Homer

---

Homer is another of those beautiful coastal towns surrounded by glaciers and rugged mountains cliffs dropping into the sea. It lies on the southwest corner of the Kenai Peninsula at the mouth of Kachemak Bay. Its most prominent geographical feature is the Homer Spit, a stretch of sand, barely ¼ mile wide, that extends 5 miles out into the water, separating Kachemak Bay from Cook Inlet. “The Spit” is where all the action is. It is lined with restaurants, bars, RV campgrounds, fishing and tour boat charters, float plane charters and, of course, the inevitable souvenir shops, where you can get yourself a “Spit Happens” t-shirt.
We stayed 5 days at a relatively quiet campground right on the beach near the northwest end of the Spit. From here we could reach everything by bicycle - the downtown area back on the mainland, the action out on the spit, and a neat little lake where all the float planes were based. We were visited by bald eagles on the beach every day, and we had a nice view of the active St. Augustine Volcano in Cook Inlet.
At our campground we met 3 other couples that we really enjoyed. Each day we would all go out and do our thing -- fishing, cruise, museum, sightseeing or whatever. In the evening we would have happy hour around a fire on the beach, and talk about the adventures of the day. Not bad duty at all.
While the area near the end of the Spit is the most commercialized place we have seen up here, Homer is probably also the most naturally beautiful. There is a residential street on a high hill behind the downtown area that provides a great view of the town, Cook Inlet, the Spit, and the mountains and glaciers across Kachemak Bay. We think this is the most impressive panoramic view we’ve seen on the trip. This is really quite a place.

---

Photos

Our Campground at Low Tide
Cook Inlet has some very big tides -- as much as 30 feet or more.

Cleaning Fish
This is serious business.

Ferry Rounding the Tip of the Spit
Homer is one of the stops on the Alaska Marine Highway, which runs over 8,000 miles from Bellingham, WA to the Aleutian Islands.

Early Morning on the Spit
This shot was taken from our campsite.

Glacier
One of several across the Kachemak Bay from Homer.

St. Augustine Volcano
The volcano is in Cook Inlet about 60 miles from Homer.

Early Morning Shot of the Volcano
Taken from our campsite.

Polo, Anyone?
These guys wandered through our "back yard". I think they were lost.

Happy Campers
The Homer airport and the Spit are in the background. The lake to our left is a very busy seaplane base.

The Homer Farmers Market
This was really more a craft fair than a farmers market. Pretty neat.