Sarah Palin honored the Great State of Alaska at her resignation ceremony Sunday by serving tubes of processed meat in soggy buns to mouthbreathers citizens at a park that used to be called Alaskaland. The Anchorage Press has some scenery.

What a sad, strange place Alaska is. The "Governor's Picnic," where Palin handed the reigns to Sean Parnell, takes place at Pioneer Park, which the locals still know as "Alaskaland" because it is in fact a theme park featuring a genuine steamboat, the railroad car that President Warren G. Harding rode in while touring Alaska in the 1920s, a carousel, and a mini-gold course. RV parking is $9 a day.

An Anchorage Press reporter milled about Alaskaland as Palin launched/ended her political career Sunday, interviewing local pols, reporters, and a guy who runs Santa's Candles and Gifts ("[Parnell is] down to earth people, just like Sarah.... [H]e will get the job done, and I think she's right in turning it over to him.")

The Politico's Jonathan Martin was there. He didn't think Alaska had summers.

Squinting in the sun, with an unnecessary fleece jacket tied around his waist, Martin says he's struck by the number of tourists who happened to be in Alaska and took time out of their vacations to attend one of the three Governor's Picnics leading up to the transfer of power.

The Associated Press sent a reporter from the D.C. bureau, who for some reason felt compelled to explain the organization's decision to cover Palin:

The Associated Press's Washington D.C. bureau has sent up Matthew Daly to cover the transfer of power. "We're not tired of the story at all," he says of Palin. "We think she's someone who has a lot of followers and want to know what she's doing. She represents a large constituency of the Republican Party, and also of all types-there are independents and Democrats that support her, and also she obviously has people who oppose her.

No one is tired of this story.