What should I do, where should I go in Alaska?

Take an extended cruise with the tour of Denali (Mt. McKinley) and Fairbanks included. Start at the Fairbanks end if possible. You will be less tired and can rest when you get onboard ship. Once you have seen what the different parts of Alaska offer, you can tailor your next trip to what you want to see.

I prefer Fairbanks and the north side of Denali National park. Slippery Dicks was a good bar, but I have heard it is under new management.

Rent a helicopter, and hunt Sarah, the same way she hunts caribou.

I want to go, too, and North Pole would be my first stop.

Where should I go to fish?
The Homer Spit, Homer Alaska. we got a guide there and they take you out at like 4am because that’s when dawn is during the summer, they give you waders, poles, bait, and you fish, and you can keep whatever you catch. we caught salmon (which btw don’t taste anything like the “alaskan salmon” you get in the store, idk what that stuff is now, but it certainly wasn’t what i caught up there. one salmon feeds 8 people. You can also charter boats to go out halibet and deep sea fishing. Check out the salty dog saloon while you’re there.

To hunt?
Not sure, i’m not a hunter, my patience barely extends to include fishing (which to add to what i said above. it’s literally like shooting fish in a barell up there during salmon season)

To photograph? Kenai Peninsula. Lots of animals, you can take a boat tour out of the harbor to see all different animals and birds out there it also includes a boat ride over to a glacier if you’re lucky (or unlucky) a huge piece could calve off into the ocean. we probably saw about 90% of the animals we saw in the kenai peninsula region. make sure you hit some glaciers too, Exit Glacier was a good time

To eat and drink?
Hmm…. hard to say, not much up there. i’d say keep an eye on where the locals eat depending on where you are. Eat foods that you know are in season and local to the area and you will almost always have something delectable to enjoy. And like i said above under fishing, check out the Salty Dog Saloon on the Homer Spit.

To hang with the locals?
Hope, Alaska, we went there, it’s literally like 100 yards worth of town, everyone was sitting out on their porches and the town dogs running around in the street, there’s a museum that they were, after talking to them were kind enough to open especially for us to go and see and listen to more of their stories, great time. Be careful though it’s easy to miss.

Last thing i would suggest. rend an RV. if you are going to be doing any traveling at all around the state, other than staying in Denali or staying in Anchorage, you’ll want the RV there are very few places to stay around Alaska, and of the few places to stay, most of them were RV parks, usually with free electric, waste, and water hook ups. We had a medium RV, it was the perfect size for the areas we were going, we fit 4 people in there comfortably. You also meet lots of very interesting people in the RV parks too, most of them are willing to talk your ear off for a while, which is both good and bad. Hope that helps, Have a great trip. let me know if you want any specifics about my trip to help in your plans, i’d be glad to offer them up

Battousai87’s answer is excellent, so not much to add, tho’ it’s probably possible to do almost any or all of the things you listed almost anywhere in Alaska. Right now the Kenai Peninsula is the hot spot for fishing, with Seward and the Homer area ranking high. Lots of fishing boats out of both, tho’ you can fish along the shores of many of the rivers and streams here (license rules do apply), but look out for the big furry fisherman with claws. Our grizzly’s tend to be territorial when it comes to someone infringing on their fishing territory. Would that count as a fight?

Hunting, not so sure, tho’ most of the guides that I’m aware of go out of the Talkeetna area. Some go more remote, so just depends on, one, what you’re hunting and, two, how “rustic” you care to go in the pursuit of your goal. I’m not a hunter, gave that up long ago before I even moved here, but seasons and permits apply, too. Moose season right now, at least I think it’s still going.

Photograph? Anywhere, and that’s no exaggeration. Catch a flight outta Talkeetna or anywhere in the vicinity to fly over Mt. McKinley, known here as Denali, or maybe a boat outta Seward or even Whittier, only accessible by one road or plane/boat, all year, and catch glaciers calving, whales breaching, etc. Actually, you’re as likely to see a moose wandering the streets of the city of Anchorage as you are in the wilderness, go figure, tho’ the wilderness tour in Denali Park is a must for photographers. You can also hike in but, well, how experienced are you with those pesty grizzly bears? Ha

Eat or drink? Hearing Salty Dog made me smile. Well, you might have to travel a bit to experience Native Alaskan foods, but even here in Wasilla (yes, the infamous Wasilla is my hometown) you can get food and/or drink of just about any culture or type you want. Anchorage is the best spot, tho’, most likely, if you want something more upscale, tho’ you can also stop and hoist a few brews at almost any of the local drinking holes. You’ll certainly find locals there, tho’ some of the lakes and recreational areas might be your best bet if you’d just as rather leave the fighting till later.

Oh, and did I mention that, yes, you can see Russia from Alaska, you just have to travel a bit to get to that spot.