They call Alaska the Last Frontier because of its distance from the lower 48 and its rugged landscape. I would add that driving hours and hours with rarely a stop sign or gas station also demonstrates just how very large and remote everything is. On our last day, we had planned to visit two well known restaurants in Homer, a museum, and a few of the art galleries that the town is known for, all before a 4 1/2 hour drive back up to Anchorage. So we set out early to get our last taste of the last frontier.
Two Sisters Bakery is the place that every single native we talked to suggested that make a breakfast stop at some point while in Homer. And after indulging, we could understand why. Focused on local and organic ingredients, with all the baking done on the premises in an adorable wood frame house, we understood quickly why it is a local and tourist favorite.
And just down the street is the access to Bishops Beach, which is the “town beach” and one of the many wildlife refuges on the Kenai peninsula. It faces onto the Cook Inlet, which is known for the large tidal ranges, among the highest in the world. During full and new moons (and we were in a new moon phase), water levels in Kachemak Bay vary as much as 28 vertical feet in a d 6 hour period. So, most people in town carry a dog-eared copy of a tide book, because it would be easy to get caught while beachcombing when the tide came back in very quickly. The tide was out on our visit and many were taking advantage of a break in the rain to walk their dogs and see what the tide had left behind. A note on the fireweed seen in many photos. It blooms from the bottom up, so when the final flowers appear at the tip the local are likely to say “winter is coming”.
From there it was over to the Pratt Museum, the only interdisciplinary museum on the Kenai. There were exhibits focussing on art, natural history, native cultures, homesteading, fishing, and marine ecology as well as Alaskan wildlife and salt-water aquaria. It was very well curated, and a good thing to visit after having seen some of the places and learned some of the history that was described and displayed. Well worth the visit.
Then to a couple of galleries which featured everything from carved antler jewelry to watercolors to wooden objets d’art, quilts and pottery. There are many artists in residence in the area; I suspect the long winters and ever changing landscapes provide much stimuli for the creative person. We had stopped at a gallery just up the road in Anchor Point on our way into Homer, established by an Alaskan artist named Robert Lowell. The entire gallery was dedicated to his work — mostly paintings — created over 60 years of life in Alaska. His work is fairly well known and his originals fetch a high price. We enjoyed seeing how artists took inspiration from the last frontier.
Then it was time for lunch, and we headed to Fat Olives, another spot highly recommended. I had my last salmon burger and we hit the road for the long trip north. It was raining much of the time, so the views that we had while driving into Homer weren’t as glorious, but that’s part of an Alaskan summer. We got to Anchorage and stopped into the 49th State Brewery for a quick bite since our flights were both after 11PM.
And that was the last day for us in the last frontier. I will have one more post with reflections on Alaska tomorrow.
