Visit Talkeetna, Alaska

In 2005, my wife and I took an Alaskan cruise and land tour that included a stop in the small town of Talkeetna (2000 population is listed at 772). Talkeetna may be small, but on the day we stopped in, it was a bustling town thanks to all the tourists.

It's probably not accurate to say that a visitor can get a taste of small-town Alaska by visiting Talkeetna. It's more accurate to say that a visitor can get a taste of a small-town carnival atmosphere mixed with the desire of the residents to make your stay as pleasant as possible, even if you're going to be there for only a few hours. "Friendly" is a word that comes to mind when I remember our time in Talkeetna. In a way, Talkeetna was reminiscent of the small towns in Iowa in which my wife and I were raised, which is to say the place felt good!

We arrived on a bus from the Denali area and were in Talkeetna to catch a train for the next part of our Alaskan adventure. We checked our bags and took off to spend our few hours exploring the town. If you live in a large metropolitan area like we do (a suburb of the Twin Cities), you may enjoy the experience of being in a town that you easily can walk through and around in a very short time.

My wife and i did not have time to sample all of the food places in town, but we had heard about the Roadhouse and decided to indulge in some of their tremendous pie. The Roadhouse is famous for its food and the size of its portions. We were well satisfied!

While a popular perception is that Talkeetna "shuts down" for the winter, that's not true. For example, the Talkeetna Winterfest begins on the first weekend of December and includes a full month of winter activities. Annual heavy snow amounts make possible many activities for the outdoors enthusiast. If you prefer to be indoors when the outdoors is cold, a well-stocked public library can provide for your needs. You can find lots of information about Talkeetna on the town's Chamber of Commerce website.

If you think you might want to settle there, real estate websites list many pieces of land for sale, as well as several homes at various prices.

In case you're wondering about a possible TV connection, it was some time after we visited Talkeetna that we learned that the residents of Talkeetna claim that their town was the basis for the fictional "Cicely," the setting for the "Northern Exposure" series that began on CBS-TV in 1990 and lasted for a total of six seasons. It was one of my favorite programs and I wish I had known about the possible connection while we were there. Wikipedia has some basic information about the series.

We visited Talkeetna basically because we had to be there in order to catch a train. While the town has some history, the more important thing about the town for me was that it brought back memories of my growing up years. It might do the same for you.

Sources:

www.talkeetnachamber.org/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Exposure