http://murderunderthemidnightsun.libsyn.com/murder-under-the-midnight-sun-episode-3-alaskas-missing-pt-1
Dan and Amanda had found this last night and thought it would make our drive more interesting. They turned on the story of a girl missing from the Girdwood Forest Festival - we were all interested in this because we had just stayed in Girdwood. Then the host went on to talk about a serial killer - she also happened to mention that Alaska has the highest rate of serial killers which is not such a comforting thought. But we were - or at least I was - hanging onto every word.
We arrived in Fairbanks mid afternoon. We couldn't check into the house we rented until 4 pm so we decided to drive to downtown Fairbanks and get something to eat. Amanda checked on her iPhone, and we headed to Soapy Smith's Pioneer Restaurant. We found a parking space pretty close and headed off. Fairbanks didn't seem as populated as Anchorage - there was not much traffic compared to Boston - but there seemed to be more homes right in the downtown area than in Anchorage. And everything seemed so flat - in the parts of Alaska that we have seen - there are very few tall buildings - certainly we didn't see any skyscrapers. Because of earthquakes and winter storms, I suppose.
Downtown Fairbanks
So many colorful flowers
Gift shop where we bought some souvenirs.
When we went into Soapy Smith's Pioneer Restaurant, we weren't prepared for the unique dining experience we were about to undertake!! The restaurant was very nice and clean - nothing unusual about that. BUT the waiter - and I only remember this one waiter - was running around cracking jokes, telling customers what they really wanted to order, giving advice on everything, and telling us all what a good time we were having. He ran from one table to the next providing individual attention to everyone while maintaing running commentary on everything going on! We saw him run into one side of the kitchen and as we were looking in that direction, he came running out the other entrance to the kitchen on the opposite side. He was a whirlwind of activity. And he was juggling a restaurant full of customers! When we first went in, it looked like there was a tour group at many of the tables. There were at least 2 or 3 other tables in our section. Everyone seemed to be laughing and having a good time - including us.
Here is a picture of our waiter from TripAdvisor - this link is to this gal's review - she said it better than I can!
We headed to the Knoll House after picking up some groceries. I had found this place when I was researching the trip. It had 4 bedrooms - each with private bathroom! Originally, my friend Beth was going to come with us so I thought we would each have our own space toward the end of the trip.
View of Knoll House as we pulled into the yard.
Dan and Amanda had the master suite upstairs with their own balcony. I had the downstairs room with a door out to this little deck.
There was another bedroom in the front of the house on the second floor above the living room. Mairead took a bedroom in the back of the house which was very private because of a little foyer before you entered the bedroom. There was another little balcony in the back on the second floor.
This is the main entrance with a wooden walkway - I think this might have made the house wheelchair accessible - I had the handicap bathroom!!
I sat outside at this picnic table or on the little deck/porch when it was too sunny for the picnic table as I was trying to catch up my blog about The Best Day Ever.
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View from driveway - we thought we could see Denali when it was clearer than this - and Dan and Amanda had a better view of it from their balcony.
The Knoll House is huge - you walk in and the living room area is on the left and the kitchen on the right - an open floor plan. There were 2 stoves, loads of counter space, big fridge and an alcove off the kitchen with the washer and dryer. It was interesting, after living in a city or town that supplies water to homeowners, to learn that the Knoll House has 14, 000 gallons of water delivered as needed - so conservation is the buzz word.
We could get lost in this house. Take a look here for a tour of the house - keep clicking Next on the left to see our rooms -
There were 2 drawbacks to the house - first was that the Dish TV did not work - Norman Shelbourne, the owner or caretaker, gave me back $100 for that. I missed the news and talk shows, but that eliminated any distractions while I was blogging. The second drawback was the DSL wifi which was so slow!! It took forever to upload just one photo - no way could I upload more than one at a time. That is why it took so long to blog - and partly why I am still catching up on this blog - and it didn't matter what time of day I was on my laptop - it was slow, slow, slow.
Dan and Amanda later told me that their bed was not at all comfortable. I felt badly because there was a spare room - I could have gone in there, and they could have had my room.
My room on first floor with handicap bathroom!!
We had had such a busy beginning to this trip that we just chilled in Fairbanks. We voted against the drive to the Arctic Circle - we would have had to rent a special car/van for the day - the major rental companies do not allow you to drive their rental cars on the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle because the road is not paved and can be very rough especially after it has rained. Plus there is not much to see and it is a long drive to just take a picture and turn around and head home. And besides, how could it ever top taking a helicopter to a glacier - performing a wedding - taking a dogsled ride around the glacier - then taking a helicopter home! I quickly voted no even though originally the Arctic Circle was high on my list of things to do. We had just had a long drive to Denali and then to Fairbanks - and we still had to return the car to Anchorage on Saturday. Let's just relax and enjoy this house. So we did.
