Homer, Ninilchik, July 3, 2009

While staying in Soldotna, about 85 miles from Homer and 93 miles from Seward, we took side trips to each with the Jeep. Friday, July 3rd we packed our lunch or dinner, depending on what opportunities we had enroute for a nice restaurant meal, and headed south on the Sterling Higway. We decided to stop about 9:30 am at this neat little turn of the last century, Russian Village named Ninilchik. This was a good decisions, as you will see.

This is one of the older buildings in the village, perched on the side of a hill. Many of these old buildings are old, dovetailed log buildings. This view was from on top of the hill where their old Russian Orthodox Church stands.

This is a private residence also which has a unique, old style to it. Notice the cross on the front wall of the outbuilding. These crosses can be seen in the graveyard beside the church on the hill.

This is their old, Russian Orthodox Church on the hill. The Russian Sailors came here to fish and many stayed after marrying local native girls. Other Russians followed. Thus, the town was settled.

The Russian looking spires we think may represent the three members of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost and Heavenly Father.

This is the front entrance of the church, which faces the sea. Note the cross on the spire.

This is the neat, little graveyard beside the church. These crosses are the same as on top of the spires of the church as well as that private residence's outbuilding. There are three cross bars on the cross, which we were told may mean the top for Christ's head, the middle for his arms and the bottom, crooked one for his feet.

This view is of the town from the hill where the church is located. You can see the sea, the Ninilchik River and campers on the beach way to the left.

These people are all out on the beach clamming for Razor Clams.

This group of natives are from Anchorage and came here to do clamming. They are young people who have not done it before, they claim, but they have a grandmother with them who apparently showed them the "ropes".

This is what they had so far, in their bucket.

They let Jim try the skill with this unique clamming tool. Jim at one point lifted his feet off the ground to put all his weight on top of the tool and fell over backwards, getting his seat all wet & sandy! :-) He did get right back up and proceed to keep trying!

See him lift his feet! I was kind & did not shoot him on his rear!

Success! He did dig up a clam. If you can't see it, just double click on the picture and it will come out larger, I think!

These kids were so friendly and nice to us that it was one of the highlights of our day!

From Ninilchik, we traveled south to the town of Homer and eventually the Homer Spit, a narrow piece of land which goes out into the sea about 2-3 miles into Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay. We stopped at the Alaska Islands & Oceans Visitor Center for an infirmative morning about the ocean wildlife as well as the research done on the wildlife of the Aleutian Chain. Afterward, I photgraphed some of the wildflowers surrounding the building.

This looks like a blue bell type of wildflower. Guess I need to do some research, unless one of you know what it is!

This purple one is probably in the Columbine family. What do you think? I wish they had labeled them!

This is an off-white, pretty fern-like wildflower. I do not have a clue what it is. I leave that up to you!

This I know is a wild Iris!

Thhis is a scene of the Homer Spit road. There were cars & RV's parked everywhere and people fishing on the banks everywhere! Of course it was 4th of July weekend and that could have had something to do with it! I think this is a very popular spot!

Looks like there might be a fishing tournament going on. They do go out from here & fish for Halibut.

This is the Homer Spit Mall! Isn't it cute! We stopped here to price a fly-'n-fish charter flight, but it was $600.00 EACH! Phew, a little stiff for us. We did go to a bakery and buy another cinnamon roll! Have to have some desert, you know! :-)

This is a view of the cloudy mountains on the other side of the end of the Homer Spit. I wish it had been clear that day, but I won't complain!

This is the pool room of the infamous Salty Dawg Saloon on the Homer Spit. People signed their names on a one dollar bill and tacked them up on the walls all over the place. This is an old log cabin bar, with low ceilings.

Here is a fisherman zooming out to catch fish when they might be right under him! Notice the sea gulls congregated near the piling. This was at the end of the Spit.

This couple was in a small boat right by the same pilings and I wonder if they were catching any fish! Click on it and get it bigger & see what you think!

This is the boat harbor at Homer Spit. We ate a lunch of fish & chips at a restaurant overlooking this harbor. Remember the sandwiches we packed?...they will be dinner! :-)

I call this our Scary ship! These boats are in dry dock, at the beginning of the Spit.

Deosn't it look scary to you? The top cabins sure look home made. If you look closely at the bird on the top of the forward mast, you'll see that it's an eagle.

This is an old hotel which is made out of logs. It's in the town of Homer. We left Homer and drove north to Anchor Point, where we took a side road for abut 9 miles east to see the small Russian town of Nikolaevsk, population 297.

These "old Believers" originally settled in Woodburn, Oregon after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. They started here in 1967 and built this church in the early 1980's. The old believers are family oriented in their beliefs and the women only wear skirts. This woman is an "Old Believer" and wears the traditional clothing. The married women wear something on their heads, the single ones do not. The men do not shave. They speak Russian. They have Russian Orthodox as well as some non-orthodox people in the town .

This is the gate to the church.

Here is a side view of the church. Someone accidentally ran their car into the side of the church and destroyed the fence and wall of the church. They are working with the insurance company to get a settlement before repairing it.

Before returning to Soldotna & the campground, we stopped at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center. We walked a trail to a lake & saw a Loon family on the water. We also saw this pioneer cabin on the way back.