Overview
This is part 6 of our 6-month journey to Alaska and back.
With sunlight available 24/7 here this time of year and the temperatures running in the upper 70’s and 80’s there is just an unending list of opportunities for fun and adventure.
Day 1 – Fairbanks and the Midnight Sun Festival (day 41 of the overall trip)
Normally after several days in a row of transitioning from here to there with one and two night layovers, we like to take a break for the first full day and get a feel for the lay of the land. Timing doesn’t allow that luxury today because today is the one day Midnight Sun Festival in downtown Fairbanks. The night before we scouted out a place to park and walk to the festival as we have no idea how crowded this will be, so our choice is a mere .5 miles and the 10 minute walk is quick.
We can hear live music as we approach the festival area and soon we see people, people and more people. At first glimpse, it seems just like any festival back home – and it is slightly less crowded than we expected. And as we go throughout the day – it IS just like any festival back home for the most part. There are vendors selling their goods, food vendors galore, 3 music stages and 3 beer gardens. Of note is a street blocked off for a basketball tournament with 8 courts. There is an area with like 200 spin bicycles where later in the day, 200 folks will spin together for charity. There is a giant bouncy house and play area for kids at one end.
We go to all 3 of the beer gardens to sample some local brews and and then head up to one rooftop bar where we get to people watch a plethora of unique individuals walking through the festival. Here we meet Carson & Patrick who we learn are traveling with John & Helene together in one RV for 3 weeks. We get to chat for a bit with Nick the Owner and his daughter Sophie and learn he has owned the bar for 30 years. He’s had major trouble finding people to work which has forced him to man the bar all by himself today. We also meet and chat a bit with Mike and Cindy a couple of locals who moved to Alaska from Michigan years ago.
After a while we move on to the Midnite Mine – which has a brewery upstairs, a bar downstairs and a large outdoor area. After chatting for a bit with our bartender Barbara, lo and behold, we run into Carson, Patrick, John & Helene so we hang with them for a while. Soon we meet Winona & Nick, locals who give us a wealth of information about Fairbanks for us to look into. This land of the midnight sun tricks us and with the skies so bright, we don’t realize it is almost 11p – so we head back to the truck and call it an evening.
Day 2 & 3 – a day of rest and to get our bearings (days 42 & 43 of the overall trip)
We’ve been on the road hitting it hard every day so we decide to just spend two days like “typical at home” days with just a tiny bit of exploring. That includes catching up on bills and finances, doing laundry, doing meal prep, going to Costco and that type of stuff. We also do a lot of research looking into adventure activities as well as places to eat. FYI – we’d estimate about 1/3 of restaurants in Fairbanks have actual web pages, 1/3 have a Facebook page and the other 1/3 have nothing which makes research more challenging. Thankfully, we have the list from Winona & Nick to look into.
Sunday is Father’s Day and we head to Pike’s Landing for lunch. With one worker out sick, the place is slammed – but we’re patient and enjoy a few hours there.
On Monday we head back into downtown Fairbanks and it looks so different than during the festival.
We spend time at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center and go looking for lunch.
Walk on the river walk
The Chena River Walk starts at the visitors center and continues for 3.5 miles down to Pioneer Park. After leaving the visitors center we head out to explore the River Walk for a bit before heading back into town for lunch.
Downtown Fairbanks
We start searching for a place to have lunch in downtown Fairbanks. It is common for places tin this area NOT be open on Monday’s and also common for places NOT to open until 4pm so our search is a little bit of a challenge to find a place that appeals to us.
The Mecca Bar
We slide into a local dive bar in the middle of downtown called Mecca Bar looking for a recommendation. There are “locals” bars and there are “indigenous people locals” bars and we’ve found the latter. At first we get a cold chilly welcome, but we aren’t deterred. We immediately strike up a conversation by complimenting the bartender on her eye color (very light gray/silver) – and she lights right up and the next thing you know, we’re best buds. Her name is Cynthia and she’s a talker! She’s lived here a long time and used to work at the gold mine until she fell into the crusher a year ago and was severely injured (two broken legs, two broken arms – gosh, there was more but ’nuff said). She’s mostly recovered and she’s going to take her settlement money and travel. No food at this place, but when her shift ends, she hands us over to Kelly and the conversations continue. Kelly gives us the thumbs up on a place for lunch and after an hour, we head to Bahn Thai.
Bahn Thai
There are more than your normal number of Thai restaurants in Fairbanks. The food at Bahn Thai was great and we head back to finish our day at the rental.
