Since we had visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Portage Glacier Visitor Center while we were in Anchorage, we did not have to make many stops on the 227 mile drive to Homer. It was another beautiful drive along Turnagain Arm to Sterling Highway. Near Sterling we saw a small wildfire on the hillside. We had been warned by several people to expect fires, but this was our first encounter. Unfortunately, it was not our last. We did stop at the Welcome sign overlooking Kachemak Bay for our scavenger hunt photo before the steep downgrade into Homer.
I loved absolutely everything about Homer, Alaska. So far it is my favorite part of this trip. I loved the beautiful drive along Turnagain Arm to Homer, the seafood, the wildlife, the friendly local people; but most of all the beautiful water where we camped on the Homer Spit. I just don’t want to get in this water that is 58 degrees. The only thing I did not like was that we did not have enough time in Homer to do all of the things I wanted. I especially missed fishing in Homer but the fishing is closed on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s so we didn’t get out on a fishing trip.
Homer is located on Kachemak Bay on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula; about 220 miles from Anchorage. The Homer Spit is a 4.5-mile strip of land protruding out into the Bay with the longest road into ocean water anywhere in the world. The spit has RV camps, marinas, restaurants, saloons, funky shops and even a fishing lagoon. Heritage RV Park where we stayed had full services including 50-amp power which made for a very pleasant stay. The sites are set up with services on the opposite side of normal. This allowed us to pull in instead of backing in. We are lucky having the back window where we could view the water both from the front and back of our RV. We were one of the first to arrive (nothing different than most of the time) so I got a couple of good pictures of the Dirt Yacht with the water and snow-covered mountains in the background. It seemed like the tide was out most of the time when we were at the RV so we always had lots of “beach” area in front of us. It was not a typical beach like I am familiar with because it was a very rocky area, but Homer still felt like a place I could call home.
After getting our tickets for the next day’s Seldovia Wildlife Tour from Rainbow Tours, we had dinner based on a local’s recommendation at The Chart Room at Land’s End Resort. The views were spectacular and we could watch the boats racing in for the evening; however, the food did not impress. We decided to split our meal so I ordered the grilled halibut steak and Randy ordered the rib-eye steak. The side salads were very small. I did not like the halibut because of the bones throughout the fish, and while tender and moist, it did not have a lot of flavor. Randy’s steak was very rare and cold in the center so he had to send it back. Even when it was cooked a little more it was still too rare which is hard to do for Randy. I wish we had gone to one of the other restaurants but never got a chance to try any others in Homer during our stay.
The next morning most of the caravan members met at the town dock for the Seldovia Wildlife tour aboard Discovery. Just walking down the dock was an adventure. I think this was the steepest ramp I had ever used. Our first stop was the Gull Island seabird rookery where we saw puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, cormorants and murres. Unfortunately, we picked up lots of unwelcome visitors at this stop–nasty flies. I don’t remember seeing them until we got close to the island so I wish this stop had been at the end of the trip because even though John and others tried to zap the flies, there were just too many to get rid of them entirely. And the ship was going too slow to outrun them! During the cruise, the captain, Victoria, did an awesome job of pointing out wildlife and showing us unusually shaped rocks that looked like elephants, monkeys, crocodiles and other animals on our way to Seldovia.
Seldovia is a city in the Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Homer, with less than 300 year-round residents. Native residents are mixed Dena’ina Athabaskan Indian and Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Eskimo. In 1780’s a Russian fur trade post was established. The town’s original Russian name, Seldevoy, means “Herring Bay’ for the large herring population there at one time. Overfishing in the early 20th century reduced their numbers significantly. There are no roads to Seldovia, so you need to fly in or boat to this artsy city. During our boat tour, we saw lots of otters, some with babies, even large groups of over 30 animals. As they lay on their backs eating clams, they looked like they were waving to us. We had one quick look at a porpoise, but no whale on the way out. Lunch was not included in the cruise, but the captain did call ahead to let a restaurant know we would be coming in. Unfortunately, they had a tough time handling everyone. They just could not handle the volume, all at once. Randy and I were lucky that we sat inside at a small table for 2 where we were waited on quickly. It took a long time for most of the people that sat outside to get served. Randy’s belly was acting up so he only got a bowl of chowder, which was delicious. I got their rock fish sandwich. The fish was very tasty, but I didn’t like the condiments used on the sandwich. I guess my Maryland roots are showing and I want Old Bay! We did a quick walk around town looking at the unique carvings and the historic part of town with the stilt houses. Looking over the bridge at Airport Road, we did not spot any salmon, maybe because the tide was going out. The historic part of the town contains the “new boardwalk”. The original boardwalk was destroyed during the repairs after the March 27, 1964, Good Friday earthquake which registered at 9.2. The earthquake caused the land to drop 6 feet, with higher peak tides of 32 feet that completely submerged the original boardwalk, homes and businesses along the waterfront. We ended the day with a campfire on the beach making chocolate eclairs on a stick! They were fun to make and easy too. You just had to be careful not to burn the dough to make the pocket for the lemon pudding, chocolate and whipped cream!
We spent part of the last day in Homer catching up on chores. I had to get tax payments mailed in and Randy washed the Dirt Yacht and the Jeep. He also helped Mitch and Kate wash their car as Mitch had been sick with a cold for a few days and was still not 100 percent. We were served a truly remarkable dinner of fried halibut, french fries, coleslaw and lava cake by our Wagon Masters and Tail Gunners. It was one of our best meals the entire trip! On Ty’s last walk of the night, I got an up close (maybe a little too close) and personal touch of Alaska Wildlife. While Ty was doing his business on the base of the lamp post, Frank came out to me talking. Of course I could not hear what he was saying so I kept getting a little closer to him. He was point up and behind me but I still could not understand until I got right next to him and heard him say to me, “Look up”. There on the top of the light pole was a beautiful bald eagle. The eagle never moved, even when I ran in and had Randy come outside to take pictures. I was glad he didn’t want poodle for his late night snack! When we were hooking up the Jeep to leave Homer the next morning there was an eagle sitting nearby on one of the containers watching us. Maybe the same one!
