Downtown Fairbanks in the Winter
/And still no lights!
This says it all! Fairbanksans Love Winter
There’s no dearth of activities in Fairbanks in the winter beyond aurora chasing. Though we didn’t get to attend, the city has a credible philharmonic orchestra, a ballet company, regular concerts, and an active light theater company. We’d visited the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North as well as the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center when we visited last summer, and both were excellent. We had, however, missed the Ice Museum and that was one item on our Fairbanks ‘to-do’ list before we left. We were also interested in comparing the snow-covered downtown area with the downtown area we remembered from last summer.
We checked out of our Airbnb in the morning… the usual hectic gathering and packing of all the stuff we’d unpacked, used and strewn around throughout the week. We checked into the Bridgewater Hotel in downtown Fairbanks with the intent of returning our rental car in the evening and using the hotel’s free airport shuttle for the return to the hotel and an early morning ride to the airport.
Visiting an ice sculpture museum was planned for our last day in town. There are two in the general vicinity: The Aurora Museum at Chena Hot Springs ~60 miles north of Fairbanks which was closed when we visited last summer and the Ice Museum in downtown Fairbanks. We learned that the Aurora Museum had increased its prices to $20/pp and their famed cocktail offered in an ice glass at the ice bar was a $20 Appletini. The temperature had warmed significantly in the last two days causing the roads to melt during the day and freeze over during the night leaving them slick and slippery. We opted for the downtown museum location primarily because it was closer, we had no interest in a $20 martini, plus we were feeling lazy.
The Fairbanks Ice Museum ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Though we appreciated the artistry of the ice sculpting, we were disappointed in the museum's size. Basically, it’s one large room, a deep freezer as it were, with several ice sculptures, lots of colorful lights, an ice slide on one side and an ice sculpture of a dog sled and team on the other. Impressive work, but still for the $15/pp price tag, we were feeling somewhat underwhelmed. The self-guided tour/look-see was over in 15 minutes and we were out the door and back on the downtown streets.
Across the street was a small mall with a gallery, a coffee shop and a couple of boutiques. Wandering around, we noticed a sign for the free Dogmushing and Community Museum upstairs. Though small, the museum offered lots of interesting information not only about mushing which is the state’s official sport, but also about the great 100-year flood of 1967 and the efforts the state has taken to prevent such a disaster in the future. All interesting stuff.
We’d cooked in all week so we decided to treat ourselves for our last day’s lunch. Sandwiches and a draft beer at Salty‘s on Second won the coin toss. The food was good, the prices were reasonable and it was next door to the hotel.
After lunch, we walked over to the Morris-Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center. It’s a pretty impressive place with great multi-media exhibits about Fairbanks, its history and its people. Walking through the exhibits is eye-opening. There’s lots to see and we’d obviously missed a bit the last time we visited.
Across the street from the visitor center, we encountered the Antler Arch. We’d seen it last summer, but it appeared a bit different with snow on the ground.
We walked leisurely through Golden Heart Park remembering sights we’d seen and remarking how different they appeared in the winter.
Back at the hotel, we picked up the car, returned to the airport and caught the shuttle back into town. We were free for the night and leftovers from lunch sufficed nicely for dinner. We checked out the aurora forecast and noted that the chances were above average for the evening. Around 11pm, we bundled up and headed back to the park on the outside chance we’d see something. Nada on the Northern Lights, but the park at night was magical.
“First Unknown Family’ sculpture illuminated in the cold and dark of Fairbanks winter
We were back in our room by about 12:30am having seen no lights. We called a night and hit the sack. In the morning while waiting for the airport shuttle, we met two couples that had paid $300/pp to see the lights. They saw as much as we did. Though we felt sorry for them, we felt better overall for us.
There seems to be no alternative. We’ll just have to return to Fairbanks.