Alaska Events
Visit "The Emerald Isle"
Kodiak Crab Festival
May 22-26, 2008
The 2008 schedule will be available
as events are finalized
Kodiak Crab Festival
Schedule of Events
May
Thursday • Friday • Saturday • Sunday • Monday
EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL
King Crab Legs and Claws - Available at the SIFI booth. Hot and tasty. Fresh, frozen king crab and king crab sandwiches available for purchase at their booth. Sponsored by the School Improvement Foundation Inc. 486-3865
News Coverage of Events - All Day, Every Day! Find out the contest winners. Sponsored by AM 560 KVOK and Mix 101.1 FM, KMXT 100.1 FM and the Kodiak Daily Mirror
Golden Wheel Amusement Rides and Games on the Midway!!! - Fun for the whole family. Sponsored by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce. Rides start at Noon on Thursday through Sunday and 11:00 a.m. on Monday.
KVOK/Mix 101.1 Crab Cab 2005 - Wanna go to Hawaii? Pick up your limited edition Crab Cab bumper sticker at a participating business. Display it proudly and listen to KVOK/Mix 101 to win! "Get Pinched!!" Sponsored by your Homeport Radio Stations! Contact Matt Wilson or Stacey Craig for more information at 486-5159
11th Annual Mack’s Sport Shop Crab Festival Tent Sale - May 26th - 30th. A huge selection of clothing, footwear and sporting goods purchased just for this sale. Deeply discounted clearance items as well. You will find fishing and camping gear and much, much more at unbelievable prices! New items added daily - our biggest sale of the year! 212 Lower Mill Bay Road.
Annual Search Party at the Village Bar - Find the item hidden on the road system. First clue posted on Thursday, May 26th. Prizes will be awarded each day. No purchase necessary. You must be 21 years or older to participate.
Go to where each clue leads you and find tokens that are redeemable for prizes at the Village Bar. Everyone finding a token will be entered into a drawing for a Weber Grill. On prize per day per person.
The grand prize winner will win a Coleman Round Fire Pit Portable Grill Combination, an Alaskan Brewing Company fleece sports vest and an Alaskan Amber T-shirt with cap. Clues will be posted at noon each day at the Village Bar on the Mall located at 408 Marine Way.
Contest will run until the item is found. Sponsored by Alaskan Brewing Company and K & L Distributors. For more information call 486-3412.
Free weekly Audio Kodiak Vacation Guide
Welcome to Island Byways, a weekly show about what's going on around Kodiak Island Alaska. Learn about life on the island including wildlife (bears, whales and eagles), fishing, hiking, kayaking, the arts, music, wildflowers and more. Tune in each week on the web at
  Kodiak Chamber of Commerce Phone: 907-486-5557 http://www.kodiak.orgKodiak Island Convention & Visitors Bureau 100 Marine Way 99615
information on Transportation to Kodiak
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Anchorage, Alaska - Whale fun sculpture
In front of the Carr-Gottstein building, across from the courthouse, is a huge outdoor sculpture of a whale and whaling boats. Look closely: the whale has glass taxidermy eyes (very real looking). Look very closely and you'll notice that the little men in the whaling boats are being drowned by the whale! It has successfully overturned one boat and its expression seems to say it's pleased.
(Whale fun sculpture: Anchorage, AK Directions: 301 K street, between 3rd & 4th avenue. )
Anchorage, Alaska - Outhouse Races
Every year during a Festival called Fur Rondevous, people bring their home made outhouses that they have decorated in various fashions downtown. One person has to be in the outhouse, and the others either push or pull it through the snow.
They also have snowshoe softball games. The people who are playing softball have to wear snowshoes. They also hold car races at the Fur Rondevous Festival. The track is downtown, and it is made of ice.
Big Lake: Classic Car Sinking Lottery.
From official tourism guide:"Buy a ticket for two dollars and guess the correct date, hour, and minute the classic Mustang will break through the thawing ice of Big Lake.
Bird Creek, Alaska - The Bird House - burned
The Bird House, unfortunately but not surprisingly burned to the ground a couple of years ago. It was an infamous landmark of Alaskana. A replica of the place is being built behind Chilkoot Charlie's Bar in Anchorage as I type, but it won't be the same.
"It's no wonder it burned down, with all the underwear and other things hanging all over the inside of the place. They had a selections of obscene songs in the jukebox and lots of off color humor performed by the bartenders. Tourists were encouraged to blow the ptarmigan horn."
