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Ester, Alaska: Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn

Sold by Skinny Dick in 2003; he passed away in 2008. Beloved assemblage of tackiness and crudity in a wilderness where the only communication is by radiophone.

Visitor Tips and News About Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn

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Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn

Skinny Dick is alive, but in poor health. My husband and I took a road trip to Alaska the last two weeks in May 2005 and made Skinny Dick's one of our destinations after seeing it on roadsideamerica.com.

We were lucky enough to arrive on the weekend of their summer kickoff party. Enjoyed cooking our own hamburgers and the homemade fixins.

Had fun imagining how so much tackiness and crude stuff could be assembled in one place, and had to wonder about the mind that conceived it! All the people there were nice and most acted almost normal. If they weren't laughing, they had a hell-of-a smile on their faces. The owners weren't aware that they were on your site and were very pleased.

[Gaye & Craig Ellis, 06/08/2005]

Two tree trunks on display; they appear to have human genitals.

Skinny Dick's - Tree Collection?

I believe that Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn also has collected trees with genitals. If I'm mistaken about the tree's location, then they are somewhere in the vacinity of Fairbanks and nearly as amusing as Skinny Dick's itself.

[Lauren, 01/08/2005]
Skinny Dick's

Latest update on Skinny Dick and his eponymous bar. I, too, used to live next to this notoriously-named and -decorated bar. When I swung through last fall with a visitor, I was astonished to find its walls bare and clean, and the food edible and clean. Skinny finally sold it and moved south (Arizona or thereabouts). So all the layers of panties, bras and dollar bills are gone. The name, however - Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn - remains. The last half of the name, by the way, indicated its location between two "adjacent" towns, Fairbanks and Nenana. It's 27 miles to each.

[Audie Bakewell, 04/26/2002]
Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn

Another roadside watering hole in Alaska: Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn. It's is located about 30 miles from Fairbanks on the George Parks Highway and is half-way between Nenana and Fairbanks. You can buy, among other things, a chef's apron with an attached towel to hide the prosthetic "skinny dick" that also comes attached to the apron.

[Ivan Heffner, 11/07/1999]

August 2004 - Various reports that Skinny Dick's is still in operation, edible food, nice bartender, hilarious trinkets.

Skinny Dick's Half-way Inn

He's not dead yet...This is an update to an outrageously incorrect update submitted by someone named Jim on 7/20/99 concerning the 'late' Skinny Dick of Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn at milepost 328 on the Parks Highway - 30 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Jim reported that he passed away some time back. . . WRONG. . .

I lived in a cabin next to Skinny Dick's for a year some time ago and was and still am well aquainted with him. Unless his ghost is tending bar and selling Skinny Dick merchandise, he is still alive (although he is as skinny as a cadaver).

My son, who works in the Danali Park area, stopped at Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn on his way back to town yesterday, Aug 16, 1999, and spoke with Skinny and was both amazed and perturbed when I showed him Jim's note on Roadside America.

Because Skinny is too far out of town to have a phone line (he relies on a radio-phone) there is no way to e-mail him the notice of his passing. I printed a download of the articles referencing his demise and some of us are going to hand deliver it to Skinny and demand that he tell us why he is still alive.

He would also be happy to send you an order blank for his extremely 'unique' merchandise depicting the 'Halfway Inn' logo, everything from lapel pins to 'T'-shirts to embroidered jackets, and some rather amusing trinkets.

[Richard P. Sauve, 08/23/1999]

Skinny Dick's Half-Way Inn

Address:
8910 George Parks Hwy, Ester, AK
Directions:
At milepost 328 on the Parks Highway, roughly halfway between Fairbanks and Nenana.
Hours:
Daily 10-8 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:
907-388-5770
Save to My Sights

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