Kotzebue is a good place to visit to get a taste of “real” Alaska. The people are friendly and you can get a feel for Alaskan life just walking around. Depending on the time of year you might see salmon being netted and smoked, ice fishing, crazy-ass storms with drifts above your head and 70 mph gusts, or herds of hunters in search of big game. You might get tired of the food (there’s hamburgers, chinese, hamburgers, chinese, and chinese), but it’s worth visiting at least once… I’ve posted a couple of sets of recent Kotzebue pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fncll/sets/843283/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fncll/sets/1075059/