A
small town of a couple thousand people, Haines is also a major crossroads -- by Alaska standards -- linking Southeast with the road system.
You'd think that would come with a couple of options for a mid-winter dinner.
But there aren't many -- okay, any -- besides The Lighthouse, a ramshackle shell at the harbor that houses a restaurant and bar.
I consider myself fortunate, really. Making the same sojourn to Juneau last January, I arrived in town ready to eat a whale. I'd failed to notify my cardholder I'd be traveling through a foreign country, a fact I discovered in 600 miles into the trip at Haines Junction, where I'd stopped at a small grocery for sustenance for the 150-mile mountain drive to Haines, Alaska.
But after checking into a room in Haines, my query of a decent dinner location was met with a stymied look from the motel clerk. The Lighthouse was closed for a month or two for renovations. I ended up eating peanut butter, apples and a chocolate bar from the local IGA grocery.
This year, the Lighthouse came through with a great meal for an equally hungry traveler (someday, I'll get this right). Who would have thought not a single store would be open on Christmas Day and the next, from Tok clear to Haines?
A couple blocks away down streets either gushing with running slush or coated with a deadly thick shell of ice, I found The Lighthouse at the boat harbor, where I'm sure the view is tremendous for summer visitors in the endless light.
The menu was full of staples -- surf ‘n turf-type fare -- and pasta staples, like fettuccine alfredo and primavera. But I couldn't pass up the Fish and Chips for $17.95 -- all halibut, and all local, the waitress guaranteed.
The plate came loaded, a third just-right fries, two-thirds chunks of halibut in that perfect fried shade, with crispy seams of batter, on a lettuce bed. Basic, but done just right.
The halibut was amazing. The batter didn't overpower the fish, but offered a slightly crunchy shell to Alaska halibut that, as hoped for, flaked with every bite. So delicious you can leave the tartar sauce to the side.
Then again, when you're on the road, somehow a real meal always tastes wonderful.
The night after Christmas was a slow one at The Lighthouse, with only two other tables occupied during my dinner. But it's one of the few -- okay, the only -- eating-out experience for a visitor to Haines in mid-winter. And it came through for a hungry traveler who dined on chocolate and caramel-covered macadamia nuts for Christmas dinner, absent other options on the road in Beaver Creek, Yukon.
I passed on dessert, but was tempted with the night's special -- blueberry cheesecake -- and the menu staples of crème brûlée or cheesecake with strawberry coulis.
And with a sneak peak at the breakfast menu, I could very well be right back at The Lighthouse for an Alaska breakfast of sourdough pancakes -- this time, perhaps, with enough daylight for a genuine harbor view.
UPDATED: Haines has about 2,000 people; the drive from Haines Junction, Yukon, is about 150 miles.