Day 4 – local exploring and baseball (day 44 of the overall trip)
Creamer’s Dairy & Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
We need to get a good long walk in – we’re used to doing 4 – 6 miles per day. We find the historic Creamer’s Dairy that has a few trails around it. First we look at the pioneer dairy farm buildings which we learn are the ONLY surviving ones this part of Alaska. Charles Hinckley of Illinois began operating in 1903 with 3 cows – trying to capitalize on the gold rush. He hired a 15-year old named Charles Creamer, a pioneer from California, who would later marry into the family and take over the dairy farm. At first they had to import hay from Seattle at a hefty cost – but in 1908 they started their own cultivation – which ended up attracting migrating birds. Mr. Creamer was fascinated at observing the migration patterns each year and did all he could to attract the birds. When Mr. Creamer died in 1965, the dairy farm closed and all 101 cows were sold. The state of Alaska purchased the land and has preserved the barns and established the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge on the land. Hiking in the open, sunny fields is blissful – but take a turn into the woods and the mosquitos rule.
Time for lunch and we stop at The Food Factory and grab a seat on the rooftop on this beautiful day. The food was excellent, but it probably isn’t a repeat place since it is smack dab in the middle of Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.
Pioneer Park
Next, we choose to explore the area known as Pioneer Park, a self-described 44 acre “historical theme park”. Originally called Alaska-Land, there’s no admission and we embark on a self-guided tour of artifacts, building and grounds. There’s also a few “donation” museums and an art gallery. We wander through several building and agree it is worth the time to visit this place. On-site there’s also an authentic salmon bake area and as we walk around it, we start to see the tour buses rolling in.
We chat with Diane for a bit who is a volunteer in one of the old homes. She, like many of the residents of this area, have connections to the Fort Wainwright Army Base or the Eielson Air Force Base. Her parents were stationed her years ago and she has never left. As we are chatting we learn about the 1967 flood that nearly destroyed Fairbanks and the origins of the Chena River State Recreational Area which was created as a way to divert flood waters from the spring melt away from Fairbanks.
The Midnight Sun Baseball Game
And then it is time for the Midnight Sun Baseball game on the day of the summer solstice. Harrison has been talking about this game for as long as Nancy can remember – the game where first pitch is at 10pm and they play without artificial lights. Tonight the Alaska Goldpanners take on the San Diego Wave in the 116th year of this tradition that started with a bet between two local bars.
We sit on aluminum bleachers and make conversation with folks around us – mostly all from the area. It is easy to strike up a conversation because you just ask how long they’ve been coming to the game. We meet Cassidy and his group of 4 guys that all work together – they’ve been coming here “since high school”.
One woman tells us she’s been coming since she was nine and when she learns it is our first – she asks if we brought our kazoo. Kazoo – what for? She winks and says “You’ll see – I don’t want to spoil it for you”. And at the 7th inning stretch, they play a song called Happy Boy by the Beat Farmers where they crowd sings along with the “hubba hubba hubba hubba hubba” portion of the lyrics – and all join in on their kazoos for the instrumental “solo” of the song.
FUN FACT – this song is in the movies Dumb & Dumber, When Harry Met Sally and Pecker.
The game is very exciting and the Goldpanners win in the 10th inning, 10-9 at around 1:45am. As we drive back to the rental at this time of the night, we talk about how surreal it is for it to be light out at this early morning hour.
Day 5 – The Riverboat Discovery (day 45 of the overall trip)
RIverboat Discovery
It’s time to play tourist by doing the Riverboat Discovery tour. As we pull up, we see at least 12 tour busses and learn there are so many people for the 2pm tour, that they are running 2 boats today. We get a seat on the 3rd of 4 decks but we sit outside on the front of the boat, not inside. Once the boat gets underway, we learn the Binkley family has been running this steamboat tradition for over 100 years and 5 generations.
First up is a bush pilot demonstration where we get to watch a plane take off and land twice.
We float for a short distance and stop off the banks of the Trail Breaker Kennel to learn about 4-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher and get to watch a sled dog mushing demonstration.
We float again for a short distance to the Chena Indian Village Living Museum where we all dis-embark and get a guided tour of the village. We spend about an hour here both in a guided and self-guided time seeing reindeer, learning about fish wheels, how to filet and smoke salmon and other Athabascan Indian culture. Once back on the ship, we get free samples of the canned smoked salmon they have for sale.
Harrison gets to meet another “Harrison”. One of the boys of the boat’s captain is named Harrison and for only the second time in his life Harrison meets another “Harrison”.
Another Harrison
As we return to dock, we pass by the pump house which we will visit shortly.
All in all – very touristy but worth the experience.
Pump House #9
We want to try dinner at The Pump House restaurant, which we’ve heard might require reservations. Sure enough – we pull up at 4pm and not only is the bar full, but we’re told they have no openings for dinner until after 9pm. We make a note to save this for another day and go on a little scenic drive on the outskirts of Fairbanks.
