DIY Tour of Kenai Peninsula & Southbound Cruise on the Millenium - Lengthy

[missouri01]

Looking forward to more! Your pictures are great!

[poolwife]

Here is a picture of all 4 of us at the Summit with those gorgeous views behind us. Tony looks like a sheriff from the old West in that coat. They gave us those to protect us from the rain. They were pretty beaten up coats. I put mine on when it started raining on our way down the mountain and it was warm and protected me from the rain.

 

 

Yes, that looks like a gun in Tony's right hand, but it is his camera that only shoots pictures. It rarely ever left his hand. I wish I could put some of his pictures on here, but I don't know how.

 

 

 

This next one is a picture of our wrangler/guide. And yes, he is riding a mule.

 

 

The next two are of our men making all their money gold panning (ha,ha)

 

 

[poolwife]

Well, I had to show some of Samantha, our super friendly and helpful guide. It seemed like she knew how to do everything at that ranch and she was only 25. Was cute cause we told her how we had a really good breakfast that morning at the Sunrise Inn and turned out the young man that was scrurrying all over the place waiting on us and everyone was her husband. What a busy, hardworking couple.

 

 

This next picture is of Samantha. Yes, she is carrying a gun. I forget what kind. Makes her husband happy that she can protect herself if she runs into a grizzly bear.

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Thanks Sherry for the entertaining description of your trip and the fantastic pics. I am going to Alaska on RCI 6 night land tour/ 7 night southbound cruise on Radiance in June/July 2013. There will be 8 in my family with ages ranging 11 to 76 years old. I am in charge of all the planning and reading your review is so helpful and makes me look forward to this adventure even more.

[poolwife]

One more pretty picture of the fishermen standing in the river. We really thought this was something unique, I guess.

 

 

Well, after a long day of floating and riding, we were hungry for dinner. We went to a highly recommended local place just 3 miles up the road from "The Hutch" called Sacket's Kenai Grill. It is very casual and friendly. Comes with very good reviews. They have awesomely delicious cookies that they make right there.

 

After some good, nice hot showers, we finally retired for the night.

 

The next day we checked out of "The Hutch" having their continental style breakfast. We stopped at Fred Meyer's when we went through Soldotna. We picked up a few things like more postcards and snacks. They had they best Fuji apples we had eaten in a long time.

 

Drove through the town of Kenai where we stopped at the Visitor Center and then had lunch.

 

 

Some pictures from inside the Visitor Center.

 

 

The following is what some fishermen thought was going to be a BIG fish and turned out to be a bunch of line, tackle and luers.

 

 

Now, look closely and see this tiny, little car that this rig is pulling with the 5th wheel. Cute!

 

 

[poolwife]

After this we were hungry. We were told to eat a a little place out at the airport and after we finally found it, it was closed on Monday. So we went back to Paradiso's which was right across from the Visitor's center. It said on the building Italian, Greek and Mexican but they seemed more into the Italian. The food was very good. Our friends had a french dip and we had a reuben.

 

 

The following are of a mama moose and her calf that we spotted on our drive on our way to Homer.

 

 

 

[poolwife]

We go to Homer to soak in and enjoy the scenery. We went there in June, 2007 and went halibut fishing, although I found it was not for me. When the boat stopped out in the open ocean to fish, well, let's just say I didn't feel too good and didn't end up fishing. My dad didn't either so they let his wife catch her limit of 2 and his. She caught all 4. My was she excited. My poor husband, John, only caught one.

 

This picture is looking across Kachemak Bay.

 

 

 

The Homer Spit: it is the 5 mile piece of land that sticks out into Kachemak Bay

 

[poolwife]

VolunteerCruiser:

 

I am always the one in charge of the planning also. Yes, it is a lot of work and is hard, but it is enjoyable also. Kind of a hobby, I guess. My husband, John, always says to just put him on a ship. He doesn't care much where it is going. Although, he says we will wait quite awhile before going back to Alaska again since this was our 5th time. Of course, he said unless I find some super great deal to good to pass up.

 

I think your group will really enjoy the Alaska Refuge Conservation Center and the trip we took out in Kenai Fjords National Park. Those pictures will be coming up soon. We saw lots of whales. The SeaLife Center in Seward is also great for all ages. You can really see the puffins up close in there. They are cute and funny little birds.

