Fun at Alaskaland
(Posted August 26, 2000, © Herbert E. Lindberg)

This is still Day 3 and things continue to move along. After touring Goldstream Dredge No. 8 we returned to the Westmark Inn to take a break. That brings to mind Jeff's description as "rustic," which he quoted from a dictionary means "crude and unsophisticated." This was not one of the better accommodations on the tour, but true to Tauck's promise, it was probably the best in town. I would describe it more as "old and our of order." We had some time before going to Alaskaland for a salmon bake dinner in their park, so Mary and I stretched our legs by walking into downtown Fairbanks. The picture below captures my impression of Fairbanks:

Beautiful downtown Fairbanks

Compared with this, the Westmark Inn was wonderful, even with the blaring ventilator pumps across the hall from our room and the stench of smokers who had used the room for years. But I digress. After the barbeque in Alaskaland at bench tables under the park trees, where we continued to get acquainted with the pleasurable people in our tour group, we all poured into a small theater to see the Golden Heart Review.

The stage for the Golden Heart Review

We sat next to Sally and Les Lee, whom we were getting to know very well. The show started with two of the five-member cast leading us in several old-time classic songs. This was lots of fun, especially after a scotch on the rocks.

Happy faces of Mary, Herb, Sally and Les

The peppy young cast lead us in a few songs

The show itself was a half-dozen very humorous skits about life in Alaska. My guess is that most of the cast members were University of Alaska students. I tried to capture a few scenes on chip (you know, like "on film" but with digital) but my old Agfa 1280 wasn't up to the task. Damn, why didn't my Nikon CoolPix 990 come six days sooner! Anyway, the show was great and a fitting end to a busy day. Mary and I slept like logs, despite the rumbling noise from the ventilation machinery.

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