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July 26 finds us on the road to Fairbanks. Compared with some of the scenery that we have experienced in the south of Alaska, this road is a bit less exciting. It does have a fair share of frost heaves and dips but not nearly as bad as the Canadian bit out of Haines Junction.

The Milepost has advised this pullout as a great view of the Alaska Range. It might be possible to see Mount McKinley from here on a clear day. We can barely tell that there are mountains out there.

It doesn’t appear smokey, but from this notice posted at the pullout, one might assume the view could be hampered by the smoke from the wildfire.

We are not staying in Fairbanks but rather in North Pole, Alaska. It is a suburb of Fairbanks and sounds much more interesting that Fairbanks. Of course, with a town name of North Pole, it has to be all about Santa, Christmas, and magic.

This is, in fact, the official ZIP Code for any mail addressed to North Pole. When a child writes to Santa, this is where it ends up.

The Story of Santa Claus House as told on the official brochure: “When Con and Nellie Miller arrived in Fairbanks in 1949, they had $1.40 in their pockets and two hungry children. Determined to carve out a living in Alaska, Con soon became a merchant and fur buyer in the surrounding villages.

Donning an old red Santa suit, Mr. Miller earned celebrity status as Santa Claus in the eyes of village children — the first St. Nick many had ever seen.

By 1952, the Millers had decided to build a trading post thirteen miles from Fairbanks in an area newly dubbed “North Pole.” One day while hard at work on the new store, a young boy recognized Con and called out “Hello Santa Claus, are you bulding a new house?” Inspiration clicked. . .the new store would be called “Santa Claus House!”

Since 1952 both Santa Claus House and the Miller family have experienced many changes. Santa Claus House has received international recognition and publicity from writers and newspapers the world over. The family tradition continues as new generations build on the past and look forward to the future.”

This is where you can have an original letter sent to you child from Santa Claus. It is also possible to send your Christmas cards to Santa Claus House to have them postmarked from “North Pole.” Inside the gift shop there is all things Christmas. These folks came up with a great way to feed those hungry children!

This Santa is 42 feet high from his feet to the top of his head. Weighing over 900 pounds and with a 33-foot waist, this Santa makes a very impressive roadside eye-catcher. He was built in the 1960′s at a cost of $3,500 by Wes Stanley of Stanley Plastics in Enumclaw, Washington.

Santa has been located near the Space Needle, moved to a shopping center in Seattle, and moved to Anchorage in 1976. Putting him up and taking him down every year proved to be too much of a challenge; so he eventually ended up in storage.

In 1978 Santa Claus House bought him for $4,500. It is believed to be the largest Santa ever built.

The streets of North Pole have names that you would expect. Santa Claus Lane, Snowman Lane, and, of course, St. Nicholas Drive.

There would have to be a place for Santa’s Reindeer. This looks a bit small, but go with it.

One would maybe expect them to have their name tags on or at least their names on the enclosure. We have seen reindeer before, and they were not housed in a double fenced enclosure. Are Santa’s reindeer prone to violent behavior?

As we have learned already, reindeer and caribou are one and the same animal. Somehow Rudolph the Red-Nosed Caribou doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

We have checked out the grounds. We have been in the gift shop. There is everything Christmas inside. It is the perfect place to come in December to get in the proper spirit of Christmas. Of course, everything would be white on the outside as well at that time of year. These folks don’t have to wonder if they are going to have a white Christmas!

This Santa cutout is big, but the other plastic Santa so overshadows this one.

As we turn to go, we need one last picture of Ed in the big sleigh. I think he could play the part very well!

Pioneer Park is advertised as Alaska’s only amusement park. That’s too bad. It isn’t exactly what we would call an amusement park. A strange mix of history, curio shops, park, and eateries, it is a place for us to kill some time before we go to the movie later this afternoon. Admittance is free; so we are not taking a large risk.

President Harding’s railroad car is the first attraction we come to. The forerunner to Air Force One, it looks very interesting.

It would have been far more interesting had we been able to go inside; but alas, it is locked today. In fact, today seems to be an off day. There are very few people here. It is more like a ghost town than an amusement park.

The paddlewheel steam boats were a large part of the Yukon history. This one has some exhibits inside that include some dioramas of the early days.

Kitty’s house was originally located at 932 Eighth Avenue in Fairbanks. Kitty’s friend, Captain Smythe, was a retired riverboat captain with excellent carpentry skills. He remodeled her cabin using the wood from his sternwheeler that had been damaged during spring breakup.

No one is sure where Mr. Hensley was. Some rumors have him in Nome, others in Dawson. At the time Captain Smythe remodeled her cabin both he and Kitty were in their 50′s. Some say there was a romantic involvement between them. Others prefer that the captain was just looking out for an abandoned woman alone in the far north. Of course, at the time it would not have been proper for anything to have been going on between them. Kitty was not that kind of woman!

The kitchen looks very open and airy. It would have been a cheerful place.

My favorite part of the house is the window nook in the living room. The red panes of glass in the windows were taken from the sternwheeler.

We haven’t seen nearly as many totem poles as I was expecting. This somehow doesn’t seem to be quite the authentic variety.

With all the shops with all the tourist “stuff,” this bench was good planning on someone’s part. The fact that Ed is sitting here alone bespeaks the uncrowded conditions we are experiencing today.

This is a beautiful space in its simplicity.

These cabins are all original cabins from Fairbanks. They have been moved to the park, fixed up, painted bright colors, and turned into gift shops. Too bad there isn’t anyone to buy their wares.

One of the more memorable things happening today is lunch. Ed decided to eat at this Korean eatery, but it was a bit spicy for me; so I opted to go for the hot dog at Grizzly’s Tent Camp Food.

Ed put in his order while I walked over to put in mine. In a couple of minutes Ed was at Grizzly’s to inform me that his lunch would take 10 minutes. No problem. I would walk back over to join him when I got my hot dog.

The guy making the hot dog had one speed. He did have a helper that he was training. I knew this when he told her not to pour the fries into the fryer but to put them in with her hands. He does things differently than they do at Burger King — possibly her previous employment?. Well, he certainly does.

There were six people ahead of me and they had been waiting a while. The hot dog had to be thawed as did their hamburger patties. I settled in for a wait. Ed finally called on his phone wanting to know “what the hey?” Well, it’s going to be a while.

Ed finished eating his lunch at the Korean place and walked over to see what was going on. We are now well over half an hour, and I am still waiting for my hot dog. Fast food isn’t happening here. What would this guy do if the park were crowded?

After about 45 minutes I had my hot dog. It was very tasty. I have to give him that. It took about 5 minutes to eat it.

A quick trip through the museum reaped this little jewel. I think the best “rule” is that “Each teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his declining years, so that he will not become a burden to society.” What a concept.

Another street sign has caught our attention in North Pole. We have had a few discussions about living on Loose Moose Lp. Does this mean the moose has eaten something unpleasant or that there are moose running about loose? Either way, it is a lip twister to say!

It is time to move on down the road. I’m sure the folks here in Fairbanks are proud of their city and think it is a fine place to live. I’m not sure I would come back this way if we are in Alaska again. The scenery to the south is so much more dramatic. This would be the place to come if the plan were to travel above the Arctic Circle. Short of that, I believe we prefer spending our time in the southern regions.

Out of Fairbanks we are back onto the Alaska Highway. Actually it ends at Delta Junction, our next stop, but the highway was extended on into Fairbanks after the war.

Life is good.

 

This entry was posted on Friday, August 12th, 2011 at 15:10 and is filed under North by Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.