Exploring the road less traveled in Homer with Mina Gherman and Silas Firth

Mina and Silas, who were both raised in Homer and wrote Homer’s visitor guide, join Jennie to share their favorite things to do in and around Homer

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Homer visitors guide made by Mina and Silas!

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Music credits:  Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.

Transcript

Jennie Flaming: 0:00

Jennie, are you thinking about heading to Homer on your trip to Alaska? If you are, this episode is for you. Welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska travel and life in Alaska. Before we start the episode, we would like to thank our Patreon members for making this podcast possible. You can join them at the link in the show notes. We are so grateful for your support of independent podcasts. Enjoy the show. My guests today are Mina Gherman and Silas Firth from the Homer Chamber of Commerce and visitor center. Both of them grew up in Homer, in the Homer area, and they both love to share their hometown with visitors as well as help promote and grow local businesses, which is really awesome. Silas is using his background in video production to help people promote their businesses and reach out to visitors. And Mina is the Director of Marketing at the Homer Chamber of Commerce. She went to the east coast for college and grad school, and now she's back in Homer, and we are super excited to have both of you here today. So Mina and Silas, welcome to Alaska, uncovered. Thank you for being here. Thanks

Unknown: 1:35

so much. Jennie. It's great to be here. Super excited to promote Homer, the town I was born and raised in. Yeah, just moved back here after being gone for about a decade, and I've been super happy because it's absolutely stunning every day. I love it.

Jennie Flaming: 1:56

Silas, did you have a time where you moved away, or have you been there all the way through. I

Unknown: 2:03

wasn't quite born here. I was born in Pennsylvania, and my family when I was one, so okay, I've never left for any length of time. My family history goes way, way back. My grandfather bought property in anchor point, and so that's kind of why my family moved up here and love it. Never left. Can hardly imagine leaving. I love it here. I love

Jennie Flaming: 2:25

it. That's awesome. Well, I'm really excited to talk with you both, because, as you probably know, visitors like are really interested and curious about coming to Homer, and it's an awesome place. So I usually start by asking everyone how they got to Alaska, but I feel like we sort of covered that here in our intro with both of you being born or almost born there and having deep roots there. So that's great. So I would love to have each of you share what you feel like makes Homer a really special and unique place in Alaska, Mina, let's start with you, and then we'll go to Silas.

Unknown: 3:07

Yeah, I would love to just backtrack a little bit of you know how I ended up to a home in Homer. Was, yes, I was born here, but my story kind of holds the classic story that many of my peers and close family friends also share, which is, you know, a friend told them to come to Alaska one day, and they came with their significant other, and that was it. They fell in love with Homer. They got some property or land, and the rest is history. And I think that story is a beautiful one, because it brought a lot of us here, but it was also this movement and this ideology kind of to take a step away from all the stuff happening in the lower 48 I think a lot of people were drawn to Homer like our parents, because of the spread out land, the privacy and the really unexplainable beauty. Yeah, just want to say I'm very grateful to my family and other friends, parents, for taking that leap of faith of moving to Alaska. Because I think, you know, a few decades ago, it was just we had Jack London, Alaska stories, and, yeah, it was this scary, unknown place. And I think it's really changing, and it's going to continue to change in the next decade, as people are more and more drawn to living off the land or living in a more natural setting. I mean, kind of a similar thing. My grandfather just started flying up here to fish for the summer. And just fell in love with it. And that planted roots with my dad. And he just always dreamed of, dreamed of coming to Alaska. So kind of, kind of that similar attitude that, that just falling in love with Alaska once you've been here, and yeah, that's what brought my family here, and why we state, yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 5:19

I love it.

Unknown: 5:20

I was gonna say there's some really awesome quotes that I've heard that is, like, I can't really exactly remember, but it's like, if you come to Alaska when you're a young man or woman, it'll ruin it'll ruin you the rest of your like, life, or something like that. Like you will never be the same, like you'll

Jennie Flaming: 5:39

never be able to leave kind of thing, yeah,

Unknown: 5:44

yes, but one of the things I feel like makes Homer special that you don't understand, and it doesn't click per se until you get here, of why Homer, why Homer is due to how spread out our town and community is. It really stretches from anchor point all the way to what's called Catch a Mac city or East End, which is literally the end of the road, which is literally the the farthest you can drive on, drive westerly on the roadways in North America. And then, not only that, you have the spit, which is the second largest actually, I don't know if that's true, but a really long outstretched piece of land going into our bay. And then you can go across the bay, which is like the ultimate playground. And then you can go even behind Homer and experience all the mountains

Jennie Flaming: 6:54

totally. You know, the first time that I went to Homer, it was when I was living in Fairbanks and I was camping down there at the not the campground that's out on the spit, but the one that's like, sort of at the edge of the spit, kind of like, right there. And my friend and I, she was like, oh, let's walk down to the end of the spit. And I was like, okay, but, and it was great, but it was like, We didn't bring any food or any water, and, you know, it's like several miles. And then we got out there, and the only thing that was open, it was kind of in the shoulder season, was the salty dog, but they don't really have any food. So then we went all the way back on like a bag of potato chips and a beer. So yes, the spin is awesome and long, and you should bring snacks if you're gonna walk it. Oh, anyway, love it. Okay. Silas, do you want to add anything about the kind of specialness and uniqueness of Homer?