 

You can get some coupons for the Kenai Fjords trip and SeaLife Center, Refuge center all in the Northern Lights coupon book. Link below:

 

http://alaska-discounts.com/

 

Our coupon for the Kenai Fjords trip through Major Marine paid for the the book and more all on its own.

[poolwife]

Eagle pictures taken on the spit.

 

 

 

 

 

The following was one of Tony's pictures. I figured out how to take it off of snapfish. It is really a good eagle picture.

 

[poolwife]

Sorry that first eagle picture was blurry. I took too long to edit it and they wouldn't let me switch it.

 

The following are pictures of the Homer Spit.

 

 

Since Homer is famous for its halibut fishing, I put a few pictures of halibut and the cleaning process.

 

 

 

Now, the famous Salty Dawg Saloon on the Spit. Years ago, when we visited Homer, I couldn't go in without holding my breath and looking real quick because of all the cigarette smoke. As you can see from these pictures, they don't allow smoking in there anymore and I could at least walk through there. You could still smell remnants of it, but nowhere near what it was before. It is definitely a unique place. People go there and pin up a $1.00 bill and write their name and/or a note on it. It is said that there is something like $31,000.00 in $1.00 bills pinned up in there.

 

[poolwife]

Now the inside of the Salty Dawg Saloon:

 

 

 

 

We followed the advice of numerous people and ate at Captain Pattie's for dinner on the spit the night we arrived. Well, once again all 4 of us didn't like everyone else's pick and we waited 45 minutes to get in. Just didn't care for the way our fish was prepared.

 

[poolwife]

Misc. pictures of the spit:

 

 

 

[poolwife]

John likes to take pictures of run down old vehicles and boats. So here are some of his finds.

 

 

 

 

 

[poolwife]

 

[e01061]

We will be doing this tour in two years, and are trying to decide between cruise only or land and cruise combo. Thanks for this wonderful review!

[poolwife]

Thank you for all your kind comments.

 

To continue on:

 

We stayed at Halcyon Heights B & B. We had a 2 bedroom. unit that had a connecting kitchen. The main house was upstairs from where we were at and they had a gorgeous view out towards the spit. Our unit was on the ground floor so that made it nice with the luggage especially after "The Hutch" which was on the second floor. Halcyon Hts. was the kind of B&B that fixed a yummy gourmet breakfast served at 8:30 am. First morning we were there, we had a beautiful plate of fruit to choose from, an egg frittata with spinach and bacon or sausage. The second morning we had waffles, reindeer sausage or chicken sausage and fruit. We also had some yummy homemade rhubarb/strawberry sauce to put on the waffles. My friend, Mary, was not a rhubarb lover but she really liked this.

 

One thing about Halcyon B & B is that it is off East End Road almost at the top so it is a couple miles from town. The owners were very hospitable. Being from California we thought it was strange that they had to search to give us a key to lock our room. They said people up there don't lock their doors. But, we still felt better with our things locked away.

 

I think if we ever go back to Homer I will stay more in town. I found two beautiful places right on the beach with gorgeous views of Kachemak Bay and the spit. I have a picture of one of them I will include below.

 

 

 

http://www.homeroceanhouse.com/

 

Really nice people that own it and fabulous views. It is not a B & B but a place you rent.

 

 

This is a picture of part of the Seabreeze condo. unit. Again, it is upstairs so harder with mobility or luggage issues but the location was great.

 

 

 

[poolwife]

The other place is Driftwood Inn. It is an older motel type place but they also rent out this newer house right close by that also has views of Kachemack Bay like the Ocean House Inn. It is called the Modern Seaside Lodge on their website. I have friends that stayed there and loved it. I have given you three different places for Homer that I am familiar with.

 

http://www.thedriftwoodinn.com/

[Italy52]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review and pictures ---- I'm loving every post ---- looking forward to reading more.

 

If I might ask, how do you attach pictures to your post?

 

Karen

[poolwife]

We didn't do any major excursions in Homer. I just wanted Tony & Mary to see how beautiful it is there looking at Kachemack Bay. We just drove around, shopped on the spit, and went to the visitor's center.

