Day 37: Around Fairbanks

The Farmers Market, Pioneer Park, BBQ, and Football

Farmers Market in Fairbanks, AK

After a lazy morning we headed out in early afternoon to the Fairbanks Farmers Market. It was hopping! The parking lot resembled Garden State Plaza at Thanksgiving as did the aisles of elbow to elbow shoppers.

We picked up a bunch of great produce that will find its way into dinner throughout the week (but alas no fresh fish).  We also found that up here they apparently prepare for Halloween early and have pumpkins on sale by Labor Day weekend.

Pumpkins (likely for Halloween) for sale in early September

Perhaps this is because by October the ground is already snow covered and the pumpkins long gone. It is definitely autumn up here already, as you can see from this leaf that found its way onto M's windshield as she waited for us patiently in the farmers market parking lot.

A Fallen Leaf on M

After the Farmers Market we headed over to Pioneer Park.  The park is largely a tourist attraction where old buildings were moved from their original Fairbanks locations.  The buildings now house museums and local shops of various sorts.

Our first stop was to check-out old gold mining equipment, the most interesting of which was this old steam shovel.

Steam Shovel in Pioneer Park

Upon closer inspection Bob found that it actually contained a boiler which was used to power it.

Boiler in Steam Shovel

This bird found it pretty interesting too.

Bird Perches in Steam Shovel

The old equipment just happened to be near a Salmon Bake restaurant (no we didn't go in, thanks Tom), which had this fish ride out front.  After much cajoling Bob convinced me to hop up on the fish so he could take my picture.

Lisa Rides a Fish

Only after I began sorting through the pictures for the Blog did I find out what he really wanted to photograph:

Crane in Pioneer Park

It was actually a very lovely day in the park (mid 50s and sunny at last!), so we strolled around and checked out the Heritage Museum as well as the S.S. Nenana stern wheeler.  We were able to walk around in the boiler room and see all the steam pipes, but the original boiler was nowhere to be found. (Note to Tom: We found the old equipment near the maintenance yard, and Bob says it isn't a boiler, but he thinks it is some kind of engine.)

Here is one more of my attempts to take an art shot on an old stern wheeler (see Whitehorse for the other).

Engine Room on the S.S. Nenana

And in case you're wondering what you're looking at, here is Bob's photo of the equipment diagram:

Diagram of the Engine Room on the S.S. Nenana

We also found this sign in Pioneer Park which gave me a little taste of home.

Requisite Tourist Attraction Milepost Sign

Interestingly, New York City is 3200 Miles away, and St. Petersburg Russia is 3800 miles away-- only a 500 mile difference.

And speaking of home-- we could only get away from everything for so long without college football finding its way into the schedule again.  One good thing about Alaska is that night games come on at 4 in the afternoon, and end before dinner instead of at midnight.

So, we made a stop at Big Daddy's BarB-Q for "The Northern Most Southern BBQ" and carried it out for lunch to eat while watching the Alabama-Florida State game. (Thank you again Tom for the great recommendation.)

Tonight I'll use some of that great farmer's market produce to cook dinner.  It is so nice to have a real kitchen again!

--Lisa