Travel Reference
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Photos are free with your own camera and there was nothing exploitive in the air. It was
all good fun. You can have your mail stamped “North Pole” and the shop sends out Santa
letters to kids every Christmas; for a fee, of course.
http://www.santaclaushouse.com/in-
We followed this trip into unreality by driving over to Pioneer Park in the center of Fairb-
anks. This park is a labour of love for the locals who've rescued some 35 pioneer cabins
and other structures. These have been moved to Pioneer Park where they've been parked in
a town-like configuration, restored and refurbished then handed over to non-profit groups
to use as money makers. So in one cabin you'll find a charity selling their hand-knit sweat-
ers and slippers to fund a hospice. In another it's fudge and home preserves for the library.
An arts group occupies another, selling cards and small watercolours. It's all charming and
a good place to stock up on gifts for home.
In most cases the people running the cabins can tell you a great deal about the cabin, its
original inhabitants, where it came from and so on. The signage is also informative.
The park houses several museums. Of particular interest to us was the aviation museum,
packed floor to ceiling with old planes and engines and memorabilia. The place is run by
volunteers with a passion for their projects. We came on one fellow working up a sweat
sanding the paint off an old piece of wing metal. Seems that he actually lives in New Mex-
ico but drives all the way up here each summer to spend his summer restoring old planes
for the love of it.
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