Hello from Homer (Day 4)
Homer: You were Meant For Me, and I was meant for you. The jewel of Kachemak Bay has been on my wishlist since Jewel’s press tour for Pieces of You, and the desire only grew after my time on her management team. I was thrilled to finally see the beautiful space every single Alaskan insisted was the #1 place to visit in this state that feels like a completely different country. We may technically speak the same language and use the same currency, but Alaska feels a world away from the lower 48. Homer feels a world away from the rest of Alaska, isolated at the very end of the Kenai Peninsula.
I arrived fairly late with precious little daylight left for exploring. The downside of this van excursion situation is that you spend a lot of hours in it, and when you’re alone- you’re doing all the planning, navigating, exploring, and driving alone. Days in Alaska are long, and you feel every minute when you’re adventuring solo. Especially with a 4:30 AM alarm to make your ferry to start the day. I paid to park on the spit for the night, but while I ate my picnic on the beach I watched police patrol the area and check vehicles for campers. Rather than be forced to move in the middle of the night, I moved out to a parking lot on the other side of the bridge. I saw a few recreational vehicles parked in the parking lot for the Alaskan Center for Coastal Studies, and decided to try camping there for the night. Upon closer inspection the next morning, I’m pretty sure those vehicles belonged to the center. So I got moving after just a couple of quick hours of shut eye and headed back to the spit to make myself some breakfast.
Day 4 of the adventure, and I finally broke out the camp stove! Bagged salads and dry food got me through the first couple of days, but it was time for some hot food. I woke up unable to wait any longer to make myself some ramen after all the asian tourists had made it on my boat tour in Valdez. I headed to the spit to plan my day and enjoy a pretty view. The wind was whipping around the beach and it was a comedy of errors trying to boil the water, keep the soup on the spoon, and make it to my face. I couldn’t really make arrangements in advance since I was reworking my plans as I went, and hadn’t planned to even be in Homer at this point in the trip. I made visiting the Kilcher homestead my top priority. It took a few rounds of back and forth, but I was able to arrange to join the deluxe tour of Kilcher Family Homestead and Living Museum for late that afternoon.
I killed time wandering around the spit, checking out the tourist shops, and soaking in the first sunshine I’d had in awhile. It was pretty rainy and overcast for much of my time in Alaska, and sun is definitely something to celebrate. Whoever named these beautiful stretches of beach “spit” did not consult anyone in marketing or PR. What a hideous name for a lovely space. You can walk for miles on peculiar sandbars that are clearly wet, but don’t squish or suck you in. It was wildly windy along the water, but a lot of fun to wander.
The road along the spit is lined with shops and restaurants, it’s clearly touristy, but absolutely worth a stop. Operational hours are pretty loose in Alaska, but I asked around and most of the shops don’t open until 11 and close pretty early too. Not a whole lot for an early bird to see, but the little village is charming whether you can go inside or not. At the north end of the Spit, I highly recommend popping into The AK Starfish since they are open early/late, so you are most likely to catch them open. Alaska Salt Co has a brilliantly salty sense of humor and branding, I giggled a lot in this shop.
