Highlights Map
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Today we have lots of sightseeing planned around Fairbanks, nature, culture and history we are planning to hit them all if time allows. But first we have to start with a breakfast and we have an interesting cafe planned that is just a few minutes away from our accomodation. But on the way we are distracted by something on a field, we look more closely and those dots in the distance are actually sandhill cranes.
We spend some time watching the cranes just loaf around. It is quite fun to watch them and we enjoy the unexpected crane bonanza for some time but we are quite hungry so soon we continue on to the nearby breakfast place.
The place we chose has a name that has seems to have been perfectly chosen to enchant us and the food is quite good also.
Refreshed we are ready to head to our next destination, the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus. We start outside with an interesting Russian Cabin exhibit before heading inside.
As we enter we are welcomed by the huge blue whale skeleton from above but we enjoy the dino skeletons nearby a lot more.
We are a bit unsure where to go first as we are faced with a few options but in the end decide to explore the largest exhibit area on the first floor focused on the different parts of Alaska.
One of the things Alaska is most famous about, from a historical fauna side, are the different ancient animals that are found frozen so they can basically be seen exactly as they looked like. While the mammoth here is skeleton the most famous exhibit in the museum is “Blue Babe”, a 36,000 old mummified Alaska Steppe Bison in great condition.
There are also quite a few artifacts both from the Eskimo past as well as more recent. We also enjoy the gem collection which is comprehensive given the number of mines in Alaska.
And of course there is a large gold collection both objects and nuggets. It might be quite valuable in fact as there are lots of nuggets and even some interesting objects.
Another section is dedicated to the wildlife in Alaska and we see a few rare seals here that would be almost impossible to see otherwise.
The last section that we visit is the art section with multiple interesting exhibits of Eskimo art and other Alaska art before returning to our car.
Before leaving the main campus we have one more stop, the Magic Bus. It is a bus made famous by Chris McCandless as it is the place he lived his last months before his death of starvation and then made famous by a book from Krakauer that was made into a movie.
However the bus doesn’t make it easy for us as there is no easy parking nearby and we circle around about five times before finally finding an open place.
The bus is in the Engineering building behind thick glass as it is under repair, supposedly. We take a few photos of it and then it is time to move on.
The last stop in the University are the nature trails at one end of the campus. We plan just to hike a few minutes, explore the area and find a cache if possible.
The cache is quite a fun one actually but the mosquitoes in the area are really not that funny and we have to hurry and run around just to get rid of a few of them.
While the loop trail we have taken is short it was quite enjoyable excluding the mosquitoes of course.
It is now time to return back downtown to our lodging to find something to eat. It is a short drive through the small downtown and soon we are home.
Unfortunately the restaurant we have chosen is closed for one hour at midday and we have arrived exactly at that time so we spend one hour in a nearby bead and souvenir store which is quite interesting and calls itself the largest bead store in Alaska.
As soon as the restaurant opens we are in it, today it is time for Hawaiian food which is quite good and sated we are ready for the rest of our program.
First in our afternoon program is Pioneer Park. We are surprised at how many attractions it has but we have a specific one planned.
It takes a bit to find the right way as we pass some cool buildings which are quite popular to it but finally we are in front of our target, the Pioneer Air Museum.
The museum is one circular hall containing multiple planes, some old and some new. It isn’t that big but still it is quite interesting.
One of the interesting exhibits is the one dedicated to Eielson, the Alaska Airlines founder, which has crashed while on a rescue mission in Siberia.
There are also a few weirder machines like the air cushion vehicle which would be fun to fly, if it would fly.
One of the major attractions in the park is the Nenana Sternwheeler that we visit when leaving. Unfortunately you cannot enter it so we can see it only from the outside.
Right at the exit (or entrance if you enter here) is another attraction, the Harding Railroad Car which was used by the first US president that visited Alaska. Even the parking lot is interesting today with a classic car meeting happening right next to our car.
We end the day as we started it at Creamer’s Field. And we are happy to see that the cranes are still here and still active. We have more time now to get closer and watch them for a longer period of time as tey display and just loaf around.
We start on the trails but in the beginning the only birds we see are robins that are keeping a close watch on us.
The major attraction for us in the preserve is the lakes and soon we are approaching the first one and we are curious what we can see on its expanse.
And soon we are rewarded as the gulls are quite agitated and we don’t understand why so we watch them for a while. They are attacking the marsh vegetation which is quite weird but then we see a red fox appearing from the marsh, so yeah they have a good reason. We watch the fox as long as it can be seen and even have a closer encounter a bit later on our side of the lake, so cool!
We continue exploring the preserve but we are sure nothing can beat the fox and nothing does….
…but the muskrat that we see in the water carrying all the vegetation is coming in at as a close second. And the buffleheads are quite attractive too.
Our exploration of the depths of the preserve is cut short by the late hour as well the fact that the boardwalk is destroyed so we return the way we came, back to the car after quite an exciting day.
On the way we get the excitement of watching military planes flying close above us before it is time to return to the home to explore all the souvenirs we have bought today and then to sleep.
