Coal - Enjoying the pleasures of Coal Cape

Along the lovely sands at the end of Homer Spit - across to the sea

Coal 

Today's post takes the name of another of the carbon based minerals - Coal. One less prized than pearls, but one that is no less important in the history of the world's economy, and in the history of the place where I spent today - Homer Spit.

Homer Spit

Homer - where the land ends and sea begins

Homer is not directly named for the Greek author, but for Homer Pennock who was one of the fifty people who settled here in 1896 as the American pioneers sought to exploit this land their government had bought from the Russians in 1867.

Before 1896 Homer had had different names - Uzintun, which translates as “extends out into distance,” was the Dena’ina name for the Spit; Mys Ugolnoy, which translates as Coal Cape, was the Russian name; and a pre-1896 mining camp had been established at the mainland end of the spit and called Coal Bay.

Coal Point - Homer

The history of the Spit and our reference to Coal in the title of today's blog post was prompted by a visit to Coal Point Park here on the Spit.

Homer Spit - Terminal Moraine

The glaciers across the bay

Homer Spit is a clear example of Terminal Moraine. <<Co-pilot's note: Oh dear, dear readers, oh dear, dear, dear. Here we go on another essay on ice based geological phenomena. I thought we'd seen the last of that last year. Uhhhh.>> As we discovered last year while visiting the Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefields in Alberta the terminal moraine is the rock and rubble that forms at the edge of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. The glacier which ended at Homer Spit was an immense one, filling in the whole of the 40 miles long Kachemak Bay

Looking across the bay from the Spit

The Harding Icefield that dominates the views from Homer Spit is one of the remaining four icefields in the USA and has over 30 glaciers covering over 300 sq. miles. It really is an amazing site.

The Harding Icefield in the distance

And is clearly visible just across the bay as I sit here and type this blog post.

I think you can guess, from the reflections so far in the post, that today was mainly about exploring Homer Spit, so enough geology <<Co-pilot's note: Yay.>> and on with our day.

Breakfast

I woke at 5:30am and left the bedroom to go and sit in the sitting room in a window seat and watch dawn arise over Kachemak Bay.

I wrote up the blog post about our first day in Alaska and sat and pondered how lovely it is to have the sounds of the sea washing through the door to the balcony as I look at the shore, sea and mountains through the window. I thank God for the gifts he gives me.

Walkers, runners, dog-walkers and children beachcombing all come and go past the window in what is a livley scene.

At 8:00am, the latest time of the holiday, Drew wakes up and I make coffee for the two of us. We then do our ablutions and go down to breakfast at 9:00am (which my body is still telling me is 7:00am as it was in our last time zone.)

The Chartroom Restaurant at Land's End has an interesting and eclectic set of breakfast options, some of them quite unusual.

Cajun Shrimp & Fried Grits

I couldn't help but choose the Cajun Shrimp & Fried Grits, it seemed more Alamban than Alaskan, but turned out to be a delight. It had Alaskan prawns, bacon sherry creole sauce, white cheddar, bell peppers, jalapeno, green onions and (at my request) eggs over hard.

I had to ask the waitress "what is bacon, sherry, creole sauce". She replied: "I'm not sure but I bet it has bacon and sherry in it with some spices" It turns out that it is a bacon fat and sherry vinegar being used as a sauce, with the creole flavours. It was delicious, but the excitement of asking for it was fun too. The sauce went very well with the grits, a dish I've only eaten in the deep south in the past. The peppers and chili gave it a bite when went well with the six large shrimp. An interesting and delicious start to the day. 

Alaskan Barley Pancakes

Drew went for Alaskan Barley Pancakes, these were more like a wholemeal pancake than anything I had seen before. They came with fresh blueberries, fresh raspberries, whipped cream and maple syrup. They gave Drew a sugar rush more reminiscent of dessert than breakfast, but he says they were a little treat.

A Lazy Day on Homer Spit

Haydn Looking over the bay

I remember a time when a lazy days on holiday used to be about doing emails and catching up with work things (when I was in work) or reading a novel while lounging in the hotel room or somewhere nearby. Now Drew suggests we walk to Homer and back, so that is what we do, even though we know it is 4.6 miles each way. As Drew says: "Don't complain it is good for you." When did he become my fitness coach :-)

The answer to my rhetorical question is since my Dad took to his bed following a fall five years ago at the age of 80. Drew is determined to keep me fit, so that I don't drop into full time bed rest. 😂  <<Co-pilot's Note: I believe, dear readers, that my exact words were: "The first sign of you taking to your bed and you are off to 'the homes' ">>

Eagle

As you can imagine the photos of the walk to (and from) Homer City along the spit are of sea, sand, mountains and local creates (like a Eagle and Sea Lion). I normally direct readers to Flickr at this point. But as there are 300+ photos of this kind, please only do so if you are very eager to see the area. The photos are more for our pleasure of the experience than for sharing. But the intrepid among you can start here and move forward through all 300+. See you later!!

The City of Homer

Seaplanes on the Lake

We arrived in Homer and looked for a café. We couldn't find one immediately but then came across the Fresh Sourdough Express Bakery and Café, this was a charming place with a great stories.

The original Sourdough Express

The owners having travelled Alaska with the sourdough idea as a mobile food outlet arrived in Homer and have got stuck here, so set the idea up as a restaurant, though they have kept the van outside in memories of their younger days. 

Sourdough Burger

Drew choose the Sourdough Burger for lunch (we had only intended to go in for a coffee, but the food looked too good). This was an Alaskan reared beef burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion served with homemade coleslaw on a Sourdough Wheat Bun. The coleslaw was crisp and tasty, the red cabbage produced a different texture from the more normal white cabbage. Drew liked the fact that he had to dress his own burger, so he could choose the elements of the salad and coleslaw to add to the meat and cheese. He says it was very, very tasty.

