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Alaska

Fun Facts About Alaska

Did you know that Alaska is 500 miles from the closest state? And that a lot of hotels in Alaska have Northern Lights wake-up calls? There are a lot of interesting facts about Alaska and the state has recently become a popular travel destination. Could these fun facts have anything to do with that?

First, Alaska has some strange laws regarding moose. There is a law that states you cannot push a moose from a plane and there is another law that states that giving moose beer is illegal. Hopefully you will never do these things, but just a heads up that you can get in a lot of trouble if you want to mess with moose in Alaska.

The Bering Straight separates Russia from Alaska and at the narrowest point of the straight; it is only 55 miles wide. So it is actually possible to see Russia from some houses in Alaska. The state capital, Juneau, happens to be the only capital in the United State that isn’t accessible by a road.

Dog Mushing

Courtesy of dogonews.com

The official sport of Alaska is dog mushing and it has become more and more popular each year. The cold weather makes it the perfect spot for this sport. In fact, the beautiful state is really known for its cold weather, but back in 1915, it set a record high of 100 degrees. The nation’s record low was set in Endicott Mountains at -80 degrees. Even though it is home to freezing weather, it actually has more coastlines that the other 49 states combined. The state is also home to 20 of the highest peaks in the country.

When Alaska was trying to design their state flag, they called on students in the state to try to design it. They ended up choosing a design by 13-year-old Benny Benson. Alaska has interesting days and nights, the state has 82 days of sunlight in the summer and Barrow, Alaska has the record for longest nights that lasted for 67 days.

Hammer Museum

Courtesy of hammermuseum.org

Located in the city of Haines, sits the Hammer Museum, which is the first museum in the country that is dedicated to just hammers. At the museum, guests can check out a handful of collections of hammer sculptures, spring-loaded meat tenderizers and even handle-making machinery.

 

 

Feature image courtesy of  adventurecaravans.com.

Categories: Fun Stuff, Sightseeing, United States