Ice Bar and Hot Springs

Alaska is a winter wonderland during the cold season. We went for lights and ended up mushing, relaxing in a hot spring, enjoying an ice show, and going to a bar made of ice!!! Inside that place, that magical place, there was so much more waiting for us. We had no idea what was in store! For example, a xylophone entertained us for quite a while. The inside of this giant igloo was filled with crevices to explore and colorful lights guiding the way to each destination. Pink, green, and purple lights illuminated our surroundings and brought a calm stillness to our day. I remember laughing and smiling throughout the whole experience! The place was obviously cold because the ice had to maintain its structure in order for people to actively play the instruments, sit at the bar, and drink out of the glasses they served our drinks in. 

While playing the xylophone we were amazed at the sounds emanating from it. The vibrations inside the ice were magnificent and the sound quality was crisp and beautiful. The lights danced around us and showed and emphasis of joyful expressions on our faces. This was emphasized even more once we got the photos developed and saw the memory later. I love how photographs can capture moments in time. We are so lucky to live in a time of photos in a hand held device that we can check before leaving a scene, you know, in case we need to recreate and take the picture again. However, on this trip, we had a regular camera and chose to develop all photos after the fact, which was much more relaxing. I do sometimes miss the times of the unknown. I was pleased with blurred and over exposed photography from this trip. These two factors really matched how the moments felt, as if we were in blurs of color and dancing lights. What are some of your favorite photo mishaps from the past? Looking back on this day has been amazing.

The Ice bar was so beautiful and unbelievable at the same time. So much care and detail went into every aspect of the place. We sat on ice stools and drank out of ice martini glasses. We ended up taking one of the glasses with us outside and were told how it should hold up even in the sun because of the temperature. So we used it for quite a while afterwards walking around with our flask. The ice glass was so nice because it cooled the drink instantly. While in the bar, we had the pleasure of apple martinis. I always wanted to try an Appletini since watching Scrubs and Zach Braff drinking them all the time. He was right, they are delicious! After this wonderful experience, we ended the day at a natural hot spring. A resort type building structure was built up around them and we paid to go in. The business provided towels which was nice and had changing rooms. I just remember how beautiful it was, how calm, and how much my aching muscles finally relaxed. Thank you all for reading and I wish you a relaxing Wednesday! The link to my Christmas Ornaments is here and below. 19 more days until Christmas!! Time sure has flown by this year. All ornaments are inspired by my time in Alaska. Thank you all for your support!

-Karen Hilliard

Also, if you would like to show support, I recently joined “buy me a coffee” which is a way for anyone to contribute to the creative process behind the paintings. Fuel the artist so to speak. Here is the link if you are interested and I truly appreciate the support and the fact that you are liking these blogs, as well as my art posts. I am working hard to bring you all fresh content!
Thank you again for all of your support!