Brewster’s
We have dinner at Brewster’s and chat it up with bartender Nick and bar buddy Cheyenne. Both give us more insight into other area sports bars and dive bars. Good food and good conversation – we might be back.
Day 6 – Another Day Off (day 46 of the overall trip)
Another day of relaxing and living the Fairbanks life. Today we take in a movie at the local Regal Cinema 16. The theatre has 2 IMAX screens – because there’s not much else to do in the winter and its dark for a really long time around here.
Day 7 – Museums and the North Pole (day 47 of the overall trip)
Alaska Museum of the North
We start out early in the morning by heading to the Alaska Museum of the North that is located on the campus of University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF). The museum has quite the reputation and indeed, it doesn’t disappoint.
When we arrive it is rather quiet, but about an hour into our visit, the tour busses start pulling in and the place gets crowded. We watch an informational movie on the Bowhead Whale. We walk through the Gallery of Alaska which has a section for each of the regions: Southeast (aka: the inner passage), Southcentral, Interior (where we currently are – Tok, Eagle, Fairbanks, Circle, etc.), Western & Arctic Coast (we are headed to the Arctic in another 2 weeks – but not going to the west) and the Southwest (the Kenai Peninsula & Aleutian Islands).
We see a lot of fossils and skeletons of Mastodons and Wooly Mammoths as well as other prehistoric creatures. One of the crowning displays is that of Blue Babe, a 36,000 year old mummified steppe bison found in the Interior permafrost. We learn about the impact of WWII on Alaska – the Japanese actually occupied part of the Aleutian Islands. We learn a lot about the indigenous people and their history and culture.
The Santa Claus House – in North Pole
Next we drive about 16 miles back the way we came into Fairbanks to see what North Pole, AK has to offer. Our first stop is The Santa Clause House. Sadly, it turns out to primarily be nothing but a Christmas themed gift shop. Not a must see unless you are traveling with young children.
The Knotty Shop – in North Pole
A few more miles down the road is a place called The Knotty Shop that shows up as a must see place. Again, we were disappointed because it was nothing but a souvenir store that claims to have unique gifts, but in reality, not much we haven’t seen elsewhere. We suppose if we had just stopped here along our journey as a place to grab an ice cream and stretch our legs, it would have been more enjoyable. The building itself was our favorite part but it is not worth a special drive to visit.
Exploring Chena Lake Recreational Area
We have plans to eat in North Pole at a “dive bar” that was recommended to us. We get distracted by the sign for Chena Lake Recreational Area – not mentioned much in the tour books, but we had heard about it from Diane at Pioneer Park and we decide to drive through to see what it has to offer. We know that in 1967, Fairbanks experienced major flood damage from the Chena River. A dam has been built to ensure it will never happen again – and thus the 260 acre Chena Lake was created to help manage the water levels. We drive around the area and learn there is a River Park and Lake Park. We see the dam and discover a very nice picnic areas, 2 large sandy beaches and kayak/canoe rentals. We agree we’ll come back another day!
Dinner at the North Pole Alehouse
We finally arrive at the North Pole Alehouse which turns out isn’t a “dive bar” at all, but a nice brewpub. We are sad to learn the food truck canceled, but our waitress Sara hands us a menu for the Pagoda, a well-known Chinese restaurant that shares an owner and therefore delivers to this place free of charge. We order some egg rolls and one meal to share – and it is MORE than enough food (and delicious food indeed). We sample a few of the beers on tap and agree, we will likely return here too.
Day 8 – Manley Hot Springs Scenic Drive on the Elliot Highway (day 48 of the overall trip)
The Drive to and from Manley Hot Springs
Time for a LONG scenic drive today (320 miles round trip) – it is 5 hours to get to the town of Manley Hot Springs along an unpaved road. As we leave the house, we notice how thick the wildfire smoke is today – the worst we’ve seen it. Not only do you see it, you smell it and it slightly burns the back of your throat as you breathe. The first 1/2 of the drive on Alaska 2, also known as the Elliot Highway, is paved.
The turn-off to Manley Hot Springs is at the junction with Alaska-11, also known as the Dalton Highway (some of you know this as the “Ice Road Trucker” road from the TV series of the same name. We take our picture at the original famous sign and then stay on AK-2 to start our journey on the unpaved road. This part of the drive is listed as one of the premier scenic drives in AK, but sadly the smoke obscures a significant portion of our views. We still enjoy the experience.
When we finally arrive in Manley Hot Springs we are disappointed the 1906 Manley Roadhouse is not open, nor are the hot springs. Internet research wasn’t clear whether they were or not – just mention plans to open in 2022. Signs on doors indicate all is still closed with plans to open sometime in 2022. We drive to a small park along the Tanana River and are thankful we planned ahead with packed sandwiches in case the Roadhouse was closed.
