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Ice Museum
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
2 reviews for Ice Museum
Kate's review pretty much hits the nail on the head with this place. We were visiting Fairbanks and I made my sister go to the Ice Museum. At first, 12 bucks seemed pretty steep but the movie was awesome, (totally made me want to come back for the festival!) and playing around in the freezers with the sculptures had us hysterically laughing afterward.
Fairbanks leaves a lot to be desired but this place was definitely a highlight.
So I was alone in Fairbanks, with nothing to do but to try to get to know the city a bit. First place I hit was the Visitor's Center, where a friendly native recommended I visit the Ice Museum. What's an Ice Museum, you ask? It's a museum full of and about ICE, silly!
This was the coolest thing I saw in Fairbanks. It looks a bit shady on the outside, like it would be old and musty. Guess what? It is old and musty! According to Dick, the proud & friendly proprietor of the Ice Museum, this historic theater was the first movie house in Fairbanks to show "talkies".
Now it's an interactive show house, where you plunk down your $12, go in and see a fantastic movie about ice sculpting and the Ice Festival that takes place in Fairbanks each March, with participants coming from all over the world. This spectacle must be fabulous to see in person, but I'm not sure yet how I feel about sightseeing in 20-45 degrees below zero, so this museum suited me just fine for now.
Besides the excellent movie, there are actual ice sculptures on display. It's hard to explain, but the edges of the bottom floor were converted into lovely glass-lined "freezers" where you have the choice of staying warm and viewing the sculptures from outside the windows, or going into the "freezers" and seeing the art up close & personal. I opted for the frost-bite adventure, and had a blast playing with the ice instrument (fully in-tune, might I add!), and those great big ice globes w/the quarters stuck on them. There's even a human-size igloo! Very, very cool! At the end, there's live ice carving demonstration; amazing.
Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that if you ever find yourself on the north end of the Universe, in Fairbanks, pay this joint a visit. It's totally worth it and you'll learn a lot about something you might never before given much thought about!
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