Now, back to our story...
As I wrote in a previous posting, we had a phone message waiting for us when we left the beach at Homer that evening. The message was from the friend-of-a-friend with whom we had lunch in Soldotna. He had an invitation for us. The day after tomorrow, he needed to fly to Port Alsworth, and he wanted to know if we wanted to go with him! It took us about 10 seconds to decide... Yes! (Port Alsworth is a remote village/town about 75 miles west of Soldotna. No roads in or out - our new friend is a pilot and owns a small plane.)
So, we had one full day to spend in Homer. We would need to either cancel our guided hiking tour on the other side of Kachemak Bay, or reschedule it a day sooner. We regretted the possibility of missing the tour, but the personal airplane tour to a remote location was something we really didn't want to pass up.
I got up early the next morning to see if we could take the nature hike across the bay that day. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. We were a little sad, but were already planning our next vacation to Homer. We'd just have to take that tour on our next trip.
We continued with our plans for the day in Homer. They included a tour of the Wynn Nature Center, and another visit to the Homer Spit. The Carl E. Wynn Nature Center is "up on the hill" overlooking Homer, and is part of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. Basically, it is along series of nature trails through a natural coastal environment. Early on the trail some of the plants are identified with signs, but as the trail progresses the signs are fewer. We walked/hiked for about 2 hours, and it was nice to experience "nature" in this part of the Kenai Peninsula. The Center for Alaska Coastal Studies is a not-for-profit, and shows the signs of such .... lack of manpower, some projects "in progress," some trails in need of maintenance, etc. But, overall it was a very nice experience. My wife enjoys learning about different types of plants, so she was happy. We didn't see any wildlife, but there certainly is the potential. The CACS also operates the Kachemak Bay tour that we had to cancel.
After the Nature Center, we headed down to the Spit for more beach-combing. We had a fine lunch at a restaurant overlooking the boat dock. We walked around the dock, the beach, and had some ice cream. Then, we returned to our cabin to rest and pack for our drive back to Soldotna and our small-plane ride the next day.
Around 8 PM we decided we were hungry, so we headed back down to the Spit and found Finn's Pizza (a worker at the CACS had suggested it.) We had a great late-night meal -- I had a pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven, and my wife had some delicious homemade soup. We sat at the small counter and talked to the chef/co-owner Bjorn and the waitresses. The Homer Spit has a laid-back, comfortable feel. Everyone we met was very friendly. We will be back. We couldn't resist another walk on the beach. At 10 PM the sun was beginning to set. I snapped a few more pictures.
Now, back to the cabin for some sleep before our small-plane flight into the bush.
As I wrote in a previous posting, we had a phone message waiting for us when we left the beach at Homer that evening. The message was from the friend-of-a-friend with whom we had lunch in Soldotna. He had an invitation for us. The day after tomorrow, he needed to fly to Port Alsworth, and he wanted to know if we wanted to go with him! It took us about 10 seconds to decide... Yes! (Port Alsworth is a remote village/town about 75 miles west of Soldotna. No roads in or out - our new friend is a pilot and owns a small plane.)
So, we had one full day to spend in Homer. We would need to either cancel our guided hiking tour on the other side of Kachemak Bay, or reschedule it a day sooner. We regretted the possibility of missing the tour, but the personal airplane tour to a remote location was something we really didn't want to pass up.
I got up early the next morning to see if we could take the nature hike across the bay that day. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. We were a little sad, but were already planning our next vacation to Homer. We'd just have to take that tour on our next trip.
We continued with our plans for the day in Homer. They included a tour of the Wynn Nature Center, and another visit to the Homer Spit. The Carl E. Wynn Nature Center is "up on the hill" overlooking Homer, and is part of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. Basically, it is along series of nature trails through a natural coastal environment. Early on the trail some of the plants are identified with signs, but as the trail progresses the signs are fewer. We walked/hiked for about 2 hours, and it was nice to experience "nature" in this part of the Kenai Peninsula. The Center for Alaska Coastal Studies is a not-for-profit, and shows the signs of such .... lack of manpower, some projects "in progress," some trails in need of maintenance, etc. But, overall it was a very nice experience. My wife enjoys learning about different types of plants, so she was happy. We didn't see any wildlife, but there certainly is the potential. The CACS also operates the Kachemak Bay tour that we had to cancel.
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| A view from the trail at the Wynn Nature Center |
After the Nature Center, we headed down to the Spit for more beach-combing. We had a fine lunch at a restaurant overlooking the boat dock. We walked around the dock, the beach, and had some ice cream. Then, we returned to our cabin to rest and pack for our drive back to Soldotna and our small-plane ride the next day.
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| Homer small boat harbor |
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| A boy flies a kite on the Homer Spit. |
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| The boardwalk on the Homer Spit. Mountains in the background and big, friendly dogs! |
Around 8 PM we decided we were hungry, so we headed back down to the Spit and found Finn's Pizza (a worker at the CACS had suggested it.) We had a great late-night meal -- I had a pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven, and my wife had some delicious homemade soup. We sat at the small counter and talked to the chef/co-owner Bjorn and the waitresses. The Homer Spit has a laid-back, comfortable feel. Everyone we met was very friendly. We will be back. We couldn't resist another walk on the beach. At 10 PM the sun was beginning to set. I snapped a few more pictures.
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| One more snapshot from the Homer Spit. A bald eagle flies toward the bay at dusk (around 10 PM.) |
Now, back to the cabin for some sleep before our small-plane flight into the bush.
