Day 60

July 28, 2017

Today was house cleaning day so Iris dusted, cleaned the bath and Bob did the floors.  Doesn’t take long is the 25’ motorhome.  For lunch we had left over pizza from our recent Anchorage party.  Shortly before 1 PM we boarded the bus for a tour of Homer.  Janet was our guide and very knowledgeable about Homer as she has been in Alaska since 1977.  Our first stop was Norman Lowell Gallery where we viewed Norman’s painting from 1958 to 2015 in oils, acrylics, pastels, and watercolors.  Norman and his wife came to the Homer area and homesteaded in 1958 a few miles out of town.  He arrived by boat, got off the boat and picked his place, paid $15 for material for his first house that is still standing today but he now lives in a beautiful log house on the same property.  He’s now 90 years old, blind so does not paint anymore but is in the gallery to sell prints of his beautiful paintings.

Then a drive to the “Spit”, the narrow strip of land that runs into Kachemak Bay lined with shops, restaurants, RV parks, the harbor, ice house for the fish and limited parking for all the vehicles trying to park.  We were let out near the harbor which is very interesting for the 29 foot difference in the tide level.  

They have an ingenious method for floating  the boats, board walks, gang planks up and down with the tide (see pictures).  We had a walk-around looking at the various types of boats used in the fishing industry, had a smoked salmon and halibut sample, 

then back on the bus for our visit to the brewery where we sampled 5 kinds of beer brewed on-site.  Back at the Unity our friends, David and Marianne who live in Soldatna in summer and Georgetown in winter came for a glass of wine then we went to the Boardwalk Fish & Chips for dinner.  Iris had cod the rest had halibut and it was great served with french fries and coleslaw.  After dinner we walked to the gelato store where we enjoyed big scoops of ice cream.  Fun evening!  Back to the Unity by 9 PM and promptly to bed.