On To Fairbanks

Although I could easily spend a month or more in and around Denali, it was time for Vince and I to move on to the next destination on our list: Fairbanks. We checked out of our room, grabbed a quick snack, and hit the road!

Our first stop in town- coffee!

From there we headed to The Museum Of The North. It was an excellent stop; exhibits included photography, animals, dinosaurs, local history, and state history :)

Gorgeous photography from a local artist

 

Alaska brown bear (this one is 8'9" tall and weighed 1,250 pounds!)

Polar bear and seals

A caribou



Moose

Dall Sheep

Ermine (weasels!)

Whales 

Walruses

A Steppe Bison

Mammoths & Mastodons 

 

Dinosaurs

Local paintings- beautiful

It was time to check in to our hotel when we finished touring the museum

Our check in complete, it was time to make a harder decision-
where to eat dinner!

Eventually we agreed on The Pump House; a restaurant that was reconstructed from a pumping station that was formerly used to process gold :)

We had a nice dinner on the patio and decided to stretch our legs downtown. It was turning out to be a spectacular day outside, so we wanted to make the most of it!

 

 Historic Catholic Church from 1904

 WWII Monument

The Antler Arch



The Visitor's Center- very nice!



Me next to a HUGE sunflower in the Visitor's Center gardens

We walked around for over an hour and decided it was ice cream time :p

Hot Licks is the local favorite, so that's where we went!



 We made it just before the line got long- YES!

There were lots of choices, but we eventually made up our minds... 

...it was a great way to end our first day in The Golden Heart City :)