Geology, Fishing Lesson, and the End of the Road (Really)

Homer is a lot of fun with lots of things to do.  The 'city' has Farmer's Markets on Saturdays with real farmers that actually grew the items they are selling.  Today we collected parsley for 'Poor Man's Lobster' and radishes to just snack on.  They look delish!  Salad greens looked good as did the fresh herbs.  On my list for next week since I'll be stocking up for the month long stay in Ninilchik.  It's only 30-40 miles up the highway, but who wants to travel back to where you've been?  I'm guessing we'll make a run or two down here since we do like it here ;).

We took the advice of ML from Lowe's Travels and took the scenic drive into the mountain area around Homer.  Very easy to do, get on the main road and keep going til you reach this sign...

The views were amazing of the icefield across the way.  There were really big nice homes and lots of rustic cabins.  Well worth the drive.

This bay is home to 3,000 sea otters they say.  A flotilla swam by the other day taking turns diving down, grabbing a mussel or clam and swimming on their back enjoying their dinner.  They were too far out for my camera to get a clear shot, but you get the idea...

'Homeriadians' are concerned that the otters are eating all the clams and crabs and think perhaps the population may be too much for the bay.  They don't know how many were here before since no one kept count of the otters trapped for their fur.  It would not surprise me to hear that they try to get rid of the otters in the bay.  Seems the sea animals always lose the battles and Alaska is very prohunter.  It's a little shocking for a city girl at times.  

Have you ever heard of 'mead'?  I hadn't.  It is an alcoholic beverage of fermented honey and fruits or spices.  The Ring of Fire Meadery offers tastings, so off we went.  Very sweet of course, with a honey flavor.  Very good, so of course we bought a bottle.  

Next stop was the Bear Creek Winery.  For a $5.00 fee you can taste up to 6 of their wines.  All are made locally and they had tons of yummy wines.  We bought a few bottles...Peach Apricot, Kiwi Pear, Strawberry Rhubarb, Alaska Port, Black Currant, and Blueberry Mirlo.  Listen to this description "Intricate layers of caramel, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry and deep wine complexities".  Sounds delightful doesn't it?  I do believe we will be making another visit to the Bear Creek Winery....

We took a tour with the Pratt Museum on the spit that offered the history of Homer, some of the landmarks and fishing boats.  It was a bargain at $5.00 for 1.5 hours.  So now a little history...

Homer was previously called Coal Point due to the amount of coal, particularly out on the spit.  There is still coal on the beach.  The early pioneers to the area were gold miners that were disappointed to find only coal.  They needed a post office, which required the town to have a name so they named it after their boss Homer Penneck.  He was kind of a conman and left the area when he realized there was no money to be made.  

The Spit was formed by the receding glacier that formed Kachemak Bay.  The Spit formed from the remains of the pushing deposits as the glacier receded.  All of Alaska glaciers are receding according to our guide. The glaciers we see across the bay have receded 1/4 to 1/2 mile in the past 25-30 years.

A little bit more history about the Salty Dawg.  The small front building was the first building to be built (around 1898) on the Spit.  It was originally at the end of the Spit and was moved to its present location mid century.  The lighthouse attached was built in the early 60's and used to signal when it was open.  While we were waiting for the tour, we noticed a mannequin in the window ala Norman Bates.

After the Salty Dawg, the tour took us down to the marina.  The marina was built in 1964 and then promptly destroyed in 1964 from the Anchorage Earthquake.  It was rebuilt shortly afterward.  The docks themselves must accommodate the extreme tides the Spit experiences.  The sea can rise 28 feet during an extreme tide cycle, with 15 feet minimum tide.  

We saw Seiner's, longliners, a gold dredger destined for Nome, and Gillnetters.  It was interesting see the charter boats offloading and filleting their catch from the day.  There were no really big Halibut caught.  Makes you wonder if you keep catching the little guys, they will never grow to the be 350 pound monsters caught in the past.  I guess you can tell that I prefer to think my Fish & Chips and grilled Salmon jumped into the boat willingly and committed suicide.   

The days catch

Fillet o Fish

Our guide explains the Purse Seiner

GilNetter

Gold Dredger

Pleasure boats and water taxi's

 Mowgli got up real early this morning.  He didn't want us to miss this sunrise....

He and Gidget have a new favorite thing to do and that is beachcombing!  They have a blast running on their long leash and looking for the barnacles that make noises on the rocks.

Guess what time it is?  Yep it is Happy Hour!  Til next time....

Nighty Night Patrick!