Into Alaska - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 110

Homer
Some 360 km /226 mi from Anchorage, we come to Homer. This small town, at the end of
the Kenai Peninsula is best known for the “Homer Spit,” an 8 km /5 mi long finger of land
that extends out into Kachemak Bay. It was actually a lot wider, but the 1964 tsunami caused
the spit to drop by seven feet and ate away a lot of the land base. What was left needed to
be buttressed or it would have disappeared too. Powerful, 8-9 m /28 ft tides wash in and out,
taking the land with it even as they dump loads of loose gravel on the shore. It's hard walk-
ing.
Much of the retail district of Homer is suspended over the waterfront on stilts:
Most people camp on the spit, with its water views for every campsite. But after a few days
of weather too cold for our back door shower we were looking for a hot shower. The wrap-
around view notwithstanding, the spit is also about as exposed as you can get and an icy
wind was already blowing up. The average temperature here in July is pretty cool by our
standards for summer weather, just 13°C (55°F).
Upthehill,thehistoricDriftwoodInnhasequippedtheirbackparkinglotwithpowerpoints.
So for $46 we had electricity, hot showers, laundry and WIFI. The Inn is set on a bluff over-
looking the ocean so it's an easy walk down to the beach.