Tourists visiting Nome are charmed by rustic nature of town

“Frontier town.” That’s how many tourists off the cruise ships from the past few weeks describe Nome. Also on the list is “rustic” and “weatherbeaten.” These tourists aren’t knocking Nome, for what it is worth. They are excited to be here.
Many cruise ships that come to Nome bill themselves as “expedition” cruises. Passengers aboard the ships are signing up for an adventure. Some want to see the Arctic before a warming climate changes it forever. Others read about the search for the Northwest Passage as kids and want to see it for themselves. By and large, they are charmed by Nome small town feel, access to nature, culture and history.
Leif Arndt, from Northern Germany, arrived with his brother Ingmar on the Hanseatic Inspiration on August 13. Leif, a self-described sensitive guy, does not like big, crowded cities. He appreciates that Nome is so real and close to nature – no chic fancy stores. “It’s cool. It’s authentic,” he said.
Gary Ravert, of Queens, New York, agrees. “I like places like this. I like the fact that it’s not chichi,” he said. “It’s kind of rough around the edges. Looks like a frontier town, so I’m very happy.”
As a New Yorker, he said that the fact that people here are friendly tells him a lot. “I like the fact that it’s very remote and people are eking out an existence here,” he said.
Ravert came off the National Geographic ship Resolution, which came through the Northwest Passage on August 20. He was drawn to Nome after he started reading about the age of exploration. “I just kind of became fascinated by what was up here and wanted to see what they saw to some degree, and I did,” he said. “I got to see a lot of pack ice, which was great. Saw polar bears.” 
Ravert has spent time in Svalbard, which he described as “polished” compared to Nome. Still, he seemed to prefer Nome. “There’s a limit to how much you can really do,” he said of Longyearbyen, the largest community on Svalbard, which he visited in January of this year. “I was only there five, six days, and it was pitch black all the time, 24 hours a day.” 
He wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived in Nome. When he disembarked from the ship, he didn’t catch the next flight out and stayed a few extra days. “I just want to take my sweet time,” he said. “I stayed in Nome because when am I coming back here?”
Heinrich Moederle and Claudia Schweikert are from Austria and Germany, respectively. They came ashore from the Hanseatic Inspiration on August 13. Nome reminds Schweikert of Churchill, Canada. “People gathering from all over the places with different ideas and leaving again. I think architecture is similar,” she said. “They try to make little nice corners with the flowers.”
Schweikert and Moederle visited Nome about 15 years ago, traveling the Inside Passage from Vancouver. This time, they were making their way through the Northwest Passage. “I wanted to see if things had changed, and I saw the new museum, which is quite, I think, fantastic. Really, very nice done,” said Moederle. 
Schweikert acknowledges that traveling to the remote Arctic does have an impact on the environment, no matter how careful and eco-friendly the ship. She thinks the travel broadens the mind. “If you ever had a doubt, you know it’s worth preserving what’s there,” she said.
The nature of an expedition cruise means that passengers are not necessarily sitting around on the ship. Many of the ships offer shore excursions in smaller boats, many have lectures from experts in history, geography and other topics and many stop in remote towns off the beaten path. “I think it opens minds. It gives a deeper insights about people up here,” said Moederle.
“Most of the people on the ship, the passengers are here for this,” he added. “Of course, it’s pleasure, but a different kind of pleasure than, you go to the Caribbean.”
Are the cruise ship passengers looking for wilderness or culture? Bill Armington, of Astoria, Oregon, says both. He’s traveling for the extreme polar latitudes as well as the nature and local communities along the way. Nome reminds Armington a little of his own town. “Nome is a bit smaller, but it’s the same sort of frontier spirit and cross section of humanity that that’s here, that’s there as well,” he said.
Robin Johnson doesn’t mind that tourists see Nome as remote and rustic. Johnson, her husband Doug, her brother Dave Karp and his wife Debbie Karp, and Pam and Phil Okeson own and operate Nome Discovery Tours, a business that provides logistical support and on the ground activities for cruise ship passengers. She said part of the allure of working with tourists is sharing Nome’s access to nature and culture. “People are generally interested. They want to know what’s going on here. They’re interested in our history,” Johnson said.
Pam Okeson said that people aren’t disappointed by what they see in Nome. People who come off the cruise ships tend to be adventurous and active. “The vast majority of people are very excited to see like a place like Nome that is way different from anything that they’ve experienced,” said Okeson.
Nome Discovery Tours tries to put Nome in context for visitors. Nome may not look like other towns, even ones at similar latitudes, and that’s okay. “When you explain to them, everything has to be either flown or barged in, then you can see the wheels turning,” Okeson explained. “Most of the people aren’t judgy.” 
When tourists disembark off the cruise ships in Nome, they’re often bussed around by Morgan Enterprise school buses. AKAU Gold does gold panning demonstrations. Iditarod finisher Nils Hahn and his wife Diana Haecker give dog mushing presentations and talks. Locals are hired to guide walking tours and hikes. This is part of Nome Discovery Tours’ ethos.
 They make sure tourists are directed to the museum, to local shops, to the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Heritage Center. They make sure local shops know when tourists will be out and about so they can staff accordingly. “We try hard to make sure we get them into every door that wants them,” said Johnson. “It matters to us that it’s not just us running a business, but we want Nome in general to be a successful place.”
Whatever the reason tourists come here, Johnson said she likes the chance to show them around her hometown. “I’m proud to be able to share Nome. It’s fun. It’s exciting,” she said.