Homer is our port of call for today, and a much different one from anywhere else we have stopped. To begin, we woke up to very cool temps in the 30's with 88% humidity. The winds were only 8 mph and there were a few scattered clouds. Rain was nowhere to be seen....lucky.
Homer is located on the shores of Kachemak Bay, which happens to be the halibut capital of the world. We have been here at least twice in the past, but we never docked. This was a tender port. Now we are docked in their deep water dock, a bit further walk to the center of the spit. You may ask what a spit is? Well it is a narrow peninsula that is shaped like a fishhook, according to our bus driver. The entire length of this peninsula is 4.5 miles to reach the mainland.
In the center of the spit is a marina loaded with fishing boats of all kinds. On one side of this marina is an area of eclectic restaurants, artsy shops, and cafes. These old-style buildings are tied together by wooden boardwalks with a long narrow beach on one side where people go "beachcombing".
If you desire to go to the downtown area of Homer, you would need to drive 11 kilometers to reach it. Or take a tour. There were three tours that took the guest on a beachcombing walk for $250, a harbor walk for $160, or a performance called Rhythm of the North for $90. A shuttle transfer was sold for $15, which was a 10-minute ride from the ship. As President Club members, we got the ride for free. We could have walked to the restaurant/shop area, but it would have added almost 4 miles to our hike. Today the free shuttle sounded better.
The Zaandam arrived at the port in the dark, but we were not cleared until 8:30am, giving us plenty of time for breakfast. There was a one-hour crew drill until 10:15am and we left the ship shortly after it ended.
No maps were provided once again, so we took the time to ask at the front desk why. They blamed the new Effy shops onboard for no maps. Apparently, they control the deals that are advertised in their Effy shops onshore. That is....where they exist. If there are no Effy stores, then no local maps are produced with their ads. At least that is how we understand it. Passing by the port shopping desk, we saw the next maps will be in Juneau.
The drop-off point was at the old bar where tourists began pinning one dollar bills to the walls and ceiling with their home town written on them. It is estimated there are thousands of dollars stapled there.
We decided to walk around the marina first and do the stores and restaurant last. That's when the fun began with the sighting of a sea otter swimming among the boats. At first we spotted one, then we saw a smaller one pop up and assumed it was a pup. It seemed that we were close enough to hear the pup begging for food from its mom. They would lay on their backs, use a rock to smash the shellfish, hoping not to lose the rock. The pup dropped it several times and the mom dove down and got another one. What a fun sighting. Then a third otter popped up a well as one harbor seal, that disappeared. It must have been half an hour before we decided to continue our walk. It is not every day you get to see nature in action. Again....lucky.
All aboard was 4:30pm, so we needed to move along. Crossing the busy road, we ducked inside some shops to find the usual suspects of souvenirs.....pricey too. Half of the shops had closed for the season. There were many folks walking the narrow beach, looking for the Japanese glass floats that were used for their fishing nets decades ago. Supposedly, if you find one, it is extremely good luck. Want to bet the shops sell them???
It was time for lunch, so we headed to the recommended Harbor Grill and had a five-minute wait for a table. We started with 2 Alaskan Amber drafts, one nice garden salad, and ribeye tacos....something different for a change. A small slice of turtle cheesecake finished our meal. If anyone tells you that food is inexpensive in Alaska, don' t believe it. With tax and a tip, the bill came to about $86, the highest we have paid to date. That's all part of traveling. By the way, a large crab trap was displayed outside this restaurant, donated by the team of the Time Bandit , one of the most dangerous shows from past years.
We were back onboard after 3pm and worked on millions of photos and catching up on yesterday's report. The Captain's talk at 4:30pm was short and sweet. We have 146 nautical miles to reach Anchorage, and we can expect the sun. Sounds good to us.
Tonight was casual with a splash of orange, which indicated it was "Orange Night". For us that meant Dutch dinner items such as our favorite
Dutch pea soup and Westland salad with a small shrimp cocktail appetizer. Mains were a tender and savory tenderloin steak and a half order of the pork cordon bleu. Desserts were one slice of a pudding cake with pink frosting and one sliced banana.
Need to seriously rest up for Anchorage as we will be there two full days.
Bill & Mary Ann