Bird Creek, Alaska - The Birdhouse - Vague Recollections
This was the best bar in Alaska! My buddy J.D. and I went a few times while we were stationed there, mostly on our way to the Russian River to go salmon fishing. I remember the goofy music they played on their jukebox, the stuff people hung all over (panties, drivers licenses, etc.).
If a girl took off her panties, she drank for free. Also, the nasty pickle jar, the "whistle" and the way the whole bar was on a slant! You sat on these stumps that were uncomfortable as anything, but you got your money's worth there. The drinks were strong! Because the place was so small, it made for a very informal atmosphere.
And a very cold one in the winter because it wasn't insulated. It had been around since the early 1900s and was established as a place for travelers to stop and get warm (there was a wood-burning stove). The Birdhouse was a fire waiting to happen and it finally did burn down in 1996 or so, but for those of us who got a chance to stop and have a few there, they'll always be enjoyable memories.
(The Birdhouse - Vague Recollections: Bird Creek, AK Directions: South on Seward Hy. )
Bird Creek, Alaska - The Birdhouse
The Birdhouse in Bird Creek, Alaska burned down due to an electrical fire about three or four years ago. I did manage to go there one Spring Break before it burned down.
A couple of things that weren't mentioned were the famous ptarmigan whistle and moose trap, both items not found outside Alaska. Heck, I've had a hard time finding them *inside* Alaska. Also omitted was mention of the unique angle of the entire building.
Bird Creek felt the effects of the Good Friday Earthquake, as did most of the state (Good Friday, 1964; largest magnitude earthquake on record in North America, if not the world).
As a result of that and/or permafrost, the entire building sloped at about 10 degrees. Don't worry if you feel like you're falling over. You aren't drunk. The bar is drunk! The rest of the account was true. But sadly, the Birdhouse is no longer around and it is sorely missed.
Bird Creek, Alaska - The Bird House
The Bird House is located right off of Seward Hwy, south of Anchorage, AK, before you get to Girdwood. It is in the town of Bird and next to Bird Creek, but this place is so tiny it isn't on every map.
What is it? This is an old cabin turned into a bar. It has one door and one window (which has no glass, it is just a wood shutter propped open). It is decorated inside and out with undergarments, bumper stickers, business cards, and more undergarments.
The largest bra I have ever seen is tacked on the outside, above the door. The floor is sawdust - new floor every week! On the outside is a large blue bird attached under the eaves, as if the whole building were a Bird House. The bathroom doors have hinges and handles on the same side -- "Ha Ha, look at the tourists trying to open the door". This was a fun, friendly stop on my mini tour of Alaska and I recommend it to all. (Despite the decor, this wasn't a sleazy bar).
Cantwell, Alaska - Igloo City - Igloo-shaped Building
The 4-story igloo building. I used to live 3 miles from the Igloo -- now live about 100 from there. [DeVonne Koppenberg, 03/20/2005]
(Igloo City - Igloo-shaped Building: Cantwell, AK Directions: George Parks Highway 3, somewhere between Cantwell and Willow, 180 miles NE of Anchorage - mile marker 188.5. )
[RA: DeVonne sent her 1998 photo of the Igloo building in its prime.]
Cantwell, Alaska - Igloo City
I just returned from the 49th state and saw a couple of things that you might find interesting. First is Igloo City, approximately 180 miles out of Anchorage on the Parks Highway that goes to Fairbanks. It is a 4-story igloo that is supposed to eventually be a motel, the exterior is done and visible from airplanes at 30,000 feet, so I am told, but the interior is not. The great pleasures of using an outhouse in Alaska in the middle of winter can not be overstated. Unfortunately the Gift Shop doesn't carry any giant igloo t-shirts or other locally relevant stuff, just typical Alaska T shirts that you can get anywhere in the state. They have big plans however, plumbing is being put in slowly and the cashier in the gas station is the CEO of the company!
Also on that same road about 30 mile south of Fairbanks is a motel/Bar with a great name -- Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn -- this guy has the Merchandising end down pat, almost as much stuff as a Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately there is not much else to see there but every tourist stops to take a picture.
Ester - Nenana, Alaska - Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn
Skinny Dick is alive, but in poor health. My husband and I took a road trip to Alaska the last two weeks in May 2005 and made Skinny Dick's one of our destinations after seeing it on roadsideamerica.com.
We were lucky enough to arrive on the weekend of their summer kickoff party. Enjoyed cooking our own hamburgers and the homemade fixins.
