In a state with 16 times as many airplanes per capita as the entire Lower 48, and where one out of every 78 residents is a pilot, you know there’s going to be a good aviation museum. For aviation buffs the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum will be irresistible. For the rest of us, there's enough drama behind each of the aircraft to fill a good 45 minutes or so, not including the time you spend with the flight simulator taking off and landing (or crash landing, if you fly like me). The museum's collection, housed in a couple of hangars, includes a plane known as “Old Patches” that was flown by one of Alaska's colorful governors, a WWII observation plane that could fly as slowly as 28 knots then speed up to 108 knots, a plane that flew serum to the Arctic during a diphtheria epidemic, the wreckage of a plane that crashed, and the wreckage of a plane that used to search for planes that crashed before it too crashed. Naturally, the museum’s out by the airport, right on the shores of Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the world’s busiest seaplane base, which is itself a sight to see.