This weekend was epic. It started with my having a fight with an asshole couchsurfer that checked into my previously sweet couchsurfing situation but that’s not an Alaska story so just suffice it to say: he was a jerk. AFTER that, amazing epicness started. I drove to Girdwood (about 45 minutes south of Anchorage) because my friend Katie Sismour had arrived in AK and was hosting a brunch. We ate, I met her delightful boyfriend, and we went for a hike. I continued down to Seward where I met my friend KC at his workplace in the middle of a wine tasting (oh, a glass of wine?! ok). As it’s off-season right now, we had a hard time finding a place to eat at 8:30 at night and settled on a place called Thorns Showcase Lounge, Home of the Butt (halibut). That place was a trip. Padded upholstery that looked like it came from a 70s casino. Every wall was fitted with display cases for various strange unique bottles of alcohol and there was ONE waitress for the entire restaurant. She did a great job and the burgers were spectacular.
The next day we had coffee in the hotel room - the windsong lodge where KC works generously gave me a room in the hotel for free as they aren’t open - and we took a leisurely departure as we needed to have coffee and appreciate the view. On the way out we stopped for some hard boiled eggs at the cabin the employees are currently using as a hang out (soon to be an Air B&B) and as we left I heard some new noises so, of course, I go to investigate. It’s a man with a huge portable mill, milling these big old spruce trees. We talked to him for a bit and watched the mill work (video in the photo album) before heading off down the road.
Our first stop was IRB Knives. This place has a HUGE knife out front that is coated in old CDs for the silver part, a mannequin of a woman that, apparently, he dresses daily in his ex-wives clothes and then inside it’s a tiny cozy little shop. He currently had a visitor when we arrived so while he talked a bit about the knives, the visitor, Bob White, mainly dominated the conversation with a story about how dogs were always in his garbage so he set a snare trap. When he heard the rustle of the trap, he walked out there with his gun (to shoot the dogs) and saw a bear. He promptly called Animal Control. At this point, there was a digression into the annoyance of Fish and Wildlife and regulations and yada, yada, yada. Anyway, he continues on with the story about darting the bear with lots of asides about how the wildlife guy was too tentative and nervous and slow.. Bear gets darted...and it ends there because once the bear was off their property they didn’t seem to care much.
At this point, the owner offered us a tour of the shop. OK! And off we go past the sign that says “men only” and back into the world of a knife maker. The owner was more than generous and polite and kind with his time and energy and explanations. He showed us the furnace, the two hydraulic hammers and demonstrated the bigger one by smashing coins. (fun) He showed us his stash of handles that included various horns (moose, impala, musk oxen, bison), wood - some that smelled like burnt popcorn when sanded (we got a demonstration) and then sandlewood to clear the air. He made all custom knives and was even making one from someone’s medical piece of titanium that was in their leg. He put the screw in the handle.
Finally, he was telling us about his love of tequila with a chaser of oranges with cinnamon sprinkled on top. I mention that I had a tequila toast at our wedding and the next thing I know, he’s pouring us shots!
While we’re standing there a man from Utqiagvik, Alaska starts sharing pictures of the whale he and his village harvested. As a subsistence hunter he’s allowed to shoot 17 whales. Well. more precisely, he can take 17 shots. If he doesn’t actually get a whale with one of those shots, he loses it. I've added photos he shared of the harvest. I'll put them at the VERY end. You have been warned.
Finally after pictures were shared and tequila was sipped, KC and I head off on our way to Homer, Alaska. We stop in Soldatna, AK for lunch at the Kenai Brewing Company and detour into Ninilchik for a peek at the Russian Orthodox church. Ninilchik is an old Russian settlement and the older people in this community are still speaking a version of Russian that was spoken when the Russians came over in the late 1700s. Pretty crazy!
We finally arrived in Homer at 6pm and went for a ride out on the Homer Spit. The longest naturally occurring spit in the world. A spit, for those of you that don’t know your natural coastal features - is a long stretch of sand that sticks out into the water and is attached on one side. This one is a very permanent feature and has lots of businesses and residences on it. Although, I’m not sure they are permanent residences. I think they are all just vacation homes.
After the Homer spit we wandered past a ridiculous looking restaurant with HUGE Alice in Wonderland cups on the top. Aptly named “Cups Cafe” it had the best reviews on google and we went in to dinner. It was SPECTACULAR. My shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked and KC said his steak was the best he’d ever had in America. He went back to thank the chef and invite him to eat at the Roadhouse in Seward (where KC is the executive Chef). After dinner we were going to meet one of KC friends at a dance hall called “Alice’s Champagne Palace” where a band called “Rose’s Pawn Shop” was playing. I know. That’s a lot of names and nouns. It was spectacular! We danced until the band quit - about midnight and went over to our hotel (just next door) for some much needed rest.
The next morning we went down to the local crepe place, Wild Honey, where they replaced the “crepe” with egg if we wanted and had a delicious breakfast before heading up to skyine drive to get spectacular views of the Katchemak Bay. The peninsula is usually cloudy and raining but we had two gorgeous blue sky days!!
On our way out and back to Homer we saw 5 moose. All of which were just hanging out by the side of the road. Unfortunately that last one decided to dart in front of our car. Terrifying! KC was driving at the time and successfully braked and missed it and we, thankfully, saw no more moose for our ride.
We got KC back to Seward by 4:30 and I set off to stay the night with Katie in Girdwood. On the way, I saw all these people pulled over at the side of the road and standing in the water with nets. I parked to go over and explore and they were all netting Hooligan! I had to wait around for about 45 minutes before someone caught one but it was pretty great! I mean, great and also a bit lackluster because it’s just a tiny little fish. One of the guys was telling me that earlier today (when the river was higher) his friend had caught 2 bucketfuls! So cool! By the time I finally got over to Girdwood, Katie was having a hang with friends and they invited me to join them for hotdogs and smores. Never one to give up free food, I agreed.
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