Had fun imagining how so much tackiness and crude stuff could be assembled in one place, and had to wonder about the mind that conceived it! All the people there were nice and most acted almost normal. If they weren't laughing, they had a hell-of-a smile on their faces. The owners weren't aware that they were on your site and were very pleased. [Gaye & Craig Ellis, 06/08/2005]
(Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn: Ester - Nenana, AK Directions: 30 miles south of Fairbanks Phone: 907-388-5770)
Ester - Nenana, Alaska - Skinny Dick's - Tree Collection?
I believe that Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn also has collected trees with genitals. If I'm mistaken about the tree's location, then they are somewhere in the vacinity of Fairbanks and nearly as amusing as Skinny Dick's itself. [Lauren, 01/08/2005]
Ester - Nenana, Alaska - Skinny Dick's
Latest update on Skinny Dick and his eponymous bar. I, too, used to live next to this notoriously-named and -decorated bar. When I swung through last fall with a visitor, I was astonished to find its walls bare and clean, and the food edible and clean. Skinny finally sold it and moved south (Arizona or thereabouts). So all the layers of panties, bras and dollar bills are gone. The name, however - Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn - remains. The last half of the name, by the way, indicated its location between two "adjacent" towns, Fairbanks and Nenana. It's 27 miles to each. [Audie Bakewell, 04/26/2002]
(Skinny Dick's: Ester - Nenana, AK Directions: PO Box 270, Ester, Ak 99725 )
Ester - Nenana, Alaska - Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn
Another roadside watering hole in Alaska: Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn. It's is located about 30 miles from Fairbanks on the George Parks Highway and is half-way between Nenana and Fairbanks. You can buy, among other things, a chef's apron with an attached towel to hide the prosthetic "skinny dick" that also comes attached to the apron. [Ivan Heffner, 11/07/1999]
[RA: August 2004 - Various reports that Skinny Dick's is still in operation, edible food, nice bartender, hilarious trinkets..... ]
Ester - Nenana, Alaska - Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn
He's not dead yet...This is an update to an outrageously incorrect update submitted by someone named Jim on 7/20/99 concerning the 'late' Skinny Dick of Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn at milepost 328 on the Parks Highway - 30 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Jim reported that he passed away some time back. . . WRONG. . .
I lived in a cabin next to Skinny Dick's for a year some time ago and was and still am well aquainted with him. Unless his ghost is tending bar and selling Skinny Dick merchandise, he is still alive (although he is as skinny as a cadaver).
My son, who works in the Danali Park area, stopped at Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn on his way back to town yesterday, Aug 16, 1999, and spoke with Skinny and was both amazed and perturbed when I showed him Jim's note on Roadside America.
Because Skinny is too far out of town to have a phone line (he relies on a radio-phone) there is no way to e-mail him the notice of his passing. I printed a download of the articles referencing his demise and some of us are going to hand deliver it to Skinny and demand that he tell us why he is still alive.
You can write him at Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn, P.O. Box 88, Nenana, AK 99760 and verify that he is still up-and-about before you come up to visit him here in Alaska. He would also be happy to send you an order blank for his extremely 'unique' merchandise depicting the 'Halfway Inn' logo, everything from lapel pins to 'T'-shirts to embroidered jackets, and some rather amusing trinkets. [Richard P. Sauve, 08/23/1999]
Talkeetna: Moose Dropping Festival, with a moose dropping toss, of course.
Wasilla: Musher's Hall of Fame. Since 1967, a tribute to the men and beasts of dog mushing tradition. Includes a Canine Hall of Fame.
Wasilla, Alaska - Stuffed Togo - Unsung Diphtheria Hero Sled Dog
The Dorothy G. Page Museum exhibits a stuffed sled dog -- Togo -- who led the dog team of Leonhard Seppala delivering diphtheria serum to Nome in 1925. Togo and Seppala traversed the toughest part of the relay, over 345 miles, without rest. Balto the Wonder Dog grabbed all the headlines, since he led the last team on the final leg. [Roadsideamerica.com Team, 12/01/2003]
(Stuffed Togo - Balto the Wonder Dog's Rival: 323 Main Street, Wasilla, AK Directions: Dorothy G. Page Museum & Visitors Center, 323 Main Street Hours: Summer Hours -- Memorial Day through mid September, Phone: 907-373-9071)
Chicken, Alaska - Wild Tire Rides
This town is located about halfway between the Alaska Highway and the Canada border on Route 5, pretty much the only community you will find on the Taylor Highway,. Just south of the highway (which is a dirt road - welcome to Alaska) there is a "town" of about 4 buildings -- a gift shop, a bar, a museum, maybe one or two other things.
