Today, I really concentrated on getting our Denali National Park posts finished up while Linda and Missy crafted and started a jigsaw puzzle.
Rowdy gave me a ride up to Chena Hot Springs Resort where I got two tickets for the 7:00 p.m. Aurora Ice Museum tour.
Linda & I remember the resort was featured on some show many years ago for its Ice Hotel. Well, the hotel was discontinued and replaced with the Ice Museum. Our plan was to do the evening tour and then soak in the hot springs afterwards.
Back at the cabin, Rowdy and Linda worked on putting together a couple of pizzas - one Keto style and one not. Linda replicated the dough she made last night for bread. Close to 6:00 p.m. our Keto pizza mounded with toppings, including Alaska salmon, was ready.

They had also used Linda's Ninja Foodi to dehydrate the tomatoes.
It was our first pizza on this trip since we adopted Keto living, and it was delicious. It was a small pizza, but we still had leftovers. We just aren't eating as much as we used to due to the filling foods. In the past there would have been nothing left, and I probably could have and would have eaten it by myself given the opportunity.
With our early dinner taken care of, we bundled up and headed to the resort for our tour. The Ice Museum stays at 25 degrees inside, and though they loan you parkas, you need to dress warm and bring your own hat and gloves.
The website says to be at the Activities Center fifteen minutes prior to your tour, but they told us in person to show up five minutes before. We were early and waited around inside with others.

I had prepaid our $15/person admission fee and an additional $15 for Linda to have an apple martini in an ice glass during the tour.
Let's start with the bad impressions, and then we'll get to the good parts.
We hoped to have a small group on a Tuesday night, but there were about 40 people. Our "guide" put on a headset and led us over to the museum which, from the outside, looks a bit cheesy.


Having dealt with the "guide" earlier, my expectations were low. I was both surprised and disappointed he was leading the tour.
Okay, so he split us up into two groups because you first go into a small vestibule where you select and put on the loaner parkas before entering the main part of the building, the cold part. The vestibule wasn't big enough for everyone. After the first group got their parkas, they were herded into the museum while the rest of us were ushered into the vestibule. I took this photo on the way out when there was no chaos and most of the parkas had been re-hung.

My advice is to bring your own coat because they may not have your size or you may not be able to grab your size, and I'm not sure how often they are washed (definitely not between each tour, and from the smell of some them, I doubt they wash them daily).
Once everyone was in the Ice Museum, the guide lost all control. There were so many people and everyone was wandering around looking at the ice sculptures and taking selfies while he tried to provide some explanation. He didn't lead us through the small museum; he just talked for a few minutes, pointed out some highlights, and then we all explored on our own. I missed at least half of what he said. That was it - that was the "tour".
In reviews I read from earlier this month, people indicated they first watched a twenty minute video - "the experience starts with a 20 minute video on ice carving and its historical and cultural presence in Alaska." Nope, didn't see that. Then they had twenty minutes viewing the ice sculptures and the reviewers said they slid down an ice slide on sleds. Nope, that wasn't even mentioned nor did we see an ice slide. And then they indicated they were treated to a ten minute ice carving demonstration at the end. Nope, didn't get that either, and we really would have liked to have seen that.
On our "tour", we walked around and looked at the ice sculptures and took photos until our guide turned into the bartender and started serving Apple-tinis at the Aurora Ice Bar. Then he let people out of the museum in groups as they were ready. You couldn't just leave on your own, you had to be let out - I suppose that's so nobody carelessly leaves the door open and the museum melts.
So, let's now focus on the good parts with photos. I'll do a little tour for you.
On the left as you walk in is the ice sculptors studio.

Steve & Heather Brice of Brice & Brice Ice Sculptures are world class ice carvers and it is a privilege to see their work. Check out their website - there is a short video of Heather making a martini glass out of a block of ice, and some of their other work outside the Ice Museum is amazing. It would have been nice to see them in action in person, but we understand they can't be there for every single tour five times a day every day, but I would recommend verifying whether or not there will be a demonstration before booking your tour.
This is the view as you walk in under an ice block wall that separates the studio from the rest of the museum.

Yes, even the chandeliers are ice.
The dark lighting and the changing colors of the lights add to the experience. If it were all just bright white lights, it would have seemed bland. However, the darkness and changing colors made it very difficult to take pictures.
The ice sculptures are an eclectic mix. This one was on the left immediately past the sculptors studio.

Just past her was this one.

It would have been nice if these pieces of art would have had some type of plaque indicating the name of the piece, when it was carved, how long it took to complete, the carver's name, and perhaps a short description of the inspiration. Then, maybe it would feel more like a museum.
As it was, it was, as I mentioned before, it was an eclectic collection without a theme or flow.
Next was an ice staircase (left side of photo below) that was roped off and then a pair of jousting knights on horseback.



Again, there is no question the sculptures are impressive. The Brices have won numerous ice sculpting world championships.
Next to the knights was an ice leopard between pillars with dragons on top.


Next was an open section with a podium surrounded by ice pedestals with ice balls on them. This was clearly an area designed to host weddings.

This is a view to the left from the podium, .....

and this is looking to the right.

The centerpiece of the museum is the Aurora Ice Bar across from the jousting knights and the leopard.

The bar is ice as are the fur-covered bar stools, ....


and that, of course, is where they serve the Apple-tinis.
To the right of the bar, up a couple steps, is an ice table with four more bar stools.

