Homer, Alaska

a historic village in Alaska, with wooden house shops along a land spit into the sea

1. Homer, AlAskA
Homer is a small community at the end of Kachemak Bay, Alaska, surrounded by
mountains, glaciers and volcanoes. Bald eagles fly and fish there by hundreds. Many
of the locals are artists of several arts - painting, pottery, sculpture, music and more.
There are fine galleries, a museum and several nature centers.

2. City of Homer

3. http://www.ci.homer.ak.us/
Homer data:
•Longitude 151° 25' W
•Latitude 59° 36' N
•population 5 400

4. Whether you come by land…

5. By air…

6. Or by water…

7. Getting to Homer is an odyssey ! All routes cross a region of natural
wonders:

8. Kachemak bay

9. Grewingk Glacier is a 13-mile-long (21 km) glacier located in the
Chugach Mountains, near Kachemak Bay, 24 km east-southeast of
Homer.

12. Mt. Augustine volcano above Kachemak Bay .
Augustine is an active volcano. Each huge landslide coming off its flanks raises
a tsunami upon reaching the sea, and these great waves may raise well higher
than the surrounding coastal settlements.

13. The 1 260 m high volcano has created its own island of past eruptions’
debris. Images are from 2006 eruption.

18. Homer : mountains, glaciers, dense evergreen forests, the 4½ mile long sand
spit, and a thriving community.

19. The Homer spit with the Kachemak Bay and snowy peaks.

21. The Homer Spit is the exposed part of an underwater moraine from an
extinct tidewater glacier.

26. Homer town still displays some beautiful
buildings and cabins, mainly shops, cafés
and hotels along Pioneer Avenue.
But new buildings also house some of the
best attractions in town.

27. The old post office

28. and the new one.

29. Kbbi, Homer radio station
“Where the Sound Meets
The Sea”

30. Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
This 37,000-square-foot facility offers trails, state-of-the-art exhibits, a
refuge film, daily naturalist programs in summer, and a discovery lab.

31. Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center
http://www.islandsandocean.org/
The Homer Maritime Refuge Museum visitor's center is really impressive.
The building is an architectural jewel and the displays are beautiful and
innovative.

33. Seal skin kayak on
display at the Ocean &
Islands Visitor Center

34. Includes outdoor botanic garden, Harrington historic cabin…
•http://www.prattmuseum.org/

35. The Pratt Museum shows the Kachemak Bay wildlife and a marine
gallery, alaskan art, native peoples culture displays.

39. Outside the Museum is the Harrington Homestead Cabin. It tells many
stories about the hard-working people who homesteaded the Kachemak
Bay area: hand tools, daily diaries, crochet work and kitchen supplies, the
history of a self-reliant era.

41. Orthodox
mission church
in Homer

45. Homer theatre

46. http://www.homertheatre.com/
Theater, movies, shows

47. Bunnell Street Arts Center

48. Bunnell Street Arts Center exhibiting center for innovative
contemporary Alaskan artwork, lectures, discussions and
concerts.

49. Homer Public Library
Opened the doors at September 16, 2006

50. “All through the house”, shop on Pioneer Avenue

51. Landmark bar and
party room
Alice's
Champagne
Palace

53. Historic Hotel in
the heart of
downtown Homer,
Pioneer Avenue

54. Duncan House Diner
Homely local restraunt, filled with antiques

56. Beluga lake

57. A 1968 Helio H-295 in Homer.
This aircraft is typically seen at the west end of Beluga Lake along Lake
Drive.

58. Kachemack Bay Air Service
Beluga Lake

59. This Travel Air 6000 has been working continuously since 1929.
It's based in Homer.

60. Floatplane Lodge, B&B by the water at Beluga lake.

61. Beluga Lake drive

62. Café Cups

67. Café Cups,
on Pioneer Avenue
Coulored mosaics and large
cups reminiscent of the “Alice in
Wonderland”

68. Cafe cups is a charming, eclectic restaurant in Homer

70. Serves creative sandwiches and wonderful desserts

71. The Homer bookstore
with expresso
Also in Pioneer avenue.

73. Expresso to go ?!

74. The Sweet Berries Café
In the heart of Homer, in one of its oldest buildings

76. The Tsunami café

77. The Homer Spit sits about
19 feet above sea level,
making it susceptible to
storm surge. Tsunamis are
also a known threat. An
explosion from the nearby
Augustine Volcano could
bring a giant wave to the
Spit within minutes, giving
residents very little time to
react.
Accounts of the 1883
eruption of the volcano
describe 6- to 9-meter-high
waves that struck the
coastline.