The mosquitos are really bad so we just eat in the truck. In this town of about 150 people we get to observe a slice of life when 3 young boys pull up on an ATV and get out to throw rocks in the river for a bit and then a teenage boy comes by to fish.
The Howling Dog Saloon
We begin our 5 hour journey back with plans to have dinner and a beer at the “dive bar” called the Howling Dog Saloon just 11 miles from our rental. As soon as we pull up to the saloon, we pretty much know we’ve found a great dive bar. We belly up to the bar and meet our waitress, Marie. We learn the real café is closed (they can’t find a cook) but they offer burritos and pizza.
We order a pizza and when a circuit breaker blows (because they are running the air fryer and the electric pizza oven at the same time), we meet Ralph, the owner. He was just delightful to talk to and hear stories about the place he opened in 1969. Open Thursdays – Sundays, they offer live music every Friday and Saturday.
We learn there is a website known as the Dive Bar Shirt Club and they were the first Alaska bar honored to be part of this club. If you join the club, you receive an authentic T-shirt from a bonafide dive bar each month.
Day 9 – Another day off (day 49 of the overall trip)
We are really enjoying our 22 days in Fairbanks where it sort of feels like we’re on vacation and sort of feeling like we just live here. We’ve really settled into a nice, slow & comfortable pace for this leg of our trip where we aren’t rushed to get everything in or worried we’ll miss something. We just hang around the house catching up on photography, blogging, laundry, etc.
Dinner at The Oasis Restaurant and Lounge
We go to a restaurant fairly close by our rental, The Oasis Restaurant and Lounge. This isn’t one that gets high recommendations on a travel site like TripAdvisor most likely because it’s a locals bar not near anything touristy. It is Sunday and the bar is full so we take a high top table in the bar area and Shakira tends to our server needs. We have great food, but when her shift ends, we cash out and move to the bar.
Here we meet Lily, our bartender, and her boyfriend, Anthony, is sitting next to us. They both offer more information about things to do in the Fairbanks area – both verifying what we’ve already heard and hearing about new things. The same goes for area restaurants and dive bars. The list is growing and we’re wondering if we’ll be able to fit it all in without feeling rushed.
Hot Lick Homemade Ice Cream
Lily and Anthony make plans to walk to a local home-made ice cream shop after her shift is over. We steal the idea and head out to Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream and as expected, it is a typical looking ice cream stand/building.
It is very busy and there are 3 people ahead of us before we place our order. We’re used to waiting about 5 minutes after ordering – but are given a receipt with order #32 – and we hear them call #18. YIKES. We end up waiting about 20 minutes and the ice cream is superb, as is the opportunity to people watch and observe and participate in “Alaska Life”.
Day 10 – Kayaking at Chena Lake (day 50 of the overall trip)
The forecast calls for low 80’s today – something we didn’t really expect up in Alaska. We put on shorts for the first time in over a month and head back to Chena Lake Recreational Area for a glorious day of kayaking. We marvel at the inexpensive price of just $35 to rent a tandem kayak for the entire day. We get in the kayak and are pleased the water isn’t too cold – very tolerable.
As we paddle out, we realize the island halfway across the lake has campsites and a group of folks are heading out in several boats. We later learn some folks rent campsites for the day to have the private space but don’t spend the night. The water is crystal clear – you can see down 10-12 feet. Fish are jumping all around us and blue striped dragonflies hover as well. No mosquitoes while on the lake – that’s a blessing, for sure.
We explore the right side of the lake, then come in for lunch. After lunch we explore the left side of the lake and that’s where we find a beautiful, large sandy beach area with lots of kids and teens playing in the water. We don’t have our swimsuits but if we come back, we will bring them next time.
Day 11 – Steese Highway Scenic Drive to Circle – (day 51 of the overall trip)
We’re ready for another scenic drive and today’s will take us on the Steese Highway to the tiny town of Circle on the Yukon River. This drive is about 160 miles and should take us 4 hours one way. Similar to our drive to Eagle several weeks ago – the first part of the road is paved and the second part is unpaved and just ends at the river.
Alaska Pipeline
For the first half we encounter smoke that obscures a lot of the great views but we’re still able to enjoy the drive. We pass by campgrounds, old gold dredges and abandoned mining camps.
Davidson Ditch
We stop along the route at the Davidson Ditch display which tell of the 90 mile conduit built in 1920 to transport water to gold digging dredges in the Fairbanks area. Lessons learned from building this were applied to the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline construction 50 years later.
The mosquitoes are insane and even after we get back in the truck, they continue to dive bomb our windows. We pass by a lot of land still recovering from forest fires of previous years.
The Town of Central
We pass first through the town of Central, population 95, and remark that the smoke isn’t as thick here. Central is a popular checkpoint for the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. There is a turn-off here in Central to the Circle Hot Springs – but we know from research that the hot springs are no longer in operation.