Baja-laska Halibut

I, still in fishy mode with all these sea around us had the amusingly called Baja-laska Halibut. This combined mexican flavours with the local halibut, I'm sure no one had forgotten that we are in the halibut capital of the world. The meal was grilled garlic-lime marinated Wild Alaskan Halibut topped with poblano chillies and tangy cumin tartare sauce all on a Sourdough Wheat Bun served with Tortilla Chips. The halibut was light and flaky, the cumin tartare sauce was a taste revelation, I don't always like Tartare Sauce, but if they were all like this one I certainly would have it every time. The tortilla chips worked well to pick up the sauce and the bread was delicious. I'm a regular sourdough eater and this was one of the best I have tasted. 

The Bakery and Cafe was also unusual, as without any effort we could hear the people on the nearby tables. Drew enjoyed the stories of a group of four local men behind me. They were discussing the rules and regulations of hunting Elk. Apparently they have to have antlers 15 inches long to be legal to shoot. Last year the local police arrested a Russian who had shot Elk with 12 inch antlers and they had thrown the book at him.


I overheard the tale told by three ladies, who were friends from a local church, and who discussed a family from the same church with a daughter in Idaho. The daughter is moving back to Alaska, due to divorce, but needs her parents to go down there and drive her car and trailer back so she can fly to Alaska as she doesn't have a passport!! She will be able to fly state to state, but can't cross Canada by road! No one asked why she didn't just go and get a passport, they took it for granted that she wouldn't, but that her parents (as snowbirds) already had a passport for getting south in the worst of the weather.

Back to Homer Spit

Standing at the tide's edge

The walk back to the Land's End Resort was as nice as the walk up. We saw sea lions and walked along some of the beach getting close to the water. Drew wanted to try if it was a lot colder than Hawaii's water had been - yes was the scientific answer.

Drew testing the water

The courageous among you may have already seen the pictures on Flickr. 

We got back to the hotel at 3:40pm (Five and a half hours and twelve miles later) and uploaded the photos.

Mass

St John the Baptist Church, Homer

Tomorrow is the 15th of August, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, as the primary Marian feast of the year most countries celebrate the Assumption as a Holyday of Obligation, a day, like a Sunday, when all Catholics are expected to go to Mass. Before coming to Alaska I had emailed the Parish Secretary in Homer, to find out the time of Holyday Masses, but as they were in the process of changing Parish Priest she was not sure. So I also contacted to Churchs in Anchorage in case I needed to go tomorrow night when I had got there. 

However, just before leaving home I got the times for the Masses at Homer: 7pm Wednesday vigil Mass, Midday Thursday. The vigil Mass timing suiting me perfectly.

St John the Baptist Church, Homer

The little Church of St John the Baptist is six miles from the Land's End Resort, so I drove up there, arriving 15 minutes before Mass. The church is unusual, in that the decoration behind the altar, which in other churches is stained glass or marble, is a window that looks over the bay to the mountains and icefield beyond. Wow. The Church really feels like it is embeded in nature. 

Today's feast, the Assumption, was proclaimed as a dogma of the Church in 1950. It was done so in a Europe full of darkness and turmoil as it recovered from the second world war. Pope Pius XII proclaimed:

It is in our own age that the privilege of the bodily Assumption into heaven of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, has certainly shone forth more clearly...(and that) meditation on Mary’s assumption will lead the faithful to a greater awareness of our common dignity as the human family.

The promise and hope that all human beings have a common dignity, one that seemed undermined by the brutality of holocaust and war is a promise which is worth celebrating, so it was nice to be able to mark it in such a lovely place tonight. 

Dinner

I got back to the hotel at 8:10pm and we went down to dinner in the Chart Room Restaurant at 8:30pm.

House-made Alaskan Clam Chowder

I began with the house-made Alaskan Clam Chowder. This was a New England style chowder made with razor clams (rather than the more common little neck clams favoured in New England), bacon and toast points. It was my first chowder on the holiday, and while chowder can be to creamy for me at times, this one was rich in clams and bacon. Very tasty.

Caesar Salad

Drew opted for a favourite of his - Caesar Salad - this was made of romaine lettuce, marinated white anchovy fillet, house-made smoked paprika cracker and fresh shaved parmesan. The whole anchovy sat on top of the salad veg was a delight for Drew, it was salty and tasty. The lettuce was crispy and was covered by just the right amount of caesar sauce. 

Alaskan Sockeye Fillet on Alder Wood Plank

side-salad

For mains I stayed with fish, but decided to move away from Halibut after having it for the last two meals. Instead I went for another local delicacy the 10 oz. Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillet on Alder Wood Plank. This was served with mashed potatoes topped with duxelles, a small side salad with Blue Cheese dressing and fried leeks. The waitress asked how I wanted it cooked and I confirmed I wanted it pink, she explained I had to treat it like steak, so it was rare I wanted it. It came perfect with the inside such a delicate pink colour with the outside cooked, but the inside delicate and flavoursome. The alderwood had infused it with delicious flavour, but it was a star all on its own. Again, with images of tinned salmon, Salmon is a fish I eat very rarely, but if every one was as delicious as this I'd be having it all the time.

Butter Poached Cod

Drew opted for Butter Poached Cod with alaskan lemon barley, shaved brussels sprout salad and a citrus vinaigrette. The poaching of the cod was perfect, the butter had permeated the fish making it flaky and delicious. Drew thinks he made the perfect dinner choice as it was not to heavy, but full of flavour. The nuts on the salad were a little confusing but worked fine with the rest, the barley was melt in the mouth lovely with a sharp tang.

After dinner we say and watched the sea some more and went to bed at 10:50, the latest of this holiday so far.