FROM SEWARD TO HOMER
On Tuesday, we hitched up the cars to our Monacos and headed off west and south from Seward around the edge of the Kenai peninsula, bound for Homer. We planned to depart at 9:00 to allow plenty of time to reach Homer by mid-afternoon because we had heard that there was construction activity around Soldotna--we were on the road by a little after 9:00. There was some construction work, but nothing like we experienced on the ALCAN highway!We pulled into the campground--Oceanview RV Park--and checked in at the office. For reasons none of us--including the lady on the desk--could comprehend, the reservations for 7 nights had been split in two: one set of three sites for 4 nights, and a different set for 3 nights! Eventually, she figured out how to position us so that we wouldn't have to move mid-week and we rolled on into the campground. Getting positioned in the sites was a bit more challenging than we have experienced: all the sites are back ins, and the driveways are narrow which makes backing a 43 foot Class A motorhome into a shorter than normal site somewhat precarious! However, we got situated and enjoyed a sunny evening cocktail hour on Ritchie's patio!
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| View from Oceanview RV Park looking south across Kachemak Bay |
The village of Homer is located at the water's edge and it has an ill-defined downtown. The major commercial area for the tourists is out on "The Spit"...a large sandbar extending well out into the bay. This is where the main marina is located with lots of fishing charters.
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| A portion of the main marina at Homer |
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| Note the one hanging up! Now that's a trophy fish! The one the lad is about to pick up probably weighed in at 40 to 50 pounds |
The spit also features some pretty good restaurants--about all of them feature fresh fish!! Umm, wonder why, eh? We stopped in at Captain Pattie's and liked it so much we went back the next day! The clam chowder was excellent, and the halibut sandwich was melt-in-your-mouth fresh! Plus the view from the windows was an unobstructed "picture" of Kachemak Bay.
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| Captain Pattie's restaurant out on The Spit at Homer, Alaska |
Jack's Ethnic Choice for Lunch
First thing on the morning of our first full day in Homer, Ray, Tam, Betty, and Jack stopped into the Visitor's Center. As folks were getting information, Jack happened on a brochure or something that told about a Russian restaurant located in Anchor Point which is a village a few miles north of Homer. He talked all of us into going there for lunch, so we set off in search of some ethnic food. The GPSs in the back seat pointed the way and instructed us to turn off of Sterling Highway onto North Fork Road. Viola--a gravel road! And Ray had just washed his car!! The GPSs told us the restaurant was still 8.2 miles away, so we slogged on up the gravel road, finally coming to some asphalt (which, as it turns out, is the other end of the "loop" which is North Fork Road--the asphalt portion came around from Anchor Point!). Soon we came to a small village named Nikolaevsk. We didn't know it at the time, but we were almost there--however, the GPSs turned us off onto another gravel road! We followed it all the way to the end without seeing the restaurant, even though our "technology guides" said we had passed it by! Of course, by now, we were all giving Jack up the river for his "ethnic fix"--and, I suspect, he was becoming a bit concerned: he has the ultimate trust in his GPS to get him where we need to go!! His nickname for it is "Sweet Thing"--she didn't do all that well this time! We finally called the restaurant to ask where they were located: a lady answered with a think Russian accent and tried to tell us where she was...it didn't help much!We got back to the village and spent some more time driving up and down the asphalt road. Ray finally pulled into the village's US Post Office to send Jack into ask for directions. As we have found throughout Alaska, folks up here are friendly and gregarious and anxious to lend a hand: one of the ladies in the post office came out, got into her postal cart, and led us to our destination. To say we were in for an "experience" is an understatement!
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| The exterior of the "Russian" restaurant in Nikolaevsk |
There was another group--a family with mom, dad, and three girls and two boys--in front of us, and they completed their order. The dad spoke Russian, so we had a translator to help with communication. And, as we discovered talking to the family over our lunches, several of the children were adopted Russians. However, Nina needed no help in ramming us into the one menu item she could provide on this day: a combo meal including borcsht, sausage, dumplings (like ravioli), and a dessert of cream puffs still frozen or at least deeply chilled on the inside. Nina presented everything with a flourish in a thick accent: "Ok, picktures now, 5 seconds, 5 dollars!".
She would also allow you to pick out some Russian clothes to put on and have a picture made with her: "Quikly, Quikly...only 5 seconds, 5 dollars!" None of us opted for that add-on, but our Russian father and his daughter did:
The dessert, as I said, was a dish of cream puffs with drizzled chocolate and whipped cream along with a cup of Russian tea. Nina came around to sprinkle some cinnamon on each cup and offer to sell us some of her tea bags: "5 seconds, 5 dollars"! We didn't buy any!
When it came time for the bill, she wouldn't take credit cards, so we had to scrounge up the cash to pay the $170 bill--for 5 people at lunchtime! Ritchie had $160 and Jack could find a $10, so we got out of there without having to drive 40 miles to the next ATM machine!! Like I said, "an experience"! We will not let Jack suggest anymore ethnic restaurants!
One plus: the little village is a Russian enclave and had an authentic Russian Orthodox church which was charming. Apparently, according to the history pages in Nina's restaurant, she had a lot to do with the creation of the church.
On the way back to Homer, we discovered that the asphalt road we got to from the gravel was still North Fork Road, and it was paved all the way to the main highway in Anchor Point! So much for relying on GPS systems, eh? That road starts in Anchor Point as paved, curves up into the hillsides where the little Russian village is located, and then turns to gravel as it curves back down to the highway south of Anchor Point. The GPS systems just took us to the first turnoff we came to from the south...it could have cared less that it was gravel--it's computer program found the shortest route up to the "Commissar's place" where we got "the treatment"! And I thought Russians didn't understand capitalism and the profit motive!!!
POSTSCRIPT
Today, Jack picked out another "restaurant" by name only: The Salty Dog out on The Spit.
We parked, walked in, there were $1 dollar bills pasted/stuck to every--I mean EVERY--surface in the place! We walked through the bar area into the back room where there were some tables with a pool room off to one side. We didn't see customers in the place eating anything. Jack thumbed through the little advertisement flip chart from the table--not once, but twice---looking for food items, saying, "I thought I saw something in here about food!". NOT! Like the sign over the door says, Jack, "Saloon!" We all decided Jack was now 0 for 2 in the restaurant selection derby!!!
Anyway, the experiences just keep piling up and we will have lots of fun joshing Jack about his taste in restaurants. But Jack, we still love ya!!
More to come, for sure! All our best from Homer!!
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