than 9,000 people a month in the summer.

"We get a lot of military and a lot of families with children," Chase said.

The Sealife Center overlooks a lake that is normally populated with fishing boats and charters. Fishing charters become available Memorial Day weekend.

"We're going to start with a combat fishing tournament," Bartlett said. "I think we'll probably have 350 Airmen and Soldiers and their families come out and go fishing for free. The entire community comes together and donates their boats. It's perfect. That'll be around May 25. Two days later we open up for the season and our boats will go out every day."

The summer is also packed with things to do.

"Seward is unique in that it has everything," the resort manager said. "It's unlike any other community; the Sealife Center is like the icing on the cake. Nowhere else in the state can you find a facility like this. We do everything; we do hikes, we've got 22 contract service providers that do float trips down the river, fly fishing, glacier and wildlife cruises. Sky's the limit, we do it all."

The resort and city offer their deals and discounts to all branches of the military, families and government employees.

"We get a lot of families, a lot of single Soldiers," he said. "Sometimes several single guys will get together and rent a family town house. It's very affordable."
Enhancing their services, the resort is making a special offer.

"This year we're going to extend our 'stay two days and get the third night free' special all the way to June 15," Bartlett said. "Normally our summer rates go into effect Memorial Day weekend but we're going to extend it another 15 days. That's huge.

"Last year there were so many salmon that they opened up for 12 fish per person, per day. It was huge. There's a huge fish-processing center right there at the resort, commercial vacuum packers so you can pack it, freeze it and FedEx it. It's a one-stop shop. We're available; we've got way too much to offer the service members in Alaska and around the world. We have a lot of folks that come in on military flights from Japan and Korea, they hop on over and stay with us."

The Seward Resort is the number-one ticket outlet for the Sealife Center, he said. Tickets for the Sealife Center are normally $20 for adults and $15 for youth. "The discounted rate at our front desk is $15 for adults and $11 for youth. We're hoping to catch all of JBER with our discounted deals," Bartlett said.

"We sell more tickets at our front desk to the Sealife Center than the cruise lines or the entire industry," Bartlett said. "We get really good deals; that's all discounts that you can't get unless you come to our front desk or to our Facebook site. All our specials are going to be on there. The Seward Military Resort Facebook site will always be updated with deals on coming trips to people will always know in plenty of time to do their scheduling.

The link is also on the JBER Facebook site. We know when the best opportunities are available so it's best to go through us."