Our second day in Homer, AK
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2008
1
9
14
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Homer,
Alaska,
United States
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Almost forgot, we saw another eagle up close and personal on the way to pick up Ady at the hotel. He was awesome, posing on his tree log perch.
Our boat, the Danny J, was parked behind the Salty Dawg Saloon. It wasn't very big, and would only accommodate approximately 34 passengers max. We had 22 ship mates. Our captain, Captain Sydney, was our guide for the day and her first mate, Elsa. It wasn't too cold, and there was no wind so it was smooth sailing to our destination.
About 20 minutes out we approached Gull Island. The screeching of the birds could be heard for miles
Our Second Eagle Sighting
. There were tons and tons and millions and millions of birds of all types, shapes and colors. It was rather eerie and the stench was "yucky". This is where the brown flies started to appear every where. They were very PESTY, and they wouldn't leave us until we reached our destination of Halibut Cove. Halibut Cove is a very small community with about 200 residents during the high season, with only 20 staying through the winter months. This artsy community had one restaurant, The Saltry Restaurant, and a few art galleries. The shops had some very nice things. We met one of the artists, Diana Tillion, whose art works were made with octopus ink, which she extracted from the local octopi in the area with a hypodermic needle. She had been an art professor at Rutgers and Iowa State. She still taught the local students in the area in her studio, located adjacent to her large home also located on the island. Her husband was a legislator for the State of Alaska and was about 80 years old.
Lunch was nice, with just about everyone getting the Seafood Chowder and salads, or fish. We walked along the boardwalk surrounding the shops. By the way, there are no cars on the island, so it was really peaceful and quiet. The only way to arrive at Halibut Cove is by boat or seaplane.
We departed the cove about 4:00 with an ominous threat of rain that was already hovering over Homer. We were told to don our yellow rain slickers to break the wind and keep us dry in the event of rain during our trip
Our Minnow - The Danny J
. It was very, very cold. There were a few drops along the way, and we arrived safely in Homer in about 1 hour.We raced home, and turned on our fake gas fireplace, and relaxed until dinner time. We had dinner at a restaurant called "Crabbies", which was good. In Ady's mind, she ordered scallops, but her meal came and it was shrimp. Dee and Nancy heard her order shrimp, but she swore she didn't. Our waitress kept calling her the shrimp lady and she didn't know why. Oh, well she said she's not going back to eat there ever again. The only reason we chose this restaurant was to see the northern light show during the meal. The owner indicated that since they expanded their restaurant over the summer, they hadn't had time to connect the show up. What a disappointment - my Milepost was wrong on this point.
After dinner, we went next door to the Frosty Bear for some ice cream before heading back home to watch the Olympics before turning in.
Well, we are off to Girdwood tomorrow, a ski town in the winter months, and some other new adventures. Maybe we'll see that elusive Moose and Bear there. We are still on that hunt, if you remember.
Good night and sleep tight from your family and friends from Homer, AK, the largest halibut capital of the world!!!
Comments
First!
I'm first!!!
Hi from the staycationers
Is that the place your staying at that Ronny is sitting in the chair? It looks really nice! Have fun! Carol