Running on very little sleep after getting back around 3 AM from chasing the Northern Lights, we kickstarted the day with a much-needed boost: the hotel’s hearty breakfast buffet. A solid way to reset!

After brushing the snow off the car (a true Fairbanks morning ritual), we made our way to the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

The museum sits on a hill with a stunning view of the Alaska Range to the south — where Denali, North America’s tallest peak, stands proud. Fun fact: Denali is over 20,000 feet tall and can sometimes be seen from Fairbanks on clear days!

The museum’s mission is to preserve and share the natural, artistic, and cultural heritage of Alaska and the Circumpolar North — and it delivers.

While there were many interesting exhibits, the true showstopper was Blue Babe: a 36,000-year-old mummified steppe bison.

Preserved in the Interior’s permafrost since the Ice Age, it was discovered by gold miners in 1979 and donated to the museum. Its name comes from the blue mineral vivianite, which formed when the bison’s body reacted with minerals in the soil. Science is wild.

(Yes, there were also a couple of very snoozy movies available — perfect if you need a power nap.)

We snapped a few photos of the exhibits and headed downtown.

Now, downtown Fairbanks isn’t packed with attractions, but it does have hidden gems — like a highly-rated Moldovan restaurant a friend recommended. None of us had tried Moldovan cuisine before, so naturally, we dove in.

The food? Incredible. We devoured pierogi, a mysterious but delicious veggie mush, and other traditional Moldovan dishes. Who knew Fairbanks would be the place for that kind of culinary discovery?

We made a quick stop at the Fairbanks Visitor Center, which turned out to be surprisingly cool. It had some well-curated exhibits focused on rural Alaskan life — from subsistence living to traditional crafts.

After regrouping at the hotel, we geared up for our next adventure: Chena Hot Springs. Our tour van picked us up around 5 PM for the two-hour drive through the snowy Alaskan wilderness.

Our driver? A total character. Eccentric, hilarious, and full of stories from his time on HBO wilderness survival shows and even Finding Bigfoot. His tales were half terrifying, half entertaining — especially being told while barreling down a pitch-black icy road. Everyone stayed alert… except Eitan, who managed to catch a nap through it all.

Our first stop at Chena was the Aurora Ice Museum and Ice Bar, home to the world’s largest year-round ice environment. You can sip an apple martini from a glass made of ice for $20 — and yes, it’s worth it for the novelty alone.

The ice sculptures are incredible, and the whole space feels like an icy art gallery. Once you’re in, you stay in — opening the doors too often risks melting the art.

Next, it was time for the hot springs. Phones stayed in the lockers, so no photos — but picture this: soaking in steaming hot water surrounded by snow and crisp Arctic air. It’s as magical as it sounds. The springs are geothermal and naturally heated, providing a toasty contrast to the frigid night.

Here is a photo during daylight that I stole from the internet.

After the soak, we grabbed dinner at the resort’s only restaurant. Expectations were low (thank you, online reviews), but we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food actually was. A cold Alaskan beer and warm food hit the spot.

Just when we thought the day was done, the tour surprised us with another round of Aurora chasing. The skies weren’t as active as the night before, but we still made a few stops trying to catch a glimpse.

Eitan even spotted a substorm from his side of the van — but by the time we found a safe place to pull over, it had vanished. That’s aurora hunting for you: thrilling, unpredictable, and sometimes, just a little frustrating.

Everyone was exhausted, but also content — we’d already had some amazing aurora sightings on previous nights, so the vibe was relaxed.

We finally rolled back into the hotel, tired but happy, wrapping up another unforgettable Fairbanks day.