The day started out as a bit of a downer but quickly got turned around. I’d been wanting to go see the ice sculptures from the World Ice Art Championships which had just completed on 3/17. The park was to remain open with the sculptures on display through the end of the month – tomorrow. Well, we got there and, first, they didn’t open until noon. I know what you’re thinking, “Google could have told you that!”. But even though we knew that we thought we’d go anyway as it was in a park and can they really keep you out of a public park? So, yes, we got there and, second, all of the ice was melting and just looked….sad. Like the sculpture of the man and woman dancing. She no longer had a face – melted off 🙁 And the sculpture of a plane…or was it a shark…hard to tell.

Off to the next fun place – the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. We’d heard about this place from multiple locals who said it was a must see. Again….closed. This time until the weekend!

Ok, time to put the big girl panties on and deal. What could we do? We’d also heard about the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska campus. Score! Finally – they were open. Well, here’s where our luck started to change. What a super cool museum! The first thing you see as you enter the museum if the skeleton of a Bowhead Whale suspended from the ceiling. Absolutely incredible and massive at 43 feet long. A Bowhead Whale is local to Arctic and subarctic waters and uses it’s humongous triangular skull to break through ice.

The rest of the museum was just as cool. Tons of information about Alaska and it’s culture – including whaling, the eskimos, the Aurora Borealis, the Gold Rush and the freakishly beautiful animals found only in this area – both pre-historic and modern. And the view of the Alaska Range from this high point in the city was spectacular!

Off to lunch at a local coffee shop that I’d read about called the Little Owl Cafe. As I posted yesterday, I was disappointed in Fairbanks and frankly, some of the food options. Well this sweet cafe started to change my mind. Adorable and kitschy with friendly staff and unique food and treats, it’s a place I’d recommend anyone to try. Take a book and relax in it’s cool, hipster atmosphere.

Back to the hotel to gear up for something that’s been on my bucket list for many, many years – dog sledding!

We were greeted by our driver, Jake, from 1st Alaska Tours. Another burly, articulate guy but not nearly as engaging as Tony was yesterday. We picked up another couple and off we went towards the Murphy Dome – one of the best places to see the northern lights due to it’s location on the top of a mountain.

We arrived to the sound of many happy dogs barking in the background. We met two of the mushers and one of their dogs – a gorgeous husky mix named Betty. No time was wasted as they took us from the yurt to meet the dogs.

There were about 20 of them – all Siberian Husky mixes – hanging out in the huge field on top of this snow-covered mountain. They each have their own “house” with their name on it. We were given free reign to go meet and greet any dog we wanted. They were so sweet! All of them were friendly and very excited to see the people and even more excited to realize they were going to pull a sled soon.

Per our guides, all of their dogs are Siberian Husky but mixed with other breeds to give them the best mushing dogs – hounds, shepherds. I thought it was interesting that they weren’t 100% husky and it was fascinating to learn why.

After a short amount of time visiting, our sled was ready to go. 12 dogs, 4 tourists and a musher. Sounds like the start of a joke doesn’t it? We were covered in a blanket and before I realized it we were off!

Boy do those dogs love to run and pull! We traversed 6 miles of mostly open, snow-covered, well-maintained trails that the dogs really seemed to know. We stopped a couple of times to give them a break and take some pictures. It was adorable watching them roll around in the snow during the breaks. And learning about the dogs was fascinating – how and when they begin training, how long they run, what the positions are, which dogs had raced, why they were placed where they were, etc. Two of the dogs had actually competed in the Iditarod – arguably the most famous dog sled race in the world.

It was another wonderful tour – beautiful views along with sweet happy dogs – what more could you ask for?!

The tour ended with some more learning about Alaska and dog mushing along with some nice warm drinks in a yurt at the top of the mountain. Then back into the van with Jake who was clearly in a better mood and had many recommendations for us – including a place to seek out the aurora tonight. More to come on that!

Off to dinner at another local restaurant. The lady on our tour put it very succinctly, “this is not a foodie town” 🙂 Well, I think that’s true but we did manage to find a GREAT restaurant…again. Maybe we’re becoming less picky 🙂 John had done some research and found a Moldovan restaurant called Soba. I am showing my complete ignorance here but I wasn’t aware of a country called Moldova let alone the cuisine associated with it. I’ll bet my beautiful friend Sophie knows all about the country as it’s just across the Black Sea from George. South of Ukraine.

Well the food was delicious. And the decor was also delicious. It’s one of the Fairbanks restaurants that gets typical 5-star reviews and we could definitely see why.

We’d decided during the dog sledding tour that, although the chances of seeing the northern lights was Average, we’d give it a try. Become our own aurora chasers. We got into our jammies and loaded up the car with provisions – for John downloaded episodes of 1899 and for me, downloaded episodes of Wellmania. Damn, I love me some Celeste Barber!

Based on Jake’s recommendation, we headed about 20 miles north to North Pole to a road called Nordale road. There are multiple turnouts on that road that – if they’re out – have a great view of northern lights. Well, we were unlucky. We managed to consult multiple Aurora tracker apps and watch a few of our episodes but the excitement of the night was John helping some friends whose car got stuck in the snow. We gave up at about 12:45 am and headed home with a little less hope. We’ll keep trying!