Just returned from 17 days in Alaska--5 of them on business and the rest vacation. I'll be posting a trip report for the vacation part (including Denali, Valdez, Seward, Homer and Anchorage) as soon as I've had the chance to write it up, but I was also in Nome and Kotzebue for a few days on business. If anyone has questions about these areas I'd be happy to try to answer them. Both were interesting places, although I probably wouldn't spend my own money to go back having seen them once.

There doesn't seem to be a lot to occupy the typical independent traveler, although Nome attracts many hardcore bird watchers. I believe Alaska Airlines offers one and two day packages with some organized cultural activities. This would probably be the most economical way to visit, as flights from ANC (Alaska Air offers full-size jet service) are somewhat expensive. The Aurora Inn in Nome is clean and new but not luxurious by any definition. The Nullagvik in Kotz is very basic but still clean. Kotzebue is a native community and appears quite economically depressed. Nome is more of an old mining town. Both areas are tree-less and Kotzebue is quite flat, so scenery is pretty different than what you see in more southerly parts of the state.

As mentioned, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for the post regarding these cities. They are places that I wouldn't mind going, but only for the couple of days like you mentioned.

What did you do in Nome besides working? What is there to do? Hiking, cassino, great restaurants, museums, nature trails, bears, gold? Why wouldn't you want to go back to Nome and Kotzebue?

This is a bit long, so I'll split it up into two posts. First, Nome.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of personal time just to sightsee, but a local colleague did give us a brief driving tour of the Nome area, which was pretty interesting. There seems to be more for visitors to do in Nome than Kotzebue.

Nome is a bit of a rough town, with more than its share of local bars and saloons, but it's also a funky place, with lots of character. The Iditarod ends here every March and, apparently, it's quite an event. On one afternoon, we saw a pickup truck pass with a live reindeer riding in back on a leash. When we asked a local about it, he laughed and said, "Oh yeah, that's old so-and-so. He keeps that reindeer as a pet. It thinks it's a dog." Apparently, the reindeer roams free near the man's property, but comes whenever he whistles for it and loves to go for rides in the truck(!). Only in Alaska.

Evidence of Nome's gold mining heritage is everywhere. The town uses old iron dredging buckets as flower planters. We saw rusted abandoned mining equipment in many places along the area roads. We also drove along the beach and saw the dredgers' tents. Believe it or not, people come up for the summer, live in tents on the beach and set up crude pumping systems to dredge water out of the Bering Sea and collect the gold flecks. I guess it's still possible to make quite bit of money this way.

Later that evening, our host drove us to the top of Anvil Mountain where we saw the huge, abandoned, White Alice communications towers (with Siberia only 160 miles away, these were built to detect incoming missles from a Russian invasion) which reminded me of something out of Star Wars. They're a bit sinister looking--especially on a misty day.

Although Nome can only be reached by air, it does have a system of roads that lead outward from the city as far as 80 miles in several directions and connect Nome with a few tiny Native villages. Herds of reindeer and musk ox are commonly found in these areas. Our host drove us to an spot where he often sees both but unfortunately, the mist made visibility too poor on the day we were there. We did get a chance to get out and go for a brief walk on the spongy tundra. I'd definitely recommend renting a car and driving out one or more of these roads if you're planning a visit. I wish we'd had more time to do this. The scenery around Nome is different than anything I'd seen before. You really get a feel for how vast and remote it is.

Nome does not have any great restaurants. We ate at Fat Freddies, Milanos, and the Polar Cub, all of which were fine (although a little on the grungy side). I believe the town has a small gold mining museum and offers tours of a working gold mine, although we didn't have the opportunity to visit either. I'm not aware of any nature trails, although that doesn't mean there aren't any.

Overall, I liked Nome and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see it. Probably the only reason I wouldn't return is the significant time and expense involved in getting there relative to the amount there is to see and do.

OK, here's the info on Kotzebue.

Although it and Nome are similar in size, Kotzebue feels smaller and is less spread out. It is also flatter and less green. You can walk just about everywhere. The town is like nothing I'd ever seen before. Houses and businesses are right next door to each other. There don't seem to be any residential neighborhoods to speak of. Most structures resemble manufactured homes and are built on pilings due to the permafrost (which makes the ground unstable) and occasional flooding from the sound. Like Nome, there are no trees in Kotzebue and most roads are gravel. The nicest structures in town are a series of small blue townhomes constructed as "doctor housing." It was interesting to see the piles of moose antlers stacked against the side of many houses alongside the fuel tanks and snowmachine parts.

As mentioned, Kotzebue is mostly a Native community and the attractions are mainly cultural. Groceries are ridiculously expensive and most residents seem to rely significantly on subsistence hunting and fishing. While we were there, a Native trade show was taking place. The culmination was a celebration that several residents referred to as the "Eskimo games," which included competitions such as fish cutting, seal hooking, dancing, and the blanket toss. I'm not sure to what you extent you could see these kinds of activities at other times of the year.

I believe it is possible to take float trips on the rivers in this area, but they are multi-day and targeted more to experienced outdoor-types. The breaking up of the ice on the sound is somewhat of an event in the spring. I know of no organized wildlife-viewing opportunities, although the city does see the occaisional polar bear in winter. The local Native corporation does operate a museum here, but we we didn't have the opportunity to stop in so I can't comment on it.

There aren't many restaurants in this area and, like Nome, most are similar in look and feel to small diners you might find along the highway in the lower 48. We ate at the Bayside Inn and the Empress, both of which were OK. Food at the Bayside was a bit greasy.

Overall, the lack of greenery gives Kotz a bit of a depressing feel. No alcohol is sold here, so unlike Nome, there are no bars or liquor stores.

I hope this is helpful.