About 5 miles outside of Circle they are re-grading the dirt road. In places it is one lane and there’s a ton of water on the surface to help it compact.
The Town of Circle
Circle (population 94) itself is much like Eagle – no restaurants, just a tiny grocery store and a small bed & breakfast. The town got its name because early settlers thought it was located on the Arctic Circle – but that’s still another 50 miles north. We stop at a small park by the road’s end at the river and watch as the water truck pulls up, hooks up to a hose and pump in the river to refill his truck and head back to the re-grading project. We are there long enough to watch him do this twice.
We start eating lunch on a picnic table and meet a local gentleman who engages in conversation with us about his life here in Circle. We ask if he had seen “the crazy Germans” come through here (we heard about them from the folks in Eagle) and he laughs and confirms they came through. He tells us that “back in the day”, the salmon runs were so strong you could easily see them crowding the waters, but over-fishing has changed things.
Eagle Summit
We drive through the probably 1 mile total of roads in the town and start to head back. After about an hour, we stop at the Eagle Summit wayside to stretch our legs. The smoke isn’t as thick here so we end up doing the .5 mile hike up to the summit – a fairly easy route with slow climbing switchbacks that get a little steeper near the top. The 360 degree view at 3624ft in elevation is still impressive, not too lost to smoke.
Red Fox Bar & Grill
Once back in town, we stop at the closest restaurant to our rental, the Red Fox Bar & Grill. We’ve seen it from the road, but like the Oasis Restaurant & Bar, this place is not mentioned in tourist books because it is a local place not near anything touristy. It is 6:30pm and the place is packed – no seats at the bar, so we opt for a high top table. It also goes by the name Red Fox Sports Bar and indeed we get to watch some baseball on several TVs throughout the place. We order an appetizer which is so huge it ends up filling our need for dinner.
Day 12 – Another day off – (day 52 of the overall trip)
The smoke is thick outside, so we decide to take another day off. We also opt to go to the movies again, this time seeing Top Gun: Maverick. We time the movie so we’ll get out with just enough time to drive to The Pump House for dinner when it opens at 3pm. If you remember, we stopped in there a week ago around 4:30pm and it was full with no reservations available until after 9pm. We get to the restaurant at 3pm only to learn the website is incorrect, they don’t open until 4pm. We need to kill and hour so we head out to find a car wash so we can clean all the dirt from yesterday’s trip off the Brown Beast.
The Brown Beast needs a bath!
Pump House #9
After bathing the beast, we also do another quick grocery stop and then head back to the Pump House. We get 2 seats at the bar and share a cup of seafood chowder that is outstanding. It isn’t long before another couple grabs the seats next to us and we start chatting with locals Brett & Jessie.
Brett is one of those “Ice Road Truckers” and his wife drives ahead of him in the pilot vehicle. They moved up here from Texas about 5 years ago and have pretty much decided that they are going to be lifelong residents of Alaska.
Boy, do we hear stories and they share a picture of their truck and rig coming back from Prudhoe Bay! (see below) They also give us great information about restaurants and dive bars and things to do.
We split an order of a salmon filet cooked in a birch/blackberry sauce. They split an order of a ribeye steak. The portions are huge, plates are almost licked clean and no one goes away hungry. Looking around, the place is jam packed – and now we understand why. Great food and beautiful ambience will always be a winning combination.
FUN FACT: The Davidson Ditch brought water from the Chatanika River to the Pump House (now this very restaurant) where it was then pumped to the various dredging operations.
Day 13 – A Day to Play Tourist – (day 53 of the overall trip)
Chena Hot Springs
Today we’re going to do 2 things every tourist has on their must do list in the Fairbanks area. The first is travelling 60 miles to Chena Hot Springs – everyone we meet asks us if we’ve been there yet. The drive is all on paved roads and actually reminds us a little of scenic VA roads.
Chena Hot Springs is really Chena Hot Springs Resort with cabins, a lodge, a massage spa, an activity center where you can sign up for horseback riding, guided hiking, a tour of their ice museum or geo-thermal facilities, dog mushing demonstrations – as well as what we came for – hot spring pools. This is a very popular tourist destinations where some people stay overnight, some come on a bus tour and some like us just come for a few hours.
The Pools at Chena Hot Springs
We check in at the pool house, get our towels and change into our swimsuits. We opt to soak in the large rock lake pool, an adult only outdoor “natural” facility where the water is untreated and surrounded by large rocks. The water is reported to be 106 degrees where it enters the large pools but they pipe in less warm water to help cool other areas. As people enter the waters, almost everyone says “wow, that’s hot” – not sure what they were expecting!