I had some work to knock out, and WiFi was pretty abysmal so far. I expected to find it on the train and ferries, but that was not the case. I find that breweries are excellent places to work. Grace Ridge Brewing had Wifi, lots of outlets to recharge my devices, bathrooms, brews… nothing to complain about, but no beer to write home about either. I did fall in love with a jalepeno huckleberry jam they offered in a mini charcuterie plate. I highly recommend that! (And doing your work ;))
Homer is the Halibut Fishing Capitol of the World and every single person told me that fish and chips are a must. I headed back to the spit to get a late lunch. I was suggested Boardwalk Fish & Chips, and the line was so massive it must be good! I didn’t have time to wait before my Homestead Tour, and I had heard great things about a Bus Named Sue, so I headed down the spit to their precious red double decker bus and wandered around the finally open shops while I waited for them. I’ve been to London 3 times, and I’m no stranger to fish and chips. I don’t even know that you can put these in the same class as anywhere else on the planet. These were beyond good. I ordered halibut fish and chips 2 more times in Alaska trying to recapture the magic and absolutely nothing came remotely close to what BNS is serving. HUGE flakey pieces of fish fried to perfection, and regular fries not your standard chips which I usually find too mushy. The south end of the spit was definitely my favorite. The Blue Urchin reminded me of some of my favorite boutiques in Nashville, AK Leather Co had beautifully crafted leather goods and fantastic Salmon Slut gear (named after the owner’s beloved boat,) and Lula’s By The Sea had an impressive array of mermaid merch. I didn’t buy anything beyond a Buttwhacker hoodie for a friend, and an orca sticker to commemorate the orcas I saw from my ferry from Seattle and the Valdez cruise, but I was sorely tempted in most of these shops. My happy belly and I were thrilled with the way the day was starting.
I left myself plenty of time to get to the homestead. I had directions from Jewel’s aunt, Stellavera, but I am perpetually lost and wanted to arrive early just in case. I was greeted by some late season lupine (the bluebonnet big sister) as soon as I turned onto Kilcher Road and thought it was a great sign for a fabulous day. Turns out I underestimated how lost I could get. I turned too soon and got the van stuck on a terrible unpaved hill on a neighboring property. It was so stressful trying to get the van unstuck and turned around. I parked it back at the bottom by the sign saying that RVs had to walk from there. I tried to walk up and got stuck wandering in waist high weeds looking to find the meeting point. I stumbled down the road to get cell service only to double back and try retracing my route.
I was:
Completely freaked out
Coming from Tennessee where you don’t enter tall grass for any reason, scared of snakes in the tall grass. My mantra as I huffed and puffed up the massive hill was “It gets too cold for snakes!”
Terrified that I was on the wrong property and about to be greeted by a shot gun.
Fairly certain bears were about to come out of the woods and I wasn’t remotely prepared for them.
Starting to panic and really frustrated as the tall grasses kept working to separate me from my hiking boots.
Actually two homesteads over from the actual Kilcher Homestead.
So… despite the fact that I arrived on Kilcher Road 45 minutes before my tour, I was nearly that many minutes late to it. I almost gave up and left since my two hour tour was half over, but I tried one more time and found it! I was able to join the rest of the group (sweaty and stressed,) but I made it!
Stellavera, Jewel’s aunt, is a tremendous tour guide and host. Her passion for the land, the mission of her family, and sharing the benefits of their way of living were palpable. The tour is ideal for fans of the family show, Alaska, the Last Frontier, fans of Jewel, and anyone that can appreciate people that work hard to preserve their slice of the American Dream. I learned so much about the family mission, was moved by the rugged conditions they all survived, and touched by the beauty of the land. The homestead will warm your heart and should absolutely be on your Homer Wishlist. I booked the 2 hour deluxe tour, but we were there for the better part of 5 hours.
We explored their one room cabin, wandered the woods, toured the greenhouse and orchard and were offered samples of anything that caught our eyes. We picked currants, cherries, raspberries, apples, nibbled on herbs and marveled at this magical place. We helped clear paths as we walked along them, and were regaled with stories of the land and the incredible people that lived there. 10 seasons of “Alaska, the Last Frontier” aren’t the only times Kilcher tales have been told on film. There were a total of 6 movies made about these trailblazers. I have no trouble believing that they had enough stories to tell to fill them all and then some.
Stellavera graciously welcomed us onto her parcel of the homestead so we could see how she lives on the family land. Unfortunately she lost her home to a fire a few years ago, but her new yurt and shed are where she spends her summers. She took us out to this stunning point overlooking both sides of the spit that stole my breath (and possibly a few years of my life.) It was narrow, high, and without any sort of railings. She asked if I was afraid of heights but I wasn’t prepared for how disorienting it would be on a tiny strip of cliff that high over rocks. I had to lean into a tiny little tree to turn myself around and get the heck off that point. She says it’s Jewel’s favorite spot on the whole homestead, but you couldn’t pay me to go back out there.
