Saturday, August 27, 2005
08/17/05 Wednesday through 08/20/08 Saturday - Kenai to Homer
08/17/05 Wednesday through 08/20/05 Saturday
Homer might be my favorite place that we have visited so far. We only had about an 80-mile drive to get from Kenai to Homer. Our travel buddies were Larry and Marty Haber. They are from Ft. Myers, FL. The drive down went well and we got to Homer by about 12:30. We didn’t leave until10:40 it was such a short trip. We have a beautiful RV Park and our site in the park is the prettiest because it is right beside the garden Mary got some great pictures. The park is right on the water and we have a pretty view.
Homer is advertised as the Halibut fishing capitol of the world. If you are a fisherman this world be a paradise for you. On the second day our group of fishermen went out on a Halibut charter and caught a bunch of fish. The biggest one weighed 63 pounds, and they cut it up and we had a fish fry on the third day. The rest of the fish they had processed and frozen and the divided it equally and either had it shipped back to their homes or put it in freezers which they brought for that purpose.
On the second day, 08/18/05, Thursday we drove a good distance to visit a Russian Old Believers Village named Nikolaevsk. Mary got some nice pictures of the Church of St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. It was locked and we could not get inside. We went there on the recommendation of a Russian man who worked at the Homer Visitors Center. He told us about a restaurant named Samovar. He said every time he ate there it was like going to his Grandmothers house.
We went to Samovar for lunch. The lady who owned it was named Nina and she ran it and a gift shop by herself. She had a small kitchen that opened behind a horseshoe shaped bar with six stools. She prepared the food and set it on the bar. Mary was looking around while she worked and she asked if she could take pictures of the place. Nina said $5.00 per picture, to go to the children in Russia. Mary didn’t take any pictures. All during the food preparation and while we ate Nina tried to sell us items from the shelves of her gift shop. We told her we wanted a traditional Russian meal and let her choose for us what to eat. To start we had soup made from cabbage, potatoes, onion, and a broth from beet juice. With the soup we had fried, stuffed bread, one with potatoes and the other with sauerkraut. The main course was a combination of some kind of dumpling stuffed with beef and turkey, along with sliced polish sausage and kraut. It was good and filling. We about had to fight the old girl, but we passed on the desert. Another couple from our group came in while we were there and they had a desert and tea while we ate.
On Friday we had a fish fry with the big Halibut that Stan caught. Mary made cornbread for the meal. It was good food and e had a good time reliving some of the fish tales. Our Holiday Rambler staff did the cooking and the cleanup. After the meal Mary and I took a ride on our bicycles. There is a spit of land that runs out into the bay about five miles. In some places it is as wide as the road and in some places it is probably a quarter of a mile wide. It is called ‘The Spit”. There is a parking lot at the end of the mainland and a bike/walking path that runs out 3.2 miles to the Fishing Hole. We rode about half out there on Wednesday and we rode all 3.2 miles out to the Fishing Hole today.
It is great exercise and you could never find a prettier place to ride.
The Fishing Hole is a big man made pond with an opening out to the bay that allows the tide to come into the pond. The fish come in with the tide and when the tide goes out the fish are trapped in the big pond. There were a lot of people fishing there; old guys, young kids, and couples both old and young. Mary took pictures and the people were glad to pose for her. There was even a Black Lab there who jumped into the water and posed for her. It was fun to sit up on top on a bench and watch the fishermen and to watch the fish jumping out of the water. They were catching salmon that looked to be two feet long and must have weighed 10-12 pounds.
Mary went out on Saturday by herself and I stayed home to catch up on my Journal. She went to al farmers market and shopped around. I think that all she bought was some catnip for our Grandcats. She visited a beautiful Church named the The All Saints of America Orthodox Mission. Some lay members were there and let her in she could take some pictures. I think that she is going to e-mail them back a copy of the pictures. She also got some good pictures at the Carl E Wynn Nature Center. Marv and Doris Cundiff told us that they went there and walked out on a trail and met a moose. Mary did not have that luck, but she got a lot of pictures.