It was nice relaxing Thursday morning - I had my English muffin and a couple cups of tea as I blogged outside on the picnic table and then moved onto the small deck near the entrance door when the sun got too bright. When I finally had to move inside out of the sun, I felt like I was alone in the house - no noise or movement from upstairs.
When the others did come downstairs, Dan announced that we were going for the best cheesesteak subs in Fairbanks or was it in Alaska?!?! So with iPhone GPS set, we headed downtown.
Colorful mailboxes were scattered along the roads - usually there was a long line of mailboxes at the beginning of each road.
This is it!
https://squareup.com/store/alaskacheesesteakco
This is a nondescript building off the main drag heading into the downtown.
I was a little nervous going in here because I don't eat steak or much beef except a hamburg - I hate anything red and juicy. When we got to the counter, there was a big slab of red beef that the chef/cook/whoever was slicing up. The others ordered cheesesteak subs. I decided that I should be adventurous - I ordered a pineapple teriyaki cheesesteak rice bowl.
My rice bowl was delicious and so filing that I hardly ate any rice!
Dan's cheesesteak sub and home made fries.
The Alaskan Cheesesteak Company was a hit! Next we decided to do a little sightseeing so we drove into downtown Fairbanks.
Constructed in 1984 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Alaska's statehood. I am old enough to vaguely remember Hawaii and Alaska becoming states.
Statue of the Unknown First Families
The Chena River flows through Fairbanks.
Alaska Siberian WWII memorial commemorating American pilots who flew 8,000 Lend-Lease warplanes from the US to an air base in Fairbanks where Russian pilots then flew the planes across Siberia to the warfront during WWII in defense of the US and Russia.
"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests in the cooperative effort of the whole world."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt March 1, 1945
Address to Congress on the Yalta Conference
Mairead photographing the Antler Arch on Chena River in Fairbanks on the river walk from the Visitors Center to Golden Heart Plaza.
The arch is made from over 100 antlers from all over Alaska.
Get with the program, Mum - give the Moose wave!
We lucked out with the weather on this trip as you can see from all the pictures. It was great spending so much time outdoors - even just blogging outside back at the house. Working inside all week for 9 hours a day and sometimes much longer tends to limit the time outside during a normal work week!! I loved the fresh air and sunshine - the air seemed so clear and clean.
Later that afternoon Mairead and I took a drive around our neighborhood. We drove to the Pump House Restaurant on the Chena River - built and decorated in the Gold Rush style of the late 1800s. It didn't open until 5 pm so I took a walk around outside - there is a walkway along the river - a very nice setting.
Later that afternoon Mairead and I took a drive around our neighborhood. We drove to the Pump House Restaurant on the Chena River - built and decorated in the Gold Rush style of the late 1800s. It didn't open until 5 pm so I took a walk around outside - there is a walkway along the river - a very nice setting.
Back deck overlooking the Chena River
Friday was our last real vacation day - tomorrow we head back to Anchorage - Sunday we fly back to Seattle. Amanda and I decided to mail some things back home to lighten the weight of the suitcases!
This is the Cape that Amanda bought at such a great bargain near Denali National Park - she was not letting this out of her sight!!
Heading out for our last adventure
We headed to a post office near Fairbanks airport but it was closed. So we headed downtown again. Amanda and I headed into the Post Office building except we couldn't find the window. What we did find was the office of Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski!! Just before we had left on our trip, she had stood up for her constituents, as well as for the rest of us, and voted NO along with fellow Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain against the Republican health insurance bill. Senators Murkowski and Collins especially were under tremendous pressure from Republicans and the White House to vote for the bill. I admired their stand to vote against a bill that would have decimated American health care. So it was very exciting to see her office! I opened the door hoping that she might be in - one of her aides was in the office - I think I told her that I wanted to express my admiration for the Senator's vote on health care - especially because I am a Democrat. The aide had us sign the guest log and told us how to get to the Post Office.
Unfortunately, the Post Office was not as exciting as Senator Murkowski's office. As Amanda and I walked in - there was one clerk assisting a customer - as we looked around, a female clerk came out and loudly asked what were we doing - the line starts at the other end of the counter. I was going to walk down to the other end when she told me to come up to the counter. Then she yelled at Amanda to go to the beginning of the line! She ended up waiting on Amanda anyway. I was so flabbergasted that someone could be so rude that I couldn't speak. I work for a health insurance company and believe in providing the best possible customer service for our members - so I expect that everyone knows how important customer service is - especially when some of my taxes may be going toward her salary!! Remembering this episode, I feel badly now that I hadn't said something to that clerk - there was no reason for her to be so rude - especially to Amanda, my new daughter-in-law!
We did laugh about it as we were telling Dan and Mairead, but there really wasn't anything funny about it. When I got back to Cape Cod, I found the receipt from that transaction - it asked for comments about the service - I took the coward's way out and complained about that clerk - of course, I never heard back.
Dan had found a place for lunch - Big Daddy's BarB-Q - a restaurant Guy Fieri of the Food Network had visited.