There were a few sweet swings tucked around the property. I found one facing two gorgeous glaciers and reflected on how lucky I was to finally be there. I was a production assistant on Jewel’s lullaby record, and as part of her management team I produced her VIP Meet and Greets and performances on the Paisley Party tour, moderated and managed the website, edited her blogs and the submissions to the fan interview driven Almost Famous blog, sat through countless radio and media interviews, and assisted with all kinds of random tasks. I spent a decent amount of time with someone I had grown up admiring and appreciating. I got to hear first hand on many occasions how she hitchhiked her way from school in Michigan to Mexico and wrote Who Will Save Your Soul, how she became homeless and slept in her car in San Diego, how her sick kidneys had created all kinds of challenges to overcome. She’s bold, beautiful, brave, and someone everyone should admire.
I always found her story and fearlessness so fascinating (and foreign) as a sheltered suburban middle class girl. We shared some commonalities, I also lived in Michigan and San Diego, I actually had trouble with my own kidneys two years after my time on her management team, and I too would have done just about anything to chase my dreams and get what I wanted from the world. Hobo training, hitchhiking, and sleeping in my car were not things a girl like me ever considered, and I marveled at her willingness to put fear (and honestly most reasonable expectations at personal safety) aside to live her life and make things happen. That has always been inspirational, but is especially so at this #spoiledspinster stage of my life. I still don’t think hitch hiking is in my future- but I felt braver, bolder, and could much better understand how the wild wilderness of Alaska can pretty much prepare you for anything. I could much better understand her drive, determination, and gumption after standing in that little cabin and learning for myself how much more we really can do if we only put ourselves out there and try. I can’t begin to compare my little solo U-Haul adventure to her crazy shenanigans, but I felt stronger and more certain about everything after my brief visit to the homestead. I can only imagine what a lifetime there could do for a person.
Since I had Van GOgh, I no longer needed lodging in Homer, but I had looked into some of the options on the Homestead when I was planning for my break. You can stay in the family barn, Stellavera hosts a couple of sheds on her portion of the homestead on Air B&B. They don’t have power or plumbing, but they are quite lovely. We ran into a couple of guests as Stellavera showed us the construction at her home. They said it was absolutely the best vacation of their lives and that they were having a marvelous time on this beautiful portion of the Kachemak.
A full day of Homer explorations and the homestead adventure (and misadventure) left me pretty much toast. I didn’t have it in me to do much more that day, and I think I would have enjoyed another day in Homer and a day to ferry over to Seldovia and check out this charming village I have heard so much about. I was a little sad to leave, but a little perked up by a surprise appearance of a Tardis in the woods.
I hatched a half-baked plan to drive back to Cooper Landing for the night so I could watch the sun rise over that gorgeous Kenai Lake. I was tired, and there were some stretches of that drive you want to be alert for. LOTS of moose crossing signs. I was fully comfortable with just pulling over and finding a safe place to stop for the night if I couldn’t make it through. I started getting loopy and it started getting dark near Soldotna. Whistle Hill caught my eye and made me pull over, and while adorable, was not open. Lucky for me, St Elias Brewing was open and fantastic! The beers were excellent, the 1/2 salad was more than enough to make me feel better after a couple of days of carby camp food, and the whole place was full of incredible architectural salvage I far preferred to the cold white interior f my van. It was for sure my favorite brew stop of the road trip. St Elias was the perfect way to wind down the day, and right beside a Fred Meyer grocery providing a perfectly safe and convenient place to camp. Fred Meyer is part of the Kroger family of brands, so park in the back with the other recreational vehicles, get that discounted gas, enjoy your flush toilet, and start your morning with a sink bath and seasonal Starbucks. Gotta be ready to tackle another exciting day on the road!