We wander around the lake and chit-chat here and there with some people, but most folks are in groups of 4 or 6 so it is challenging to interject yourself. Nancy decides to check out one of the outdoor hot tubs – those are treated with chlorine and their temperature is controlled at 100 degrees. There’s also an indoor pool with chlorine treated mineral waters that children are allowed in. Nancy sticks her foot in there and guesses it to be about 80-84 degrees.
Chena Hot Springs Restaurant
Time to fill our bellies, we head to the Chena Hot Springs Restaurant and grab 2 seats at the bar. We remark how impressed we are with the ambiance of this restaurant and how it is much higher quality than many customer reviews have stated. We are really learning how you have to take reviews with a grain of salt because everyone has different tastes and expectations. We each order a sandwich and both are great. We notice the place filling up and by the time we leave, there is a 20 minute wait to get a seat!
Gold Panning at Gold Daughters
Then, it is time drive back to Fairbanks and partake in our second must do thing – gold panning. We opt to go to a place that only offers gold panning (as opposed to a place where it is one of several activities available – those are more likely to be filled with folks from tour busses). Gold Daughters is a 3rd generation run gold panning operation that fits the bill of what we’re looking for.
We first get a lesson in how to pan for gold and do 2 practice runs with dirt from a pile taken from a local gold mine. We have no luck with that but we’re ready to use the bag we were given when we arrive that is guaranteed to contain gold. Sure enough, both of us find a few flecks of gold and savor the experience. You can purchase more “guarantee bags” which are all seeded with various sizes and amounts of gold – a $60 bag, a $100 bag, a $250 bag and even a $1000 bag. We’re not here to get rich – we just want the experience of gold panning and finding something.
After sifting through our bag, we go back to the dirt pile and then on the advice from Natallie, we try going through the dirt in the bottom of the water trough since many folks miss finding what was in their bags. No luck – so we finally stop for the day, get our gold chips put into a souvenir locket and head home. All in all – a fun experience.
Day 14 – More Kayaking and a Howling Good Time at the Howling Dog Saloon – (day 54 of the overall trip)
Kayaking Tanana Lake
We really enjoyed our time kayaking the other day on Chena Lake, but one of the locals told us about another place closer to town – Tanana Lakes. We aren’t sure how many lakes there are, but we know one is for non-motorized boats and one is for motorized boats.
We rent another tandem kayak and spend some time kayaking around the lake, stopping for lunch and doing more exploring. This lake is much smaller than Chena Lake, but probably more scenic. It has lots of “fingers” and “coves”. We note there are far fewer fish jumping at this lake – and far MORE fireflies.
Howling Dog
We loved this place so much when we stopped here last week that we’ve made it point to return this Friday night when they will have live music. The owner Ralph welcomes us back!
Then we meet a character named Randy who is quite the tall-tale story teller. As a sample, he claims to have been inside Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and actually touched the spaceship. He said it was cold and hard to the touch at first, but once he had his hand there for a while, it became like metallic jello. He also claims to have evidence the moon landing was faked. He claims to read at 1800 words per minute. He claims to have warmed several Gemini and Apollo astronaut’s seats by sitting in them first, before they entered for their flights. We nickname him “Forrest Gump” because of all his tall-tales – not knowing which are true, which are embellished stories and which are total bull. We ask Ralph and he confirms that Randy’s stories are legendary and shift as the amount of alcohol is consumed.
Gold Miner John
We meet John from Minnesota who has come to Alaska for the summer in search of gold. He’s purchased a claim up north of Coldfoot and used underwater dredging equipment. (see the picture of him in the wet suite below) He will spend the summer in a tent with his buddy and they will work the claim. He’s very knowledgeable on gold mining techniques and explains some of them to us (including some photos we are posting below). Since we’ll be up in Coldfoot next Sunday, we make plans to meet up.
Day 15 – A Typical Day Living in Fairbanks – (day 55 of the overall trip)
Red Fox – Take Two
The Red Fox is the one and only restaurant within walking distance – it is 1.1 miles from our rental, but we love to walk and haven’t gotten much walking in lately. We head up around 4:30pm hoping to grab a seat at the bar and luck out getting 2 that have just been vacated. Our bartender is Jen and we learn she is the bar manager. We also meet Vi who has just moved back a week ago from Boise after living there for 4 years. She used to work here with Jen. We share “Forrest Gump’s” stories and they both get a real kick out of them. Vi and Jen share more insights into Fairbanks restaurants, bars and things to do and spend a wonderful evening full of delightful conversation.
Day 16 – Another Museum – (day 56 of the overall trip)
Fountainhead Anique Auto Museum
The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is NOT just another car museum. This place contains over 100 magnificently restored vehicles mostly from the 1900’s, 1910’s and 1920’s – and it also contains evening wear fashions from the same era. It is privately owned by a couple who started with about 18 antique cars and has grown substantially to the point they are about to outgrow this building.