This is a place where you could come and stay a month just on the Kenai Penisula.
Homer might be my favorite place that we have visited so far. We only had about an 80-mile drive to get from Kenai to Homer. Our travel buddies were Larry and Marty Haber. They are from Ft. Myers, FL. The drive down went well and we got to Homer by about 12:30. We didn’t leave until10:40 it was such a short trip. We have a beautiful RV Park and our site in the park is the prettiest because it is right beside the garden Mary got some great pictures. The park is right on the water and we have a pretty view.
Homer is advertised as the Halibut fishing capitol of the world. If you are a fisherman this world be a paradise for you. On the second day our group of fishermen went out on a Halibut charter and caught a bunch of fish. The biggest one weighed 63 pounds, and they cut it up and we had a fish fry on the third day. The rest of the fish they had processed and frozen and the divided it equally and either had it shipped back to their homes or put it in freezers which they brought for that purpose.On the second day, 08/18/05, Thursday we drove a good distance to visit a Russian Old Believers Village named Nikolaevsk. Mary got some nice pictures of the Church of St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. It was locked and we could not get inside. We went there on the recommendation of a Russian man who worked at the Homer Visitors Center. He told us about a restaurant named Samovar. He said every time he ate there it was like going to his Grandmothers house.
We went to Samovar for lunch. The lady who owned it was named Nina and she ran it and a gift shop by herself. She had a small kitchen that opened behind a horseshoe shaped bar with six stools. She prepared the food and set it on the bar. Mary was looking around while she worked and she asked if she could take pictures of the place. Nina said $5.00 per picture, to go to the children in Russia. Mary didn’t take any pictures. All during the food preparation and while we ate Nina tried to sell us items from the shelves of her gift shop. We told her we wanted a traditional Russian meal and let her choose for us what to eat. To start we had soup made from cabbage, potatoes, onion, and a broth from beet juice. With the soup we had fried, stuffed bread, one with potatoes and the other with sauerkraut. The main course was a combination of some kind of dumpling stuffed with beef and turkey, along with sliced polish sausage and kraut. It was good and filling. We about had to fight the old girl, but we passed on the desert. Another couple from our group came in while we were there and they had a desert and tea while we ate.
On Friday we had a fish fry with the big Halibut that Stan caught. Mary made cornbread for the meal. It was good food and e had a good time reliving some of the fish tales. Our Holiday Rambler staff did the cooking and the cleanup. After the meal Mary and I took a ride on our bicycles. There is a spit of land that runs out into the bay about five miles. In some places it is as wide as the road and in some places it is probably a quarter of a mile wide. It is called ‘The Spit”. There is a parking lot at the end of the mainland and a bike/walking path that runs out 3.2 miles to the Fishing Hole. We rode about half out there on Wednesday and we rode all 3.2 miles out to the Fishing Hole today.
It is great exercise and you could never find a prettier place to ride.The Fishing Hole is a big man made pond with an opening out to the bay that allows the tide to come into the pond. The fish come in with the tide and when the tide goes out the fish are trapped in the big pond. There were a lot of people fishing there; old guys, young kids, and couples both old and young. Mary took pictures and the people were glad to pose for her. There was even a Black Lab there who jumped into the water and posed for her. It was fun to sit up on top on a bench and watch the fishermen and to watch the fish jumping out of the water. They were catching salmon that looked to be two feet long and must have weighed 10-12 pounds.
Mary went out on Saturday by herself and I stayed home to catch up on my Journal. She went to al farmers market and shopped around. I think that all she bought was some catnip for our Grandcats. She visited a beautiful Church named the The All Saints of America Orthodox Mission. Some lay members were there and let her in she could take some pictures. I think that she is going to e-mail them back a copy of the pictures. She also got some good pictures at the Carl E Wynn Nature Center. Marv and Doris Cundiff told us that they went there and walked out on a trail and met a moose. Mary did not have that luck, but she got a lot of pictures.This is a place where you could come and stay a month just on the Kenai Penisula.