 

By the way, our second night there we tried another restaurant that came highly recommended called "Fat Olives". It was a hit. We all liked it and were very pleased with our meals.

[poolwife]

By the way, I couldn't find any pictures of the Halcyon B & B that any of us took. Sorry about that.

 

In our travels around Homer, we saw some more moose in the wild:

 

 

 

The following picture of of our twin men: (ha,ha)

John (on the left) got his shirt a number of years ago here on the Homer spit and Tony wanted to get one like it. So here they are looking so cute.

 

 

A picture across Kachemack Bay and the second one is a close up of the glacier. (sorry, I don't know the name of that glacier)

 

 

[poolwife]

Tuesday, June 19

After our yummy breakfast of waffles, fruit, rhubarb sauce and sausage, we packed up and got on the road again.

 

We visited the visitor's center and this morning is when we found the Driftwood Inn and Ocean House Inn.

 

Visitor's Center in Homer :

 

 

A good place to eat breakfast in Homer if not staying at a B & B is:

 

 

A beautiful view on our drive to Seward.

 

 

[poolwife]

Walking up to look at the view behind Trail Lake Lodge on the Seward Highway on our way to Seward. Float planes were coming in and landing. As you can see, it was quite warm that day.

 

 

 

 

Well, after our drive from Homer to Seward, we found our accommodations for the next two nights. This B & B, Seward Front Row B & B was different again. The views are absolutely awesome of the snowcapped mountains and the water.

 

Some reviews on there said the walls were thing. We didn't notice this too badly. Tony & Mary said their bed was great; ours on the other hand was too hard. The rooms are on the small side but just fine for a night or two. You are staying in the actual home of Tom & Lori. They are very nice and very gracious. Breakfast supplies are in a separate refrigerator for you to use. You are welcome to cook eggs, etc. in their kitchen. Just put the dishes in the dishwasher is all they ask. He is busy running their other B & B up the street called "Swan Nest's Inn". We enjoyed staying here and their hospitality. Nice walk across the street that takes you up the beach enjoying the gorgeous view. The following is an excerpt which I agreed with from Tripadvisor: "you can help yourself to simple cereals and fruits if you like. Now, if you have your heart on someone cooking breakfast for you, this isn't the place...but I'd really encourage you to think about that". We really preferred this type of B & B where you help yourself and not have to be at breakfast at their fixed time. They make you feel right at home here. I forgot to mention that the bedrooms are upstairs but their son who checked us in was very helpful in helping us with our luggage. This is not the place if you have mobility issues.

 

Here is the link to this property.

 

http://www.sewardvacationproperties.com/

 

Here are Tony and John enjoying the view after our drive from Homer:

 

 

 

After getting settled in we went to dinner at Apollo's restaurant which we could walk to just a few blocks away. Seward Front Row B & B was also within walking distance of the SeaLife Center. The Italian food at Apollo's is very good and we recommend it.

[poolwife]

Italy 52:

Well, most unfortunately, I am not the one to give you good advice on how to post these pictures. I asked around on these boards before I did this review and people pointed me to different threads that told how. So you can do a "search" that will give you great instructions. I will try - I had to upload pictures from my computer to www.photobucket.com. Then from there I can copy and paste the IMG no. for the picture and put it on these posts. I hope I made that so you can understand it.

 

It takes quite awhile to do it because I am not very experienced yet and the size that I click for a picture is not always the size that they come out in the posting.

 

Oh, when you put the "pasted" IMG number on your post you will not see the picture until you either hit "Preview post" or "submit thread". Then the pictures show up.

[poolwife]

Wednesday, June 21:

A picture of our B & B in Homer, Seward Front Row B & B.

 

Well, today was one of the major highlights of our trip. We took the 10:00 am 7 1/2 cruise tour on Major Marine into Kenai Fjords National Park. We saw lots and lots of whales. We saw so many and they did all kinds of things, jumping, bubble net feeding, etc. It was awesome display. So good we did not see any need to go on any other whale excursions in Icy Strait Point or Juneau.

 

The boat that took us out into the fjords.

 

 

 

 

 

[poolwife]