The Santa Claus House

Just north of Fairbanks, is the small city of North Pole.

The North Pole, while admittedly very, very north, is nowhere near the actual north pole.



North Pole is primarily known as the home of the Santa Claus House.



The Santa Claus House is a store/kitschy tourist attraction.  It sells all manner of Christmas and Santa-related items.  It might be the biggest Christmas store you've ever seen.  It was founded in 1952 by Con and Nellie Miller.  It initially began as an ordinary trading post.  However, Con Miller loved dressing up as Santa every Christmas and got an idea.  And thus the Santa Claus House was born.

Also, the town of North Pole takes this Christmas stuff seriously.  Many of the main streets have Christmas-y names (like St. Nicholas Drive, Santa Claus Lane, and Kris Kringler Drive).  And the street lights are shaped like candy canes.


The Santa Claus House does have reindeer, which I didn't take many pictures of because I was reindeer-ed out from going to the reindeer farm twice in one week.

Also, at the Santa Claus House there are only 3 reindeer.  Which, if I'm following my Santa Claus mythology correctly, is not enough to fly his sleigh.


One cool thing about the House is that it receives letters from children all over the world addressed to Santa.  If you ever have a hankering to write to Santa Claus, send it to the address above.

Your letter might get an illustrious spot on this wall.






The Santa Claus House also has a Santa and a Mrs. Claus.  Who were sadly not there the day we visited.  It was their day off.

I feel a little cheated.  Because I wanted to meet Santa and tell him what I wanted for Christmas.

You know, like a puppy and a nice pair of boots and for the Afghan Whigs to get back together.  And a trip to India.  And for everyone I love to be safe and happy.

But no, it was Santa's day off.  I guess even Santa needs a day off.

I'm glad I went though, and if you ever find yourself in the Fairbanks area, pay the Santa Claus House a visit.

A Roadside Yard Sale in Wasilla

Wasilla is a town in Alaska that is probably best known to the American public as being the former mayoral stomping grounds of Sarah Palin.  My family and I briefly drove through it on our way up to Fairbanks.  I can assure you that it's a fairly unremarkable place.  There's a pretty pond, some strip malls and chain restaurants, gas stations... nothing too interesting to see.  However...

We did find an odd flea market/yard sale on the side of the highway.  It mainly consisted of several people selling things out of their vans or pick-up trucks.


My stepmom wanted to stop there to look for a moose pelt (she was unsuccessful).  There were, however, many other pelts to choose from.






My dad befriended this stuffed bear...



While my nephews befriended this man and his adorable husky.




This man and his dog were incredibly kind and sweet and let us hang around and talk to them for a long while.  My dad jokingly asked the man if he could buy his dog off of him.  The man replied that the dog was not for sale - he had originally belonged to his son, who died in combat in Iraq.  


Eventually we wandered around so some of the other sights of this Wasilla roadside flea market thing.














I don't know how indicative all of this was of the typical Wasilla experience.  I do have to say that it was one of the more interesting hours I've ever spent.  And, I can't think of many other places outside of Alaska where you can find people selling bear pelts and swords on the side of the road.