I think I had a burger and Mairead might have had beef brisket. Dan and Amanda split a Pig Out Platter with brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken, sausage, spareribs, corn on the cob, and I don't know what else! Everything was delicious!
We had an hour before our next stop so we decided to drive by the University of Alaska. I had noticed it high above the road as we drove in and out of Fairbanks.
Modern buildings where there are classes in marine biology, oceanography, geosciences, wildlife conservation as you would expect in this area as well as many other specialties.
Outdoor classroom where something had just been harvested in the light brown colored areas
So our next stop was at a tattoo parlor! Dan and Amanda both already had a tattoo. They decided to have wedding ring tattoos instead of real rings. Mairead had never had a tattoo, but decided to get a permanent souvenir of Alaska. Despite the encouragement and although I had considered it, I was too afraid of pain - and being a nurse, I was too afraid of infection!! But I was fascinated to see the place.
I guess I expected a dingy hole, but this was an office with several rooms where different artists applied tattoos. Dan, Amanda, and Mairead had been researching this for days. We had actually stopped by after the cheesesteaks. Dan and Amanda's tattoos would only take 15 minutes or so. But Mairead wanted an outline of the mountains that we had seen as we drove down the Alyeska Highway toward the mudflats. She had me drive her down one evening so she could take some pictures of the mountains - then she sketched them out and added some wildflowers. The tattoo artist sketched the tattoo herself, and with some changes that Mairead wanted, she told Mairead that her tattoo would take an hour. When she heard that we were heading for Anchorage in the morning, she canceled her afternoon appointments and told us to come back in an hour! That was when we had gone sightseeing downtown to kill time.
Some of the mountains that Mairead wanted to incorporate into her tattoo.
Mairead with her camera.
Dan was first up for his Gemini symbol. He and Amanda had decided to tattoo each other's astrological/zodiac sign as a wedding ring. Amanda was born in June so is Gemini. Dan was born in March so is Aries.
Everything was so sterile, and the gal cleaned everything in between each tattoo. I took a quick look as she was doing Dan's ring. Then, from where I sat, I saw her frequently wiping blood off his finger - this made me nervous - all I could think about was INFECTION!! Come to find out, it was residue from the ink that she was wiping away. That made me feel so much better.
Amanda was next up - she said that it only hurt when the tattooing was over the bone in her finger.
I was pretty calm while Dan and Amanda were having their tattoos. But then it was Mairead's turn. I started laughing and then crying then laughing and crying at the same time - and the gal wasn't even in the room - the tattooing hadn't even started! Mairead told the others to get me out of there - it was her first tattoo and she wanted a nice experience. So I was out - and was happy to go! I probably would have collapsed when the artist started!!
To kill an hour waiting for Mairead we went to a pawn shop!! Dan had decided that he needed a hunting knife to use as a letter opener! So we headed down the road and pulled in.
I knew it was going to be another exceptional experience when we pulled in and saw the following signs in the parking lot.
With that welcome we headed inside. The first things I saw were racks of what I presume were hunting rifles and the workers wearing guns. I hate guns, and I have some idea of their power. Years ago my friend GeeGee and I knew some federal police officers working in Boston - at the Kennedy building I think. They took us to a firing range on Greenough Boulevard on the Watertown/Brighton Line. We fired a hand gun - I have no clue what kind of gun it was, but I remember it was cold and heavy. I don't remember any safety glasses - but it was over 30 years ago! We stood and fired at the target - it was just like on TV - the outline of a person - I still have that paper with the bull holes in it! And I hate to say that I wasn't a bad shot.
Anyway, here at the pawn shop, there were display cases with hand guns as well as the rifles on the walls. Dan and I were looking at the knives while Amanda disappeared downstairs. Dan picked out 2 knives - they were pretty cheap - $10 and $15. I went downstairs to get Amanda while Dan paid for his treasures. It was like a giant yard sale downstairs - all kinds of things. Are people desperate when they pawn something? Or is it just easier than having a yard sale? It was still pretty creepy.
We headed back to get Mairead - she texted that she wasn't finished. So we waited and waited. Finally, Amanda went in. I knew Mairead wouldn't want to see me - especially if I got hysterical again! Amanda is kind and gentle so she was the one to go in - she texted us updates - the size of the tattoo was causing it to take longer than expected. But it was all worth it because Mairead was so happy when she came out, and the tattoo looked nice even though covered up with Saran Wrap!
The dessert at Soapy Smith's Pioneer Restaurant had been so good the day we arrived, that we decided to treat ourselves to another one. Like with everything else, the second time around does not quite have the same magic - that same waiter was there - he remembered us - he was funny - he seemed calmer. But the dessert was delicious!
So that was our last day in Fairbanks. We headed home to pack for the trip to Anchorage in the morning. Amanda had decided to fly out tomorrow so we are dropping her at Fairbanks Airport before hitting the road.
