I was told to come to this little shop of paradise since it contained an assortment of tourist souvenirs that was Alaskan themed or linked to Alaska. Holy moly. Never have I ever seen so much stuff! Wow.
Even Polar Bear Gifts in Anchorage was comparable, but wow. Geez. This place has it all, more or less and the selection of stuff is pretty generous. On my first full day in Fairbanks, I decided to drive here and see what they had to offer. I arrived here on a brisk Thursday morning around 10am. The store was empty and I thought that it was probably a slow day that day. After spending an hour looking around and seeing many exotic stuff on display, here comes a boat load of people streaming into the store. It was neat really. The store itself sold clothing, magnets, keychains, smoked salmon, and other trinkets that you'd typically see in souvenir shops around the world. Most, if not all, have Alaska name branded on them, so you'd know where you've been throughout your travels. For me, going through the Knotty Shop helped me to kill time and have a bit of ice cream too. It's one of the few places I've been to where you're in a souvenir shop that sells ice cream. I had a chocolate double scoop and it was around $6 here in Fairbanks, which was unheard of - since I paid over that amount in Talkeetna and south of Anchorage. Shocker, indeed! Still, can't complain though.
The overall experience here at the Knotty Shop was nice, quiet, and casual. I came in the store where I was pleasant to shop in without much distractions. I ended up picking up souvenirs for myself and couple of boxes of smoked salmon for the folks back home. Of course, I picked up the chocolate ice cream on the way out and it really hit the spot! The lady who manned the store at the time was friendly and we made small talk. It was nice to talk with her about things. Knotty Shop is located at 6565 Richardson Highway in Salcha, Alaska. It's about an hour drive from the Fairbanks city center. They accept major credit cards, which is always a good thing, especially for us traveling folk who don't want to carry cash all the time. While I assume public transportation doesn't come through here, best bet is to rent a car and come here or take a tour bus that makes a stop here. Or check with Uber/Lyft and even Greyhound bus too for information. For those of you who drive, they have a very generous parking lot that can accommodate about 15 cars in the front of the building, and 25-30 cars in the adjacent lot. So plenty of parking for all! It's spacious for sure. The ambiance was very nice. They had air condition here, so it was nice to come here when it got warm, even for spring time in Alaska. Not sure about free WiFi though. You'll need to check on that.
The Knotty Shop itself is very organized and clean, almost like someone's house who's goal in life is to be a collector of all things Alaska. It's pretty neat! It's too perfect not to come in here and buy up souvenirs for your travels to Alaska. The Smoked Salmon came boxed and sealed, so that was cool. Only problem came when TSA discovered it, since there was liquid in the pouch. :( For the most part though, I enjoyed my time shopping here at the Knotty Shop. The souvenirs purchased and the chocolate ice cream made the trip more than make up for the monotonous drive coming up from Denali National Park the day before. It's a cute little shop that is very necessary for your itinerary, if your travels come through the interior of Alaska. I would recommend coming here, if you are in the area and would like to have souvenirs of your travels to Alaska. The prices are reasonable here and worth the trip. While this place is about an hours drive from Fairbanks, the ice cream break will be worth the effort, I'm sure. Come and check it out, the lawn animals will greet you as you enter the parking lot. Tell them I said hello.
4.5 stars for the overall experience. 4.5 stars for the prices and the service. 4.5 stars for the ice cream.
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