Radiance Cruisetour #6 July 2012

[mknopick]

We checked into Sophie Suites Hotel in Fairbanks a day early yesterday to begin our land portion of the trip. It's an all suites hotel with very nice accomodations. It was hard getting used to all the daylight up here. Today we're off to the Museum of the North at Univ of Alaska and then to Pioneer Park.

[sully108]

we are heading up there in a few weeks and doing tour #6 as well. Looking forward to all you have to say about it.

[mknopick]

The Museum of the North at the University of Alaska was a great place to start in learning about the history, geology, and the people of Alaska. There were great exhibits and several video presentations to help you understand Alaska.

If it weren't for the Alaska Salmon Bake we would never have gone to Pioneer Park. The Salmon Bake was enjoyable with salmon grilled outside, prime rib, beer battered cod, and all the fixings.

Pioneer Park is run by Fairbanks Parks and Recreation and is sort of a run down affair. It used to be called Alaskaland. There are some historical items there, but I don't think it's worth a trip alone.

Today we go on a stern wheeler down the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Then it's on to Gold Dredge #8.

[mknopick]

We went on the riverboat Discovery today down the Chena River. It was an enjoyable experience seeing Susan Butcher's dog camp and the Athabascan Indian village.

After lunch in downtown Fairbanks, we went to Gold Dredge 8 tour. Although it was very informative it was kind of 'cheesy' in that you panned for gold after getting a bag of gravel and sat down at a table to sift through it. Once you had the gold you took it to the counter and they told you how much you had. Then you could purchase a piece of jewelry with the gold in it.

Tomorrow it's the train trip to Denali.