Things to do in Nome
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Golden Sands Beach
A very interesting afternoon can be spent at Nome's Golden Sands Beach , stretching a mile east of town along Front St. At the height of summer a few local children may be seen playing in the 45°F water, and on Memorial Day (in May), more than 100 masochistic residents plunge into the ice-choked waters for the annual Polar Bear Swim.
Usually more numerous than swimmers here are gold prospectors, as the beach is open to recreational mining. Miners will set up camp along the shore and work the sands throughout the summer. The serious miners rig their sluice and dredging equipment on a small pontoon boat and anchor it 100yd offshore to suck up the more productive sand along…
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Anvil Mountain
The climb up 1062ft Anvil Mountain is the closest hike to Nome and the only one that can be easily pulled off without a car. Follow the Teller Hwy 3.5 miles from town to Glacier Creek Rd, which takes you directly onto the mountain. After the road veers left, look for a smooth route up the slope and commence your climb. It's about one mile round-trip to the summit, ascending through wonderful wildflower patches.
At the top you'll find the giant parabolic antennae of the Cold War-era White Alice Communications System, plus great views of town and the ocean as well as the Kigluaik Mountains farther inland.
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St Joseph Church
Built in 190, when there were 30,000 people living in Nome, this huge church was originally located on Front St, and the electrically lit cross at the top of the building was used as a beacon for seamen. By the 1920s the population of the city had plummeted to less than 900 and the Jesuits abandoned the structure.
The church was used for storage by a mining company before the city purchased it in 1996, moving it to its present location and restoring it as a multipurpose building. You'll have to admire it from the outside, as it will likely be locked.
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Nome Tour & Marketing
Based out of the Nugget Inn, this caters mainly to larger package-deal groups, though independents are welcome. It operates three tours daily in the summer. The six-hour history-oriented tour includes gold panning at the Little Creek Mine and a hands-on dog-mushing demonstration, while the four-hour wildlife tour heads out along the highways in search of birds and beasts. The two-hour Alaska Native-culture demonstration focuses on Inupiat hunting, dancing and athletic contests.
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Iditarod Finish-Line Arch
In a lot next to the city hall is the Iditarod Finish-Line Arch. The huge wooden structure, a distinctly bent pine tree with burls, is raised over Front St every March in anticipation of the mushers and their dogsled teams ending the 1049-mile race here. The original arch fell apart after the 1999 race, and Nome, in a basically treeless region, sent out a call for help throughout the state to find a new one. The present pine was located near Hope, on the Kenai Peninsula.
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Donald Perkins Memorial Plaza
Overlooking the seawall, is the Donald Perkins Memorial Plaza, featuring a collection of old mining detritus, including dredge buckets. During Nome's golden heyday there were more than 100 gold dredges in the area, and each one had hundreds of these buckets to scoop up gravel and dirt. Today you'll see the buckets all over town, often used as giant flowerpots. On the seawall near the plaza is a wooden platform that provides views of the Bering Sea and Sledge Island.
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Carrie McLain Museum
To the east of the visitors center on Front St is Carrie McLain Museum in the basement of the Kegoayah Kozga Public Library. Though there are displays on Native culture and local reindeer-cultivation efforts, the focus is the gold rush and Nome's history in the early 20th century. Don't miss the preserved body of Fritz the sled dog, one of the leaders of the famed 1925 race to deliver diphtheria serum to Nome, which was the inspiration for the Iditarod.
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Bering Land Bridge Interpretive Center
The center is dedicated to Beringia, the 1000-mile-wide landmass that linked Alaska and Siberia until about 10,000 years ago. Archaeologists believe that the first people to arrive in Alaska, along with a variety of animals, used this land bridge. The center has displays on mammoths, early Alaska Native culture and reindeer herding, and a collection of short videos that are shown on request.
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Board of Trade Saloon
Even by Alaskan standards, drinking in Nome is legendary. Among the early bar owners was Wyatt Earp, the noted gunslinger at the OK Corral. All but two of the bars are clustered around one another on Front St. The Board of Trade Saloon, dating back to 1900, claims to be the oldest bar on the Bering Sea and is certainly the most notorious. It's the place to go for late-night live music.
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Anchor Tavern
Even by Alaskan standards, drinking in Nome is legendary. Among the early bar owners was Wyatt Earp, the noted gunslinger at the OK Corral. All but two of the bars are clustered around one another on Front St. For a quiet hangout where you can sit and chat with locals, try Anchor Tavern, which has a good selection of beer on tap.
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Nome Discovery Tours
The most intimate, highly recommended tours run by local raconteur Richard Beneville offer everything from two-hour evening tundra-exploration drives to full-day excursions to Teller, where you'll drop in on an Inupiat family, or to Council, with fishing along the way.
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Qué Onda's Mexican Grill
Currently the highest-end place in town. It serves up huge portions of decent south-of-the-border fare, as well as burgers, in a lowlit, saloonesque environment.
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Twin Dragon
This has good Chinese food. There's a two-person dinner special for around that may be the best-priced meal in town.
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AC Value Center
- Nome, USA
- Restaurants › Deli
This is the cheap-eats option. The supermarket has a bakery, espresso counter and a deli with ready-to-eat items.
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Fat Freddie's
- Nome, USA
- Restaurants › Café
Nome's local café is built right on the breakwater, with great views and lots of chin-wagging locals.
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Milano's Pizzeria
Located in the Old Federal Building, it also serves Japanese dinners, Italian mains and burgers.
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