Exploring Homer (Day 9)

Homer is a great place to visit.  The population is about 7,000 and from what I can tell the primary industries are tourism and fishing. There are a couple places to visit, the quaint downtown area, the Homer Spit, and East End road.

After a great night's sleep in the new tent, I took off to explore Homer. The Spit is a strip of land about a mile long.  On it are a mix of campgrounds, tourist shops, restaurants, fishing companies, and misc marine services.  While I was there a cruise ship was docked so it was more crowded than usual.

Toward the end of the spit was "Auction Block Co. Seafood Sales",  a 2 story blue colored building that also had a sign that read "Eat Local Seafood Lunch Here!".  I passed a lot of restaurants, but this seemed more authentic, so I went inside.  There was a meat counter with Whale Halibut, Salmon, and Filleted Halibut.  I ordered up a Halibut Sandwich and the cook asked "You ordered a sandwich?" ... when I confirmed she took a fresh fillet right out of the meat counter and went back to cook it.  I never thought about it before but it is really nice to see your food before it gets cooked.

The sandwich was definitely the best fish sandwich I've had. (although I haven't had many)  She grilled the Halibut and seasoned it with a pesto-like sauce.  The bread was very fresh and left flower on my fingers when I set it down.  I would go here often if I were a local.

On the way back into town I found a coffee shop, laundry mat, wifi spot, and showers, all in the same business and all of which I needed.  It was called "The Washboard".  I ended up spending a couple hours there.

Earlier that morning I met Matt and Kato, his 1 year old Husky.  Matt and Kato came to Alaska from Colorado with $4,000 and here they are camping on their last $100.  Homer is where he ended up so he's got a couple jobs lined up, with a fishery and restaurant, so hopefully he doesn't have to go to Anchorage to find work in order to stay in Alaska.

Later in the day Paul rode into camp.  He had seen Steve on the way down in Seward, but I think Steve ended up going back to Anchorage that day.  Paul and I took off for that 20 mile twisty road, East End, that a couple locals had told us about.  I can see why a local rider would like that road since that is all they have, but it's really nothing we can't get at home ... well, except for the views along the way.

I was pretty tired when I got back around 9pm and went straight to sleep.  Feels more like you're laying down for a nap when it's still that light out though.