Unknown: 7:55

Yeah. I mean, what brings me to Homer and what makes it so hard to leave is I love mountains and I love ocean and I love them together. And that is, that is what Homer is. I mean, there's other places Alaska that are similar, but Homer is, I mean, the best of all of it when it comes to just the beauty and, yeah, combining mountains and ocean, and then I think also just just the community. It's the right balance for me, of community versus, you know, remoteness, there is a robust community here. Things are happening, yeah? But it's not Anchorage, you know, it is a little harder to get to. It's a good drive, yeah? So it's accessible. You can drive here, but it's, it's somewhat remote, but not too remote. So it's just the perfect balance of all those things, I mean, that just makes it an attractive community in place to to stay. And then also, when it comes to tourism, we're not a cruise ship destination. We get less than 10 cruise ships a year, so we don't have that crazy tourism rush through summer. So it's kind of a Yep, it's a little bit more local friendly during the summer. So that's those are my reasons for staying in Homer and why I think Homer's the best.

Jennie Flaming: 9:10

Yeah, yeah, those are some. Those are really good ones. Okay, so, um, we've talked about why Homer is awesome and how you got there. So for people who are planning a trip to Alaska and they want to go to Homer, how did they get there? What are their what are their options? Because I know there's a couple. Probably

Unknown: 9:33

the most popular option is to fly into Anchorage and then get a car and make the road trip. It's some of the most beautiful scenery, really, anywhere in in the world. It's, it's stunning the whole drive. So it's, it's totally worth it as just part of your vacation. I mean, it is a good four and a half hour road trip, so you definitely have to plan for that. But it's beautiful, more affordable than flying. So by road for sure. Is a great option. That's going to be a little bit more of an option, as Mina can talk about this year we're having some airport maintenance, so flights are a little more restricted. Ah, okay, specifically, but definitely getting here by road is a great option. You won't regret it. You won't regret the drive, even though it's long, it's beautiful, and you'll you'll never forget it.

Jennie Flaming: 10:20

Yeah, and I think I totally agree with you about the drive Silas, and I think that also is something to think about that I often tell like, my clients is like, Okay, if you're gonna fly there because you don't want to drive, that's cool, but then, like, you kind of need a car to get around once you get there, unless you're doing tours and things where you're getting rides and then that's awesome, but you kind of have to have a plan for that, because you can't just like Uber wherever you want to go once you fly there. So, yeah, okay, so um, Mina, what about flying?

Unknown: 10:54

Yeah, so flying is a super convenient option. It ranges from 20 minutes with our new airline, Aleutian airways, up to 45 minutes with some other airlines like Raven air and grant aviation. Those flights can be upwards of $200 one way. So yeah, that's basically it. I will admit, like, if people are traveling to Homer, you want to plan take off at least a day on each end to getting in and out of Alaska. Because I will be honest. You know, from going to school on the east coast and in Seattle, it ranges from eight to 30 hours of travel, because there's always a stop here or there always a delay. Yeah, so it's tough. And my friends and I will always, you know, talk about how it is hard getting in and out of here, and, yeah, offensive, but it's so worth it. It's so worth

Jennie Flaming: 12:02

it, yeah? And if you're like, looking for a place that's not a busy cruise ship port, I mean, it's perfect, yeah, yeah, oh, I

Unknown: 12:12

do want to just add kind of one of the things that makes Homer special that, you know, I love advertising, but I also want to keep a secret, is the biggest thing I've noticed from going to national parks and amazing landmarks in the US is there's always people there. But in Homer there, you will really be sharing the trail with a few people. Yeah, and on the beaches, they're pretty dang empty. It's, it's still small town vibes that are pretty empty, and that is one of the most refreshing experiences about Homer. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 12:52

yep, for sure. Okay, so let's talk about thing. Let's just stick with, like, Homer, the town, or maybe the road close by for the moment, we'll get to, like, getting out of Homer in a few minutes. But as far as I wanted to talk both about tours people can do, but also things you can do on your own without a tour, because that's one of those things. Like some folks are like, Oh, I don't want to figure out where to go. I just want someone to show me everything. And then other people are like, tour. No way, right? So I wanted to really talk about both of those. So let's start. Let's start with tours like, what are some, some of the tours that you would recommend or, and it doesn't even have to be like a specific tour, but like the type of tour that people can do when they're in Homer.

