The Gingerbread Village At The Hotel Captain Cook In Alaska Is The Stuff Of Christmas Dreams
There’s a fun holiday tradition located in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, and you need to see it! Head on over to the Hotel Captain Cook to check out their famous Christmas gingerbread village, made with pounds of gingerbread and frosting. Every holiday season this giant display gets everyone in a festive mood and ready for the holidays!
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The Hotel Captain Cook puts on one festive holiday display every year!
The creator and designer, Pastry Chef Joe Hickel, named this village "Marina's Village," after his daughter. He's been making gingerbread creations for over 38 years!
Gingerbread villages are a famous winter custom in many cold weather countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and right here in the United States!
Crafted from gingerbread and different types of icing, gingerbread houses are beautiful ways to incorporate delicious holiday sweets into your seasonal decor. The hotel crafts this village after Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."
Every year this village is created with over 700 pounds of delicious gingerbread.
The entire display weighs over 1,000 pounds! You will see that many of the houses can be almost seventeen inches tall, making this an impressive display to behold in person.
Inspect each house, to see how it is made carefully with gingerbread and chocolate.
See if you can spot the chocolate houses and tasty chocolate trees dotted throughout the display! The snow is made of delectable royal icing, emitting delicious aromas of sugar throughout the area.
The houses are started as early as July, as it takes many months to create this level of detail.
During your visit, check out the hotel lobby which will be decorated for the holidays in rich reds and greens. They will even have an impressively decorated Christmas tree. Bring a great camera and you could get some beautiful Christmas photos of the family as well!
You can visit the Hotel Captain Cook in downtown Anchorage. Enter from the 4th Avenue entrance to arrive right at the village!
This event is completely free to attend! Bring your whole family to enjoy the holiday festivities. You can see live cameras and a time lapse video of the construction of the gingerbread village on their website!
Find out more about this great seasonal event at their website here.
Have you had a chance to visit the Christmas gingerbread village at the Hotel Captain Cook? What did you think? Are you going again this year? Let us know in the comments below!
Megan McDonald is a writer, photographer, and owner of an Alaska-based media company. She spends her free time traveling with her husband and daughter, and loves to see and experience new things!
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