what to do about Homer?

[kjoeb]

after a very long day in anchorage, we will be arriving at homer, ak, on the amsterdam. i would like to hear suggestions on the favorite homer adventure. thanks, ken.

[mapleleaves]

Without knowing your interests and activity level, it's hard to answer. And how long are you in port? and when?

Maybe a good starting point would be ... which activities on the excursion list look interesting to YOU ? or look at the Homer web site for ideas. http://homeralaska.org/visitHomer/recreationAdventure.htm

[Assateague Island Princes]

I've been on the Amsterdam's 14 day itinerary twice - early June 2010 and early Aug. 2011, so I can tell you what we did on our Homer stop. BTW - LOVE Homer, it is just beautiful, so quirky and fun!

 

The first year, we went to the Spit and found a place right near the Salty Dawg Saloon that rented electric bikes for a very reasonable $25.00 for 4 hours. It was so much fun! We zipped up and down the Spit, stopping to shop in the unique and funky places we came upon - found lots of homemade Alaskan crafts and gorgeous hand hammered jewelery, spent some time watching folks trying their luck in the fishing hole, watching eagles fishing from the Bay, and stopped for the best fish and chips lunch right on the Spit. We had already booked the "Taste of Homer" tour thru HAL so had to be back to the ship for that. That was a fun tour going to the Homer Brewery, Meadery, and Winery with great samples at each location. It was a nice tour and relatively inexpensive, but in hindsight, we wished we had just kept the bikes for the whole day and gotten over to the Islands and Oceans Center in the town of Homer instead. Lesson learned. We were very fortunate to see and get some photos of the Time Bandit (crab boat from the TV show, Deadliest Catch) which happened to be in port that day. I even got my picture taken with Eddie, one of the crew members in front of the boat!:D Very exciting for this DC fan! Be sure to visit the Time Bandit store on the Spit and say hi to the Hillstrandt's Mom, if she is there that day;).

 

So this past year, I went with my niece and her boyfriend, and we were all set to rent the electric bikes but the place didn't have them anymore:( - so disappointing. Went with plan B instead. We rented a car instead and booked a tour with Dr. Linda Chamberlain's Howling Husky Homestead (mushing kennel) for later in the afternoon. Once we disembarked the Amsterdam, I called the car rental office and they were quite busy at the time so we told them to bring the car over at noon and we would spend our morning walking the Spit. Had a great time, and right at noon, our "chariot" arrived to pick us up at the Seafarer's Memorial. After taking us back to the airport to do our rental paperwork, we were off on our adventure with some great recommendations from the car rental place. First we went to see the eagles nest in a huge tree right by the traffic signal in town (I read the nest has since come down in a storm). We were fortunate enough to see the two baby eagles about to venture out of the nest for the first time. They perched precariously on the edge, and you could tell they were getting ready to take their first flight, w/Mom and Dad flying about nearby. Really cool!

 

Then we went to the Homer Brewery so my nephew could partake of some homemade brews, while niece and I enjoyed the Alaskan Chai Tea and wandering around the brewery. Really fun. Then we drove out to Dr. Chamberlain's kennels and had a wonderful 2 1/2 - 3 hour tour - so interesting and educational. We really enjoyed the hands on experience - she let us harness one of the dogs, toured her makeshift checkpoint tent and amazingly comprehensive private museum, and listened to her stories of mushing and living in Alaska. It was awesome and very reasonably priced!

 

Afterwards, upon her recommendation, we stopped at the Fritz Creek General Store for a late lunch of fresh, homemade pizza which I had been craving after all the rich food on the cruise. It was delicious, and such a great experience - a restaurant/general store/post office - all in one old building with moose antlers outfront. We then drove back to the airport and turned out car in, and they drove us back out to the ship in plenty of time for sailaway.

 

Next time, I'd love to do one of the excursions with the Islands and Ocean's Center - maybe kayaking or a guided hike, or a flight out to see the bears. We're planning on spending about a week in Homer in 2013 so I'll get to do all the things I missed on the two cruise ship stops - atleast I hope so!

[kjoeb]

assa, you get your monies worth. great ideas. thanks ken

[Northern Aurora]

Homer offers a number of fishing charters, but an interesting side trip is the ferry to the community of Seldovia.

