Nenana

Nenana

An overnight stop in the town of Nenana.  Good travels from the North Pole.  We visited the local visitors center/gift shop. 

The owners were a young couple with 4 boys.  Both were artists/photographers.  Sam, the husband,  has grandparents in Green Bay, and more importantly cheers for the Packers!

Just down the street was the old railroad station. 

It is in the process of being restored into a museum by another young couple.  He too had a Wisconsin story.  When he was 9 years old, he earned a spot in the log rolling contest at Hayward.  Made the trip 2 years in a row and took 2nd place.    Seems everyone up here has some connection to Wisconsin!

This is the town that President Harding traveled to back in 1923 to drive the Golden Spike for the new Alaskan Railroad. 

 

They have the railcar on display. 

Evidently, President Harding had brought his wife along with his mistress on this trip.  Story goes that Mr. Harding died of poisoning shortly after that trip.  It is always difficult to see a man being misunderstood especially by his wife…

Not much going on in Nenana in the winter, so the town has created a contest that involves a tripod being placed on the ice.  They call it the oldest guessing game in America dating back to 1917.

The town sells tickets to guess the exact minute the tripod breaks thru the ice.  Guess they have it rigged up to some type of trip wire to determine the exact time.  Prizes are 50/50 and have been over $300K. People from all over the world buy chances to be the winner.  We saved our $2 and will buy a lottery ticket instead!

Heading on south…