Alaska
July 17 - July 25
- Depart Memphis (first class, bitches!) at 10:30 through MSP then on to Fairbanks.
- Alaska! From Netstate: On January 3, 1959, Alaska, with a land mass larger than Texas, California and Montana combined, became the 49th state in the union. It is a large state, 1/5 the size of all the other states together, reaching so far to the west that the International Date Line had to be bent to keep the state all in the same day. It's also the only U.S. state extending into the Eastern Hemisphere.
- Arrived in Fairbanks around 6 PM and went from the airport to the Hampton Inn to check in.
- We got a recommendation to check out the Pump House, a restaurant and saloon overlooking the Chena River. It's a National Historic Landmark with lots of very old furniture and decorations - some as old as 150 years old. On the menu (and complimentary postcards) there was a local artist's illustration of a bear tending bar and a patron yelling, "hey beartender" which we thought was the most clever thing all day.
The Pump House claimed to be the northern most oyster bar in the US. Which isn't really a stretch, since we were pretty far north, as far as northern-ness is concerned. In addition to oysters, fresh Alaskan salmon is delivered to the restaurant's dock by floatplane. We were in the mood for a couple beers after a long travel day, so we did just that. A few games of pool and several pints later we were ready to head back to the hotel. - In bed by 11 PM, and it's still very light outside. Midnight sun, indeed.
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