Homer
Homer is a beautiful town of about 5,500 people approximately 220 miles southwest of Anchorage. Back when we lived in Fairbanks, my brother Richard and I spent a year at a hippy private school, when he was in 3rd grade and I was in 1st. I am not convinced that we learned much in the way of the 3 Rs, but we did a lot of fun projects, like building igloos and making applesauce. Most of the school went to Homer, 3rd graders through 12th graders. It was a very small school, I don’t know how many kids went. Not a lot. The older kids looked after the younger kids, and of course there were adult chaperones. They camped and caught shrimp and it was an amazing experience. Richard wanted us all to go there for a day trip. So off we went.
This is the little plane we took from Anchorage to Homer. I was worried about flying on such a small airplane, because I am paranoid and worried about feeling seasick and the noise, but it was so smooth and lovely, neither were an issue. I packed ear plugs just in case, but didn’t need them. After we landed, we went to the car rental counter, which was TINY. I walked up, and the employee said, “Julie?” There is one ‘gate’, aka door, at the tiny airport. We were the only people renting a car from that flight, perhaps for the day.
We drove a bit and found a beautiful view/lookout point. We snapped some pictures and looked around for a bit. It was beautiful. I’m not sure why, but having water nearby is always so soothing and pleasing to the eye. After that, we went in search of lunch. The place Richard had in mind was mostly sandwiches, not enough variety for our group. So we tried a couple of other places, which turned out to only open for dinner. One place LOOKED open, so Kathy went inside to check. They were closed, but she told them of our needs and they suggested we try La Baleine Cafe, on the Homer Spit. The Spit is the touristy part of Homer, and is a long spit of land, like a pier but mostly on land instead of wood. There are restaurants and cute shops, and a wharf with boats. The picture I posted the other day, of the otter, was taken there. There was a sign from a local fisherman, selling live Dungeness crab for something like $10 each, which is a pretty good deal. If we weren’t getting back on an airplane later that day, I would have bought some crab for our dinner. Kathy thought that might be frowned upon, because crab can stink up your kitchen. The lunch was delicious, with lots of fresh fish options. Did you know that Homer is the halibut capital of the world? I had salmon though. I think the only halibut on the menu was fish and chips, which Maya had and said was delicious.
After a delicious lunch, we walked around the spit, taking pictures and looking through the shops. I was intrigued by this award winning gelato shop, but I wasn’t really hungry after my delicious salmon ramen bowl.
When the tide is out, you can swing under the pier, which we did.
We bought some little souvenirs, and started wandering toward the car. I decided at that point that hungry or no, I needed to try this award winning gelato. The award winning flavor was not available, so I had 1/2 espresso and 1/2 salted caramel. SO good. I’m really glad that we stopped there.
After that we drove around some more, and stopped at the local library (Kathy is a librarian in Juneau, and wanted to see it. It was a nice little library), eventually making our way back to the little airport for our flight back to Anchorage. The flight was happily uneventful, our car was waiting for us in the rental area at the Anchorage airport, all was well. We started thinking about dinner – Richard and Maya weren’t hungry, but Ted definitely was, and Kathy and I were both in the ‘I could eat’ category. I’m glad we were, because we went to an Indian restaurant in a little strip mall, Taste of India, and it was delicious. Much better than any Indian food we get in our town. That made me think that we need to start going to Berkeley or Fremont or San Francisco for Indian food. Often when you go out for Indian food, you order family style, which can end up with too many dishes if people want different things. Taste of India has an option where you can order two items from the menu and have a personal sized serving. Excellent! I had a really delicious lamb curry and mutter paneer, with garlic naan. If you ever find yourself in Anchorage, craving Indian food, I highly recommend this spot.
The next day was another day in Anchorage, but I lumped those together in my previous post, so next stop, Juneau!
16 Comments
nance
I’d have inquired about maple brown butter pecan gelato as well. There’s always room for gelato, and that flavour sounds so wonderful.
More gorgeous scenery from Alaska, and I love the photo of Maya happily swinging on the shore. Your remembrance of hippie school made me smile. You must have loved having this reunion with your brother.
J
Goodness yes to all of it. Homer is so beautiful and just charming. Richard said that in his mind, it is quintessential Alaska. Small, friendly, beautiful, not overrun by tourists. That’s why he wanted us to see it. I hadn’t seen Richard since Maya’s graduation party 5 years ago, and I can’t tell you when we last spent so much time together. Not since we lived under the same roof I would say. It was great.
Ally Bean
In some ways these photos are how I envision Alaska, cool outside, kind of overcast, but with a quiet reserve I like. I’m glad you got some gelato and had a good adventure revisiting your past.
J
Ally, if this is how you picture Alaska, I think you really get the vibe of it. It’s truly lovely, and the quiet reserve is a large part of its charm.
Margaret
Homer is such a beautiful place–the water, the mountains, the beach. I proudly wear my “Salty Dawg Saloon”sweatshirt that I bought there although my friend and I went in WAY before the halibut fishermen came back. (as we were advised to do!)
J
Oh, goodness, are the fisherman that ‘salty’, aka, dangerous? Wow. I got a tshirt from the much more calm Bailene Cafe.
Daria
Gahhhhhh small planes (shudders). I have a thing… They are so small, they get thrown around my waves of air, fall into air pockets, no thanks. Happy to hear that the ride was good! I remember my dad and I took a tiny plane from Tallinn to Vilnius… I was green, I mean GREEN lol
Thank you for your updates on Alaska, so interesting!
J
Daria, I’m with you, they make me nervous. This flight was so smooth though, I wasn’t nervous at all.
Stephany
I was on a small plane on my last flights to and from Charleston – we even had to get into the plane from the tarmac! I was a little worried about it at first, but it ended up being fine! I’m glad these flights were also uneventful for you!!
Swinging under the pier looks so much fun!
J
Stephany, yes, I thought the small plane was going to be scary, but it was great. The day in Homer was overall a really good day.
Lisa of Lisa’s Yarns
Wow! Gorgeous photos! And yay for some delicious Indian food. We have some decent spots around us but not amazing. I am in NJ for work this week and the sales rep I am traveling with said there is a large Indian population in this area so the Indian food is very good. I am hoping to try some while I am here!
J
Thanks, Homer is so pretty! I loved the Indian food, I hope you got some tasty curry or whatever on your trip.
San
What a wonderful cute little town and the pictures are so pretty!
J
Thank you San! This was a great day.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
The country is so beuatiful. I fear I never make it to Alaska but it sure has me caught in its magic.
Those tiny planes are a bit scarry. Glad all went well.
Indian food is probably not what I would have opted for when being in Alaska but it sure sounds yummy. But the ice cream. I definitly would have stoppped.
J
Tobia, I will admit that I did not have high hopes for the Indian food. Boy, what a pleasant surprise to have it be so good!