Nome

Nome is a former gold-rush town on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, facing the Bering Sea just south of the Arctic Circle. No road links it to the rest of the state, so everything arrives by plane or barge. Gold was found on the beaches in 1899, and within a couple of years around 20,000 people had crowded in. Today the town has about 3,700 residents. Front Street runs along the seawall, and the burled wood arch that marks the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race stands next to the visitor centre. You can still pan for gold on the public beach east of town, where small-scale miners work the sand in summer. The Richard Foster Building houses the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum, with photographs and objects from the gold rush and from the Iñupiat communities of the region. Three gravel roads lead out of Nome into the tundra, and musk oxen, reindeer and migrating birds are often seen along them. Reindeer sausage is the local breakfast meat. The US dollar is the currency.