University of Alaska at Fairbanks Museum (Toured December 2009)

So it's 10 o'clock on a Friday (and I open up with works reminiscent of a Billy Joel song) and I'm in my apartment ready to go to bed. Before I give in to this true test of adulthood, I figured I'd pound out another overdue posting.
Back in November and December of 2009, I found the opportunity to go to Fairbanks, Alaska. When's the next time this is going to happen, I thought to myself, and I signed up to head to the northern frontier for about a month. I was there for work and did not have much time to do things outside of the Army base, but there were a couple of days (read: the four to six hours of sunlight the Alaskans called "days") that were to ourselves. One day, since it was the holidays, we went to North Pole, Alaska. Cute, Christmas, and Charming, it was a great thing to do.
Another day one travel straggler and I hit up the University of Alaska at Fairbanks Museum after much tantalizing of long rides after work to unwind. I mean look at the place. How could anyone NOT want to go in?

The first level was a history of Alaska, natural goodness in the Northern Lights, and basically a taxidermist creme de la creme. There were several large minerals leading in to the exhibit area, and a giant (stuffed) brown bear greeting us. Arms outstretched not out of love but rather out of hunger. The museum beautifully arranged scenes of Alaska settlers and gold rushers using mannequins (I hope given the extreme taxidermy that seems to go on up there) and animals. There were a few hands on/interactive exhibits, but they were a little complex for little kids.

So it's been 18 months since I've been there and I'm a little rusty on the details, but it was a good way to spend a -10 Fahrenheit afternoon.

Upstairs was an art exhibit. To put things in perspective, I recommend to any traveler heading to Fairbanks in the winter read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. It makes you appreciate the power of nature, the beauty of nature, and what brings many people up that way. I think having that book in mind helped the art exhibit make more sense. Everything was very modern, and I don't generally appreciate modern art, but the interweaving of natural products into the art was truly magnificent. I'm sure the art has changed in the past months, but the curators do an excellent job of choosing what goes into the exhibit.

Bottom line: Go. I don't care how old/young, liberal/conservative, rich/poor you are. It's less than $10 and in the middle of nowhere so what else are you going to do.