The thing to do here is the wild tire rides (Chicken has its own Web site, with a picture of all 17 town residents, among other things, that has more information on this stuff), which is where you cram yourself into a giant tractor tire left in one corner of the parking lot, then get your friends to roll you down the hill as far as you can go without vomiting. The record, apparently set by a local some years back, is about a quarter-mile or so down to the airstrip. Once you partake of this insanity you are compensated by a complimentary
Chicken Sling, which apparently is a foul-tasting alcoholic concoction, inside the bar. But the cool thing is the bar itself -- very tiny, but there are a staggering number of hats hanging from the wall from everyone who has been there, along with (if I remember right) business cards on the wall and a giant map of North America where you can put a pin from where you're from.
Also, a few miles east of Chicken along the Taylor Highway is an old abandoned gold dredge -- I think there's a rope or something up to discourage the curious but that didn't stop us.
And the friends I took the trip with reported that in Delta Junction, I think, along the Alaska Highway on the way to Fairbanks, there is a store called the Fur Shack which has a mannequin in the front window named Ethel wearing a fur bikini. [Shawn McCausland, 09/30/1999]
Coldfoot, Alaska - Farthest North Spruce Tree murdered by axeman
In Coldfoot, Alaska, an anonymous vandal has savaged a tourist attraction. The celebrated Farthest North Spruce Tree on the Alaska Pipeline , a popular tourist stop, was mortally damaged in July when an unknown axeman chipped away an expanse of bark around the tree. There are no clues to the identity of the deranged Bunyan(s).
Tour groups and travelers would often stop to pose next to the tree's claim-to-fame sign. Coldfoot is 120 miles above the Arctic Circle, on the Dalton Highway, the only US road that crosses the northernmost tree line. [Thanks for Robot Greg for the tip] [08/16/2004]
Homer, Alaska - Homer fisherman
This guy is on one of the boardwalks with shops and fishing charters. That is a halibut hanging beside him. He is supposed to look like one of the many people do when they haul in and pose by their big fish of the day. [Naomi Zurba, 07/28/2003]
(Homer fisherman: Homer, AK Directions: Town of Homer, AK, about 4-5 hr drive south of Anchorage on the Sterling highway. Drive through Homer down to the Spit which goes out in to the bay of the ocean. On the Homer Spit, park anywhere and just walk along the shops on the west side of the Spit until you see him. )
Moose Pass, Alaska - Giant Pocket Knives
The Kenai Peninsula has two knife stores which exhibit giant roadside pocket knives. Zooming by at 60 miles per hour, they both appear to be about 10 feet tall. [K. Ward, 09/28/2001]
(Giant Pocket Knives: Moose Pass, AK Directions: One is near Moose Pass on the way to Seward. The other is a few miles east of Soldotna. )
Seward, Alaska - Polar Bear Jump-off
Every year there is a Polar Bear Jump off to raise money for the Cancer Society. There are many activities along with this fundraiser. People get pledge sheets and sign up for donations for the Cancer Society. Then they dress up in costumes and take a plunge in the icy water. The water is verrry cold, costumes are great, a crazy few days.
There are prizes for the best costumes. I have seen men in tu-tus and even a King Neptune. The four days of celebration are loaded with unusual events. [Carolyn Tanner, 06/19/2001]
(Polar Bear Jump-off: Seward, AK Directions: From Anchorage you take the Seward Highway to mile 1 on the New Seward Highway. )
Solomon, Alaska - Last Train To Nowhere
This is an abandoned train that is still sitting in the middle of tundra. The occupants of this train were known to be gold miners. [Joseph C. Jennetten, 07/18/2004]
(Last Train To Nowhere: Solomon, AK Directions: Drive 35 miles outside of Nome on the Counsel Highway and look to your right. Admission: Free. )
Valdez, Alaska - Alaska's hard luck Valdez remembered in miniature
On Good Friday [March 27th], 1964, the original town of Valdez, Alaska was smashed by North America's most powerful earthquake. The remaining townsite was condemned and residents relocated four miles away.
Now, thirty five years after the earthquake, the original Valdez town is being re-created in a dimensional scale model. The Valdez Museum's Architectural Modeler Sue Fowler is recreating the entire town with every home, building, and structure an exact replica of the original the way it appeared in 1963, the year before the earthquake.
The completed 30' X 40' all-volunteer effort will be dedicated on Memorial Day weekend. Donations to help buy materials are encouraged. See the Museum's website for information about the project. The URL is http://www.alaska.net/~vldzmuse/index.html
The notorious Exxon Valdez tanker ship, named after the town, caused the Alaskan coast's worst oil spill on a Good Friday in 1989. The tenth year anniversary was last week, but there wasn't much celebration. [03/21/1999]
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