Homer, Alaska, July 16-18, 2011

The drive again, along the Sterling Highway, was beautiful. We went through several Moose Danger Zones but only saw a mom and baby in Soldotna. Nothing along the way from there to Homer. One of the people we met in Kenai told us to stop at the viewpoint stop just at the top of the hill before we get to Homer. We did stop and saw the awesome vista down to Homer and the Spit. The backdrop was the mountain peaks across Kachemak Bay and the glaciers and ice flow from the Harding Ice Field. Our campground is at the tip of the Homer Spit…hence the name Homer Spit Campground. Our campsite looks out over the Kachemak Bay and the mountain peaks beyond. Unreal!
Homer is a big fishing village. Actually, they have bumper stickers which say it’s a drinking village with a little fishing problem. If you ever want to go fishing…this is the place. Lots of charters out of the harbor. Salmon and halibut are the fish of choice. They have a fishing derby every year. You must buy a derby ticket to have any catch entered into the derby. It lasts the entire season. Every restaurant has halibut as a special. We ate dinner one night at The Wasabi Restaurant. Halibut was the special so we had that. It was delicious and a huge chunk of halibut. Couldn’t not have been fresher than right off the boat!
We also visited the Alaska Island and Ocean Visitors Center, the Pratt Museum and had a dock tour through the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. On the CACS tour Jim found a true star and was able to pick it off the underside of the dock…it was eating a mussle. We had a guide and he explained everything we saw. So happy we went on that tour. We learned a lot about what lurks under the boat docks. We also took a bus tour for “wildlife” around the town. Mostly we saw sand cranes, eagles, swans, black legged kittiwakes and some others. We went to the Land’s End Restaurant for a beer one night. It is right on the end of the spit and has a great view. We got to watch the fishing boats coming and going. We even saw a guy fishing in a kayak. It was bad weather and rough seas but he was still out there fishing. Brave guy. I also saw a seal playing out in the water. We drove all around the roads in Homer. Found the Bear Creek Winery and had a tasting...good Alaskan fruit wine. We bought four bottles. It's so much fun meeting people everywhere we go. The same story..."I came and never left"...holds true most of the time. I was hoping to see whales but never did. The last night there I could see Sea otters fishing in Kachemak Bay from inside my motorhome. This could be addicting! Next stop is Seward, AK.