Museum of the North
Saturday-Sunday 15-16 November, 2025
Bowhead Whale skeleton. Photo by Eric.
After all of this incredible excitement, we had a free weekend day in Fairbanks before we needed to return home. In reading the National Geographic Alaska guidebook, I decided our time would be best spent by visiting the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. The handouts from the Seven Gables Inn also said that, if you had only one day in Fairbanks, this was what you should see.
First, we stopped for Norwegian butter bars at Batter and Crumb, a local business recommended by our aurora guide, Mok.
Eric wanted to make one last attempt, in the light, to find the cache that was up near the Aurora Borealis Lodge. So we headed back up the hill.
A prominent site along the road was this site full of trucks, which Mok had told us was the largest gold mine in the US. He said the mining company typically extracted $2 million in gold every day. Notably, a weigh station was located just down the hill from the mine.
While Eric looked for the cache, I first photographed this Canada Jay. I thought I had seen a new bird, but I later found out that the Gray Jay was renamed the Canada Jay in 2018, and I had certainly seen Gray Jays before.
I huddled in Bofuri wearing an ill-fitting freezer suit that I had purchased for the trip. It was so difficult to put on and move around in that I ended up not using it much. Meanwhile, a representative of the State of Alaska was plowing the parking lot around me. Eventually, I knew, she would want me to move Bofuri out of her way.
Eric finally gave up on the cache, photographing the abandoned scene.
The trip back up to the parking lot had been worth the effort, however, because someone had found the hat Mark had made for Eric, and left it prominently visible on the guard rail. Before getting out of the way of the State of Alaska's snow removal efforts, Eric photographed his thankfully recovered hat.
The Museum of the North. According to a description inside the museum, "The design is a composition of four abstract forms. Angled, curved, tipped and cantilevered, these forms reflect lines and shapes found in Alaska's coastlines, mountains and glaciers. The horizontal layering of these elements is inspired by by the plate tectonic forces that are responsible for shaping vast regions of the Alaskan landscape."
Eric photographed the beautiful lobby of the museum.
Us with Otto the bear.
I was so satisfied that I had gotten aurora photos that were as impressive as those in the museum.
The museum displayed the cultural history of Alaska, organized by region. This birdskin jacket comes from the Yupik culture of St. Lawrence Island.
Eric photographed Alaskan birds carved in ivory.
I was fascinated by the dolls of the different Alaskan Native Groups. These dolls are Unagax-Aleut, from the Aleutian Islands.
This doll is Yup'ik.
Inuguaq dolls. Each culture made dolls for children in its characteristic clothing.
Unfortunately I did not note the culture of this trampoline-jumping doll.
We saw a beautiful sunset from the museum's windows.
Bofuri in the museum's parking lot.
We learned much about Alaska's natural and cultural history at this fascinating museum. We treated ourselves to the Costco pizza we had failed to obtain the previous Sunday.
In the morning, we packed out of the room where we had spent a relatively comfortable week. We returned Bofuri to Go North, having driven her 712 miles. As we had exceeded our limit by 12 miles, we had to pay $.50/mile for those last 12 miles. Our view of Denali had certainly been worth $6. We took a rideshare back to the airport.
The government shutdown had been settled, albeit on some very unfortunate terms, so we were less worried about our return air travel. Nevertheless, weather caused a 1.5-hour delay at our transfer point in Seattle, and we arrived at home much later than intended.
We could hardly have had better luck on a week in Fairbanks. Our relatively small risk of vacation time and money paid off enormously. This amazing trip exceeded our wildest expectations. These incredible views of the aurora will remain with us for the rest of our lives.