Several of the vehicles are one of kind that remain. One dress is over 250 years old. Every vehicle and every outfit has a placard giving information about that object. There are several old film clips and photographs of early automobile travel in Alaska. We have to say, this museum exceeded our expectations and is truly exceptional – this is must do/must see if you are ever in Fairbanks (expect 2 hours minimum).
Day 17 – Independence Day in Fairbanks – (day 57 of the overall trip)
We’ve been asking folks and searching the internet to find something to do to celebrate Independence Day in Fairbanks. Most locals say this is a weekend for friends and family, picnics and camping. They consider the Midnight Sun Festival the one to have. Our internet research shows us there are two community festivals – one in Pioneer Park and one at a park in North Pole. Since Pioneer Park is much closer, we opt for that one. While it starts at noon, the early few hours seem geared for children with parades and ceremonies – the live music and beer garden starts at 3pm. We hang around the rental just watching kayakers float by and watching TV. We get to the park around 3:30pm and easily find a parking space – which isn’t a good sign quite honestly. Back home, a festival like this would be packed and parking a challenge. We head in and hear the sound of a bagpipe band – not the music we were anticipating, but we continue to walk around the park and it isn’t crowded at all. We walk by the Tanana Railroad Museum and it is open, so we head into this small one room museum and look around. Back outside, we head to the other end of town hearing some live classic rock and roll in the distance. The band is pretty decent, but we don’t see any beer garden nearby. At this point, our observation is that the park is LESS crowded than on a good day when lots of tour busses bring tourists.
We keep walking and see the Pioneer Air Museum is open (not usually open on Mondays) so we slide in there. The greeter says if we can tell him a GOOD joke, we can get a discount. Nancy blurts out an Independence Day joke she read just this morning: “Why are there no ‘knock, knock’ jokes about America? Because Freedom Rings!”. The greeter shakes his head and says he admits that was a good one – and we pay our discounted rate and begin about a 90-minute exploration. This museum is inside a geodesic dome which is cool in and of itself – it known as “The Gold Dome” because it is painted gold, like a giant nugget of gold. It seems larger on the inside than it looks like it will from the outside and get to see several intact planes as well as remnants of several crashed plains. We learn about some of the early flying in Alaska, including famous crashes. There are memorabilia from early Alaskan airlines. It is a well-done collection and we highly recommend it.
As we leave, we ask the greeter where the beer garden is and we learn it is in the area run by the Alaska Salmon Bake company. We head in that direction, and it has even fewer people than the park section. We don’t even have to wait in line at the beer counter, but we each grab a beer and head to a table to drink and listen to a radio station. This just isn’t the experience we’re looking for in so many ways. We wanted beer and live music and people to meet and talk to. We briefly consider going to the other festival in North Pole but make the assumption it will be much the same. We finish our beers and decide to head out.
We know several area restaurants have closed for the holiday, but we take our chances and head back to the Oasis Restaurant and Lounge again and grab dinner. The bartender remembers us from our visit the previous week. We then head home to sit on our little river patio to watch kayakers, boats and jet skis go by. There will be no fireworks here in Fairbanks on the 4th of July. One reason is that it doesn’t really make sense since the sun doesn’t go down so it isn’t dark enough. We hear New Year’s Eve is huge on fireworks displays in this ares of the country. The other reason is all the wildfires and fear of adding more – so many fire this year that they have even banned the sale for personal use for 2022.
Day 18 – Another Day of Living in Fairbanks – (day 58 of the overall trip)
Let’s get a Haircut
Harrison needs a haircut so we venture into town to find a barber. We find a one chair shop with an Asian woman who is having issues with her credit card machine. We wait while she and a friend from the shop next door try to work with tech support over the phone. They have no luck, but Harrison ends up with a great cut.
Find a barber to get a haircut after 2 months on the road
The Crepery
We walk around downtown looking for a place to grab lunch. We aren’t sure what is open on Tuesdays and what’s open for lunch. We notice 2 different tour busses parked in town and that means lots of folks walking around. We finely settle on lunch at The Crepery which came highly recommended. Yes, crepes are more typically thought of for breakfast or dessert, but they have a robust sandwich menu. We are warned it is a 20-30 minute wait for our food, but we sit outside on their patio and people watch. The food was heavenly and worth the wait.
Fairbanks Community/Dog Mushing Museum
Somewhat hidden in the second floor of this little shopping plaza is the free Fairbanks Community/Dog Mushing Museum. We were just walking around and noticed a sign for it and decided to check it out. It contains historical artifacts from the gold rush, dog sledding and the founding of Fairbanks and other assorted items. It was interesting enough to hold our attention for about an hour or so and would be worth looking up if you are ever in the area.