78. The Mermaid Café
A charming Victorian style construction - features local
artwork.

80. Since 1946

81. Handmade wild berry jams and jellies, smoked salmon, ulu knives,
souvenirs, gifts, and gift baskets from Alaska.

82. The Driftwood inn

83. Historic Inn located next to the beach, in the area of downtown Homer.

85. The Homer Lighthouse
It never worked, and is now part of cabin tourist complex.
It’s located at the beginning of the Homer Spit.

86. At low tide

90. The Homer Spit is a piece of land that juts out 5 miles into Kachemak Bay. Numerous
businesses are located on the spit, that plays an important part in Homer's economy.
The Boat Harbour is located on The Spit.
In the 1960s, several hippies, known as "spit rats“, traveled from all around to camp
on the Homer Spit, many of them becoming successful commercial fisherman over
time.
The Spit features the longest road into ocean waters in the entire world, taking up 10
to 15 minutes to cover by car.

91. Shopping Map

92. Homer Harbour

97. Low tide, at the dock on the Spit, to off-
load fish.

99. 116 pound halibut, the main source of income

101. Homer restaurants specialised in halibut gourmand cooking…

102. The harbour contains both deep and shallow water docks and serves up to
1500 commercial and pleasure boats at its summer peak. The Time Bandit
from the Aleutian islands is a frequent visitor.

103. Live theater on the Homer spit.
Pier One is located on the Spit, and it is a community effort that
guarantees fun and a variety of entertainment from dramatic plays to
musicals.
•http://pieronetheatre.art.officelive.com/default.aspx
Pier One theater

104. To the famous
Homer Spit
Boardwalk

117. Cute storefronts along the Homer Spit.

119. The Boardwalk bakery

120. Jimmy, ivory carver
a Homer ivory carver working to keep Aleut’s art alive

122. To keep your
north

123. Coal point trading, seafood

124. Alaskan seafood:
The halibut, mild tasting
fish, or the wilder taste of
salmon.

126. The Roadhouse
Jewelry, gifts, souvenirs

127. Cool looking building…

129. Shops align along the boardwalk

130. Homer Clayworks

133. The Spirit of Alaska
Native crafts in a museum where the displays are for sale.

134. Fish and Chips anywhere

136. Lazerette, gifts

140. The new Time
Bandit gift shop.

141. The Spit Sisters
Cafe
serves locally roasted
coffee and espresso

146. Fresh seafood, fish and
chips with a view…

147. Lazy M, leather
Still on the boardwalk

148. Flowerpots
A local decoration syle

151. Gold Mine Gifts
Huge gift shop, with snow covered roof.
•http://www.alaska.net/~homergm/

152. Wild Alaskan
Berry jams,
jellies, honeys,
and syrups

153. The infamous
Salty Dawg saloon
The Salty Dawg was of the
first cabins built in 1897,
soon after Homer became
a town.
The distinctive lighthouse
tower was added to cover a
water storage tank, thus
completing one of Homer's
more historical and
recognizable landmarks.

154. The cabin first served as the post office, a railroad station, a grocery
store, then a coal mining office for twenty years.

158. http://www.saltydawgsaloon.com/index.html

160. The Seafarer's Memorial

163. Land’s End Resort
Homer's only seafront hotel with panoramic views of Kachemak Bay, the
Kenai Mountains and it's glaciers

165. Room
with
a view

168. The Spit at dusk

171. Homer’s Wooden Boat Show

172. Each year in early May the
citizens of Homer put on a
wooden boat show, known
officially as the Kachemak
Bay Wooden Boat Festival.

177. Some Native crafts

180. Ulu knife

181. Puffin brooch

182. Homer in winter

184. The orthodox
church

185. Around Homer

186. The Roundhouse of Homer is nestled in a quiet neighborhood across
the road from one of the best walking beaches on Kachemak Bay. A
cabin for tourist lodging.

187. 9 miles north of Homer, a must-see pottery

188. The Russian villages:
Nicolaevsk and Ninilchik

189. Samovar café and gift shop, Nicolaevsk,
25 miles from Homer

192. Service is unbelievable!

193. And dessert…

194. The Transfiguration of Our Lord russian Orthodox
Church, Ninilchik

201. Landscapes, flora and fauna

204. Lupine and Kachemak Bay

208. Rriding a wave during a cold winter surf. The snowy Kenai mountain
range rises from Kachemak Bay,

209. Homer beach
Sit and watch the eagles fight over their salmon catch

215. Alaska Marine Ferry Tustumena.

217. Sources:
Photos and text excerpts from
•http://www.trekearth.com
•http://www.panoramio.com/
•http://www.pbase.com
•http://www.flickr.com/
•http://picasaweb.google.com
•http://www.woophy.com/photo
•http://www.alaskarvtrips.com/homer-alaska.html
© Mario Ricca, 2009