Big Bear Bed & Breakfast

The Big Bear Bed and Breakfast is located in Anchorage, Alaska, a few blocks away from Glenn Highway. The property contains four guest rooms that visitors are able to choose from for their stay. The bed and breakfast strives to provide the most authentic Alaskan experience possible, from the food to the décor. The property has been owned and managed by Carol Ross since its opening in 1990, though she has lived in the house for many years beyond that. The Big Bear Bed and Breakfast is open from mid-May to the first of October and is then closed for the winter.

About

Big Bear Bed and Breakfast is situated within a short distance from many of the attractions in the Anchorage area in Alaska. The property has a distinct look to it. The roofing comes down an entire floor at nearly a 90-degree angle and covering half of the house's surface area. The bottom floor of the building is made up of intersecting logs and a glass shoot-off. Flowers and other greenery are dotted around the property. Inside of the inn, there are four guest rooms available for reservation (one on the first floor, and three on the second), a common room on the second floor, and the kitchen on the ground level. Each room is decorated with authentic Alaskan articles and memorabilia. Carol Ross—who owns Big Bear Bed and Breakfast—has an assortment of paintings of native Alaskans that her mother made years ago. She also owns three bear pelts, one of each of the more common types that can be found in Alaska: polar bear, black bear, and grizzly bear. This collection of pelts is how the bed and breakfast received its name. Each bedroom at Big Bear Bed and Breakfast comes equipped with its own bathroom, some of which were installed after the inn had opened. Two of the bathrooms are accessed by opening sliding doors that used to be closet space. These are half-baths with showers, toilets, and sinks. The other two bathrooms are full bathrooms, offering tubs in addition to the other previously-mentioned features. The common room on the second floor is intended to be an open space for guests staying in any of the three bedrooms on the same level. A television, DVDs, microwave, water tank, coffeemaker, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate can all be found and accessed in the common room as part of the reservation cost. One of the unique aspects of Big Bear is its breakfast, made and served by Carol herself. The first breakfast for any given visitor will often be sourdough waffles with a variety of berry/fruit toppings, such as raspberries, apples, blueberries, or cherries. The sourdough is made with an old sourdough starter that Carol owns, and she happily shares its story as she makes the food. Other possible breakfast options include Polish reindeer sausage, hashbrowns, cranberry juice, potato wedges, sliced oranges, and a salmon quiche made from fish caught directly by her son in nearby rivers. The Anchorage area is known for a wide range of nature-viewing possibilities, and the mountains of the surrounding landscape are visible from the bed and breakfast. The Big Bear Bed and Breakfast is open from mid-May to the first of October. Their busiest season is from June to August of each year.

Culture

Carol Ross is the owner of Big Bear Bed and Breakfast. Her biggest goal when it comes to her guests is to provide them with the most authentic Alaskan experience possible. She is a native to Alaska, as were her parents, and so the bed and breakfast is filled with crafts, art, and other Alaskan artifacts. The majority of the guests at Big Bear are new visitors. Carol notes that the typical demographic of guests are the "baby boomers" or other retired couples seeking a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to see what Alaska has to offer. Often, these couples will travel in groups of two or three pairs at a time. Carol is quick to give her guests information about what to do in the area, and due to her extended time in the region, she knows much of the history surrounding Anchorage as well. Many guests have commented on her habit of telling detailed and interesting stories about nearly any topic that is brought up. "Two years ago, I slept here, and I remember it in great detail. Great ambiance, and a great hostess (Carol Ross) who makes the meals and gives you the history of the area and of the food." There are a handful of outdoor activities within a short distance of the property. A half-mile away, there is a bike trail that leads to Ship Creek and a fish hatchery. Many people take guided boat tours of the region, leaving on day-long excursions and returning exclusively to sleep in the bed and breakfast. Some of the trips allow for whale watching. Others pass through Anchorage to take advantage of the large cruise market that it provides. Big Bear Bed and Breakfast is about two miles away from downtown Anchorage. However, a bus station is a block away from the property that gives transportation every half hour. Despite this, Carol still suggests that guests use a rental car service so that they can travel around as they need to without restriction.

History

The Big Bear Bed and Breakfast has been in official operation for 30 years, having opened in 1990 under the management and ownership of Carol Ross. The building itself is much older, considering that it was constructed in 1949 by Carol's father. After attending college, Carol moved into the home to care for it while her parents were away. Eventually, she took the house as her own, and her late husband Bill began to expand it. From 1974 to 1976, he used his experience as a carpenter to take the roof off and add twelve feet to the side and basement of the property. In addition to this, he also built the second floor, bringing the total to three floors (including the basement). Carol was a home economics teacher in the city, but as she approached retirement, she wanted to have a means of providing continued income for herself and her family. She took a bed and breakfast class from a woman nearby, and Carol said to herself, "we can do this." She already had a handful of authentic Alaskan items in her house, and much of the space was relatively unused. The Big Bear Bed and Breakfast opened in 1990, named after one of the many bear pelts on the property. The grizzly bear was actually killed by Carol's father back in 1947. He was out hunting when the creature caught sight of him and started charging. Carol's father fell backward, tripping over a root. He was able to get two shots off while he was lying on the ground. The first bullet went wide, but the second shot penetrated the bear's skull directly above its left eye, killing the beast before it could reach him. In the bed and breakfast's first few years, not all of the rooms had their own bathrooms. In 1993, Bill converted a handful of closets into half-baths in order to increase the appeal of the inn. Carol Ross currently lives in the basement of the home, and in the winter months, she closes the bed and breakfast in order to allow some of her close family members to live on the property.