Christmas in Alaska - Part 2

It snowed everyday while we were in Alaska this winter. While I did love it, the constant snowfall made for some challenging driving conditions on our trip to Fairbanks, a city six hours north of Anchorage. Thankfully we all made it there and back in one piece, and with a bunch of great stories and photos to share.


Our main reason for going to Fairbanks was to see the northern lights. They didn’t feel like showing themselves while we were there, but we still had an awesome time. 

Upon arriving in Fairbanks we checked into our hotel, Wedgewood Resorts (which was more of an apartment than a hotel) and my mom cooked up some delicious Korean BBQ. As soon as we finished eating, we drove another one and a half hours to Chena Hot Springs Resort and headed to the Ice Museum. 



Absolutely everything in the building was made of ice - the floor, the walls, stairs, entire hotel rooms, chandeliers and more. They had incredible ice sculptures and an ice chapel, where dozens of couples get married every year. Ian and I pretended to get married again and my sister officiated it :).


We drank $15 appletinis in ice martini glasses while sitting on ice stools at the ice bar - definitely worth it.



We then headed to the infamous natural hot springs. After changing into our swimsuits in the less-than-glamorous locker room, we followed the signs to the hot springs. We passed the indoor swimming pool and discovered a nearly-frozen door to the outside - to the hot springs. We had to walk in the -30ºF weather (I kid you not) wearing nothing but our swimsuits through a dark tunnel of an unknown length to reach the springs. After only about thirty feet, we stepped into glorious 105ºF water - it was absolutely amazing. 

After a couple hours of relaxing in the hot springs, we got out and drove on the icy roads back to Fairbanks. The next morning, we made a quick detour to North Pole, AK, “where the spirit of Christmas lives year ‘round”, to see the decor and the gigantic Santa Claus. It was not worth it, but at least I can say I’ve been to “the” North Pole.


Our trip to Alaska ended with a sweet Lez Zeppelin (all-female Led Zeppelin cover band) concert at the Alyeska Resort.