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Homer → Cooper Landing 121 mi (194.7 km) |
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Whoosh, everyone!
The wind is picking up! The caps on the water are all white, and the local weather forecasters are predicting even more wind and some rain soon! Well, that put a damper on our halibut fishing plans! Time to do some wandering along Homer Spit!
On less windy days, Homer is the halibut fishing capital of the world, but it originally got its start as a coal town! Named for Homer Pennock, who landed here in April of 1896 and flew the coop the next year looking for gold, this town on a spit has shaped itself into a quiet fishing destination with unmistakable charm!
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Take the Salty Dawg Saloon, for instance! This lighthouse-shaped bar is unassuming from the outside, but inside, it is covered from ceiling to floor in dollar bills and the lower bills of plenty of other countries too! Originally one of Homer’s first cabins and later its first post office, a railroad station, a grocery store, and a coal mining office, the saloon is now a great place to take a break from the wind and enjoy a ginger ale, or something stronger if that’s what you’re into!
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At the end of the spit, there is a solemn reminder of the power of the sea, which surrounds Homer on three sides. The Seafarer’s Memorial stands in memory of those who went to sea in search of riches but never came home. Tiles naming lost crews and ships line the inside of the memorial and the walkway leading up to it. There are plenty of blank tiles left, because the ocean is not done exerting her wrath on those who dare to cross her!
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We meandered around Homer well into the afternoon and enjoyed some of the signature dish at Boardwalk Fish and Chips before motoring north. We cruised back through Soldotna and settled in the remote Russian River Campground for the evening. The campground was very spacious, and we had no trouble at all finding a spot with no visible neighbors! We were also very close to a trail leading down to a stream boiling with sockeye salmon!
The salmon weren’t too interested in the lures, since their time was running out, but I took a swim with them and watched from mid-river as a Chinese family started catching a bunch of the half-dead, mostly rotted salmon by hand and flinging them triumphantly ashore! I sure hope they know what they’re in for!
We had some kabobs for dinner, roasted over the fire pit, and enjoyed our quiet evening in the woods, without tar wood smoke, as the clouds pushed in overhead. No chance of seeing the aurora tonight, but you never know! We’ll see where the road and the wind take us tomorrow!
Catch ya later!
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Total Ground Covered: 989.2 mi (1,591.3 km) |
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