Linda sat at the end of the bar and waited patiently as the bartender/guide made his way around.

Finally, it was her turn as he poured two bottles into an ice glass.

Sitting at the ice bar on fur-covered stools is something we remembered from the TV show we saw about the place many years ago, so Linda fulfilled her desire to partake in that little ritual.

She said the Apple-tini was actually very good, and she agree with the guy beside her that said "All drinks should be served this way".
Though you are supposed to order your apple martini when you get your tickets so they know how many glasses to make, they tend to have extras as some folks decide to join in once they are inside the museum at the bar. Your $15 is actually $10 for the drink and $5 for the glass. You can get a refill for $10.
While Linda was enjoying her drink, more people had left, so I wandered around to get some more photos.
On the left side of the bar, is an ice polar bear.

And to the left of it is an igloo that you can go in.

Inside the igloo is an ice xylophone that you can play.

The back of the building has an ice archway with more pedestals and colored ice balls that are aligned along the hallway that leads to four "bedrooms".

View from the end of the hall looking back out.

Though it's not an ice "hotel", you can still spend the night in the museum for a mere $600/night. I'm pretty sure that's what I heard our guide say, although there is absolutely no mention of this option on the resort's website.
One room had some folks feeling romantic in it, so I didn't interrupt. But I took photos of the other three rooms so you can let the resort know which you prefer when you make your reservation to stay the night.


I would go with the polar bear bed with the Alaska state flag symbol, the Big Dipper, in one of the post balls.

You have to admit that's pretty cool, no pun intended.
So there you have it. That's the Ice Museum. And here are my final thoughts about that part of our evening.
The so-called "tour" was quite lame, and apparently we got short-changed on that.
But the ice sculptures were impressive and the Ice Museum is a unique experience. If you can appreciate the work that goes into the ice sculptures and the technology it takes to keep a building like that at 25 degrees year round in an area of Alaska that gets hotter than most other parts during the summer, then the Ice Museum is worthwhile. Otherwise, you will likely consider it a tourist trap.
My initial expectation all along was "tourist trap", and the quality of the tour, or lack thereof, didn't help. But in the end, after most people had left and we had more time and room to check things out and take pictures, I softened. It was much better with just a few people in there so we could take our time and really appreciate what we were seeing.
I'd say it was worth the $15/person. However, I certainly wouldn't drive over a 100 miles round-trip from Fairbanks just for the Ice Museum alone. If it were presented better and you were guaranteed a smaller group and an ice carving demonstration, then maybe. Of course, if you are going to Chena Hot Springs Resort anyway, I'd recommend seeing the Ice Museum. It is unique.
After the Ice Museum, we put Linda's ice martini glass in the cooler in our Jeep and grabbed our swimming suits and towels. While we were there, we decided to experience the hot springs, and you can get a day pass for $15/person ($13 if you are 60 and over), a little steep, but not over the top.
We paid our fee and got change from the change machine so we could get a coin-operated locker with a key in the locker room. We went to our separate locker rooms to get changed and shower before entering the pool.
They have an indoor warm pool (average 90 degrees) with indoor hot tubs, but that's where all the kids hang out because no one under 18 is allowed in the outdoor hot springs pool (average 106 degrees).


There is a covered walkway to the rock pool, so we hung our towels there and went down the ramp into the water. It was pretty crowded, but it felt great.

There was a fine gravel bottom that was easy on the feet. Linda said it was like aquarium rocks.
Our only complaint was there were very few places to sit. You pretty much either had to stand or climb up on the rocks. There were some seats right next to the entry ramp railing, but other than that there was no place to sit and stay submerged.
A nice feature was the cool water sprinkler that made it feel like you were standing in the rain.

You could move under it and cool off without having to get out of the water, and everyone eventually gravitated there.

By the way, there is also an outdoor patio with an adults-only hot tub, but we didn't try it.

The water in the rock pool was quite relaxing, but it didn't take long for me to get bored. People watching at a hot springs is entertaining for only so long.
We stayed longer than some, and not as long as others, but it was enough.
Chena Hot Springs Resort is kind of a strange place. It is a mixture of modern technology and 80s summer camp. It's not an opulent "resort", but it seems to satisfy the needs of its guests.
It's dedicated to renewable energy and 100% of the resort's electricity is geothermal power created on-site (they offer free daily geothermal renewable energy tours). The Ice Museum is kept cold by a huge energy-efficient absorption chiller, which is similar to the technology used by RV refrigerators just on a much larger scale. And they are experimenting with other renewable energy ideas.
But with all that focus on modern energy technology, it seems the facilities could benefit from some updating. Perhaps that is underway as a new entrance to the lodge is under construction.
Anyway, that was our touristy evening. Hopefully, our write-up may help in your decision if you are tossing around a visit or stay at Chena Hot Springs Resort.
Back at the cabin, we decided to forgo the evening campfire and called it an early night. After time in the hot springs, we weren't going to be awake long.
So, this was our last night at Rowdy & Missy's place. We'll say our goodbyes in the morning, and then we'll be on to the next part of our journey - heading back toward the Lower 48. This was as far north as we're going. We have just a few days left in Alaska, but we'll have about three weeks to explore more of Canada on the way south.
Until next time.
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