A Fairbanks Shot glass at Last
We still haven’t found a Fairbanks Shot Glass (lots of Alaska ones) and we remember a souvenir shop down the street that wasn’t open the last 2 times we were in town. BINGO – it is open and offers several choices. SCORE!
A Fairbanks Shot glass at last!
Day 19 – Chena River Kayaking – (day 59 of the overall trip)
We have one more place to explore in Fairbanks and we are knocking that off our list today. So far we’ve kayaked in 2 lakes and we’ve watched a ton of people float by our rental on the Chena River – so it is time for us to kayak on the Chena River. We choose a trip through Canoe Alaska that is listed as 4 to 6 hours with shuttle service. This is the ONLY place we found with shuttle service so it’s an easy choice. Unlike our previous lake kayaking experiences, this time we’ll be sharing the water with motorized boats. As we drive to the place for our 11am departure, we giggle when our GPS thinks we are going to “canoeal aska” andpronounces it “can-oh-ee-all aska”. You will probably find yourself trying to say that just as we both did. Reservations were required so they are all ready for us.
We take a 20-minute ride to the put in along with a solo traveler from NJ (who gets into his canoe first, and floats out of sight). We are on the river by 11:30am.
Nancy talking to the solo traveler from New Jersey.
The sun is blazing at around 85 degrees today and we estimate we’re floating between 3 and 4 miles per hour depending on how narrow the river is at any given point. It reminds us of the Shenandoah River back home with trees on both sides and hazy mountains in the distance.
After an hour, Harrison spots a moose and quickly gets the camera out of the drybag to nail a photo.
Not so great picture of a moose
After 2 hours we stop for lunch on a little sandy island that isn’t there when the river is just 2 to 3 inches higher.
Back on the river, we see a huge raptor sitting on a dead tree. Around 4:30pm we start to see some houses along the river and we know that soon we will float through downtown Fairbanks.
We think this is a young Bald Eagle that hasn’t yet “gone bald”
As we float through downtown we get our bearings looking at places from the back side. This is also the area where we encounter numerous motorized boats that whiz by leaving waves in their wake. At 5:20 we approach the center of downtown where we hear the see the clock tower and hear its bells ringing (we’ve always found it odd they ring at x:50 and x:20 and not on the hour and half hour). Finally, at 6:10 we pull into the takeout – a full 7 hours after we started.
Day 20 – 22 – Living in Fairbanks & Prepping to go Back Out on the Road – (days 60 – 62 of the overall trip)
Our time in Fairbanks is winding down with 3 full days left. We’ve pretty much seen and done all the main things to do in Fairbanks here in these last 22 days so if we do anything, it will be a repeat and not post worthy. OK, so Nancy sang some karaoke and we went kayaking at Chena Lake again – but that’s enough detail. We have a stretch of intense travel jumping coming up and we have to get our mind set and our gear ready to go. With 22 days in one place, we have pretty much unpacked everything from the Brown Beast and unpacked it within our rental. We have to take stock of food supplies and try to eat up anything requiring refrigeration. We need to restock the non-refrigerated food in the picnic food box. We have laundry to do too since our next laundry opportunity is 15 days away. And time to move short sleeve shirts and shorts to the back of the suitcases because colder weather is ahead of us. Our next stop in Prudhoe Bay has highs in the low 40’s and overnight lows in the low 30’s. But even after that, we’ll be out of the summer valley weather unique to Fairbanks in Alaska.
Summary
Fairbanks gets a big thumbs up! While it takes getting used to, having 24 hours of daylight on warm and hot summer days is a bonus. The smoke from wildfires is a negative; we’re told it happens every summer just not necessarily to this degree. We chose to stay in one place for 22 days because we had the luxury of time on our side – and we’d say this place deserves a week if possible. There are enough restaurants, museums, attractions and outdoor spaces to keep anyone occupied.
We’ve learned that a lot of people fly into Fairbanks, then go on the “train tour” from Fairbanks to Seward, and then take a cruise from Seward to either Vancouver or Seattle. Both the train and the cruise offer multiple stops and overnights along the way. Some people do this in reverse. We are blessed to have 3 full months in Alaska this summer with our own vehicle to explore what we want at our own pace now that we’re retired. Pre-retirement, most vacations were 3 weeks – the same amount of time we just spent in Fairbanks.
Up Next
We head north to Prudhoe Bay and the Artctic Ocean.
Prior Legs of the Journey
Part 1 – The Trip to Key West is located here.
Part 2 – Cross Country to Bellingham Washington is located here.
Part 3 – The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Juneau is located here.
Part 4- The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Haines & Skagway is located here.
Part 5 – Haines to Fairbanks Alaska is located here.
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