Sunday, September 1, 2019
In and around Fairbanks
For once, we decided to stay two nights in a row in the same location. With nothing much planned for today, it's like a day off from our vacation! But don't worry; we'll think of something...
After sleeping in, we headed over to Pioneer Park, only a mile from our hotel, a free public park with pioneer log cabins, multiple museums, a big stern-wheel riverboat, a railroad car that carried President Warren Harding during his visit to Alaska in 1923, and more.
A free public park in Fairbanks, Alaska
Ornamental cabbage
Pioneer Park's historic cabins
Wickersham House, circa 1904
Many of the little shops at Pioneer Park were already closed for the season, even though it's only September 1. I'm surprised they didn't at least stay open through Labor Day weekend, but there was still plenty to see. The reviews on Tripadvisor were pretty wishy-washy on this place, but we thought it was great. Did I mention it was free? I think I did.
President Harding railroad car
Harding car interior
Riverboat Nenana, "Queen of the Yukon"
Alaska Native totem pole
After the park, we drove over to the Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary and walked a couple of miles around Wonder Lake. It was pretty, but not particularly interesting. The “wildlife” is just birds – not really our thing. We did see a small group of people walking their house cats on leashes, so that was kind of interesting.
Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary
For lunch, we picked up a hot, fresh, and ready pepperoni pizza at Great Alaska Pizza Company and two cans of ginger ale for only $12 and took it down the road for a picnic. Wow, a meal in Alaska that's not super expensive! Woohoo! It was good, too.
I don't even know what to say...
We spent the greater part of the afternoon driving Chena Hot Springs Road. We were hoping to see some wildlife in what we thought would be a secluded area, but no such luck. There are tons of places to camp, hike, fish, and ATV along this route, and it was a gorgeous day on a holiday weekend, so the locals were out in droves. After 56 miles, the road dead-ends at a huge resort, and the place was packed. We turned around immediately and headed back toward town.
Along Chena Hot Springs Road
Chena River
On the way back to Fairbanks, we stopped in Fox at the Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Company, America's most northern brewpub. The beer was excellent! Too bad we weren't hungry, because the food looked good as well.
America's most northern brewpub
Epicenter Ale - Delicious!
Later on in the evening, we picked up some Wendy's and took it back to our room. We looked for the aurora borealis from the hotel parking lot, but they were very dim tonight, so we didn't make the drive back out of town for aurora viewing. It would have been nothing compared to last night!
Tom
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