I went to North
Pole. No, unfortunately not the real
place, just a town a few miles east of Fairbanks called North Pole. In most ways its simply small clusters of
civilization among stretches of mostly wild.
But one thing I’ve noted is that Alaska recognizes the value of tourists
– so North Pole has Santa Land. An
averagely done giant Santa figure, a herd of sad reindeer behind a lot of fence
and an artistically decorated Santa’s House full of tourist shopper dreams. I bought a keychain for my son’s collection,
and for me, a box of decadent fudge. I
watched Santa greet small children and smile happily as giggling teenage girls
piled on his lap. I coveted, but
resisted tempting arrays of Christmas ornaments, some quite unique. The small downtown featured candy cane
street light poles and every business is decorated for the holiday all year
round.
I caught a glimpse of Denali
-
far to the south and barely visible through clouds, but I saw it!
Fairbanks came to be shortly after gold was discovered here
in 1901. The immediate area is called
“The Golden Heart”. The town is much
smaller than I expected – a walk from one side of the downtown to the other is
less than a mile. There is a lot of
commercial area spread out along Airport Road, the main east/west route.
Like any other place, there is good and bad. It’s shocking to see the number of drunks
staggering about or laying on the ground
sleeping it off right in the middle of the day! Lots of bars and breweries both upscale and
low. We visited The Silver Gulch
brewery in a small community called Fox.
They have a good sized brewery on the premises and my daughter assures
me the beers are wonderful – she had one called Cranberry Bog. The food is truly excellent – I ordered the
Pear Gorgonzola Pizza and remember it, longing for more.
Fairbanks is rich with walking paths, most with chain link
fencing protecting them from traffic.
Thorn and I walk everyday - our
favorite is along the Chena River. These
paths are also for bicycles and are well utilized. Along rural roads are paved or gravel
paths set aside for the use of ATV’s now
and snow machines in winter. My
granddaughter actually commutes to work on an ATV which is a common and
accepted method of travel here.