 

For those who enjoy local museums, the Pratt Museum is excellent.

[scapel]

after a very long day in anchorage, we will be arriving at homer, ak, on the amsterdam. i would like to hear suggestions on the favorite homer adventure. thanks, ken.

We had a cruise stop while on the Silver Shadow and used:

Alaska Wilderness 4-Wheel Tour

4850 Spruce Lane

Homer, AK 99603 map

PHONE:(907) 235-8567

Website:Information not found Ads by Google

Dan & Rene Iedem This Dan Iedem is truly a Grizzly Adams kind of guy. He carrys a big 44 mag on the hip. Has a high powered rifle on his ATV and a little back up pistol in his top pocket. He also carrys a chain saw in case there are trees blocking what he calls his path. It was a great adventure

$127.20/p

 

He took us on a nice tour. We each had our own 4wd ATV. We did find a black bear but didn't see it until we past it. Look closely in the picture with Dr. Joe and Dr.Ron and that black spot behind to Dr.Joe's right is a black bear. I can assure you if we had seen it when we past we would not have come that close.

http://www.cruisemates.com/gallery/view.php?id=5389

[scapel]

Some other contacts that we did not use.

 

Absolute Alaskan Adventures

Homer, AK 99603 map

Phone:(907) 299-9372

 

 

 

 

Bay Excursions

PO Box 3312

Homer, AK 99603-3312 map

Phone:(907) 235-7525 Website: View DetailsAds by Google

 

B & C Charter, Alaska B & C Charter

68108 Centurion Drive

Homer, AK 99603 map

Phone:(907) 235-7916 Website: View Details

 

Smoke Wagon Water Taxi

56855 Thurston Drive

Homer, AK 99603-9532 map

Phone:(907) 235-2947 Website: View DetailsAds by Google

[donaldsc]

If you have time, definitely go halibut fishing. Just don't try to figure out how much the fish costs after you factor in the cost of the boat trip and the cost of freezing it and shipping it home.

 

DON

[kjoeb]

i booked with Alaska Wilderness 4 wheel tour. and had a great conversation with dan. thanks kb

[donaldsc]

Halibut fishing and the Pratt Museum. IMHO, the spit is vastly overrated.

 

DON

[scapel]

i booked with Alaska Wilderness 4 wheel tour. and had a great conversation with dan. thanks kb

 

You will have a wonderful time with Dan Eidem. He is one of the real wilderness guys you would read about. Hope you can continue on with him. We kind of cut his tour short because we had to get back to the ship. Tell him Dr. Joe wants to know if he ever used some of that stuff I sent him to help him sew up his animals.

He said we should have worn boots. Call him and ask him about the boots since he mentined that no one goes to Alaska without boots. We did the trip without boots, but we didn't go into the marsh. I hope he is loaded and ready to go when you get there. We had to wait for him to get all the stuff loaded. Bring binoculars and a camera. The bears are watching you so watch out for them. That black spot behind Dr.Joe's head is a bear that we didn't see at the time. I'm happy he wasn't hungry.

[Budget Queen]

If you happen to be going on the "Spit", take a walk along the marina. The last two years, I happened to see the Time Bandit, which is home ported here. I am never in Homer for a single day, but there is plenty to see and do, IF you make good use of your time. :)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Yes, forgot to mention the possibility of the Time Bandit being in port (from the "Deadliest Catch" tv show for those that may not be aware;)). We saw it in 2010 and I actually got my photo taken with Eddie, one of the crew members, with the ship behind us. Thrilling (well, atleast for me, a huge DC fan:D:D!). Was hoping to see the Time Bandit in port this past August because I had my niece and her boyfriend with me and they are fans as well, but I talked to Andy and Jonathan's Mom, who was working in the Time Bandit store on the Spit (lovely lady by the way!) and she said they were helping with processing for the salmon run and were working out of Ketchikan. This was the second week of August, so if you happen to be going on a sailing then, check in Ketchikan as well!

 

Also - look for the Cornelia Marie in Kodiak, her homeport. She was there in early June of 2010, but we missed her:(. She wasn't there in August of 2011 though.