Unknown: 13:49

Okay, well, the first thing you do when you get into Homer is you should call the Homer Chamber of Commerce visitors center, because we have amazing volunteer hosts on staff that will talk to you for as long as you want about that's awesome. Love it, and they'll help you plan all your all everything you want to do. But we do have a lot of different tour packages. We have a couple folks here that will do tours of the bay. That's really popular to just hop on a boat and do a couple hour cruise of the bay, seeing the scenery and the wildlife that's there. That's pretty affordable to do that as well, and you can scale that down even there. There are people that will just do tours, like of the harbor. So those are all great options just to kind of experience a little bit of the ocean and the community. And what we do here, if you want to go a little bigger than that, then we start getting into like, bear viewing tours and yes, flying tours to check out glaciers and volcanos. We have a bunch of companies that do that all throughout the summer, lots of different options. You could take a boat over to go bear viewing. You can take a helicopter. You can take a plane. They'll take you over to Katmai or lake Clark or other places. Up close and personal with brown bears. So those are amazing other places, yeah, we'll take you on sightseeing tours around kachamak Bay by plane. You can check out glaciers. You can go across the Cook Inlet to check out volcanos going along the Ring of Fire. Is a very popular tour. Yup, you can go across the bay and go kayaking. That's another popular tour option. We have a couple places. Couple places down on the spit that kind of specialize in that have amazing guides, and we'll take you across the bay to just kayak by yourself for a couple hours, which is an amazing experience and some of the best, most beautiful kayaking anywhere in the world. It's, it's really, really stunning. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 15:41

I I totally agree. Silas, I think for like, I mean, there are, of course, many places that you can do an awesome kayak trip in Alaska, but like, Homer is right up there, as far as, like, being able to go to really protected places, but see these amazing views. Yeah, I'm totally with you on that one. And then, I

Unknown: 15:59

mean, of course, we have fishing. That's kind of what made Homer famous. That's in the back, yes. So dozens of charter options to get you out for half a day, a full day overnight for many different species. So yes, if you haven't done that, you have to do that too.

Jennie Flaming: 16:16

Oh, I totally agree. Love it. Okay, so, and we'll come back to some of those adventures getting out to like national parks and catch Mac Bay in a minute here. Um Mina, is there anything else you want to add as far as as far as tours? Or do we want to go on to, like things you can do on your own? Yeah, real quick. I

Unknown: 16:37

think Silas hit all of them, which is awesome. I just want to mention that in our visitor guide, because it's such a common question, what can you do in Homer if you're there for a few days or a week, we actually put a lot of thought into including a three day itinerary and a week long itinerary, really thinking about what when and what days you should plan for bear viewing versus just checking out Homer. So definitely recommend checking out that you can find our visitor visitor guides online at Homer, alaska.org, and you can also get a physical copy sent to you for free, or check out our online version anytime, and that itinerary is on page 12.

Jennie Flaming: 17:24

Rad. That's awesome. And I will put that in the show notes for folks who want to get that. And I love that you have itineraries in there, because sometimes I think, like, it's easy to get a little bit too much packed in, and then you don't leave enough time for like, just being but also for like, because the weather delayed your flight by an hour, and then you but, you know, and it just, ah, you know, especially things like Bear viewing. It's so awesome. But I think visitors don't always understand how flexible you have to be. If it's like, this beer viewing tour is from 10 to one, I can plan something else at 115 like, No, you know. So I love that you have, like, actual itineraries laid out. That's really awesome. Okay, so what about things for people who just want to, like, pick up this visitor's guide or, like, chat with your volunteers and like, just go off on their own. What are a few things that you would recommend kind of in town or near town, that people can get to you without a tour? Do you want to start this? Jennie, sure,

Unknown: 18:36

there's definitely so much to enjoy all over town, because, like I said, it's so spread out, and with it being so spread out with many different beaches along the way, you still get epic views no matter what area you're in. So one thing you can do is stop by the visitor center and then walk five minutes down to one of our most popular beaches, called bishops beach. You can stop by some cafes, grab some local food, and then definitely making your way you can you can also check out pioneer Avenue, which is another five minutes away, and that has a lot of really amazing restaurants, local shops, art galleries, museums. So there's definitely a lot to offer all along, like, I don't know, half a mile, mile of a street, and then once you hit all that, it's definitely recommended to go check out the spit. There's a ton of shops, great views. You can also walk on the harbor, which is really fun. There's, you know, everything from oyster bars to fine dining seafood restaurants to casual fish and chips gelato. Ice Cream, you name it, we got the salty dog. And then once we know that,

Jennie Flaming: 20:07

you will, you just share, for folks who are not familiar with Homer, what the salty dog is,

Unknown: 20:13

absolutely so the salty dog is Homer. It's an

Jennie Flaming: 20:17

institution in Alaska, folks, yeah, it is a serious institution. This

Unknown: 20:21

is how you find your Alaskans all over the world, because there's a Salty Dog Saloon hoodie. Yeah, that's super world famous. I mean, it is at this point. And so the Salty Dog Saloon is was built in 1897 and it was one of the first cabins in Homer, and it's been around for decades, so it has a lot of stories in it. It even survived our good Friday earthquake, where a lot of the spit went underwater and it was relocated. But what makes a salty dog so fun is inside, there are dollar bills just coding the walls that people write anything you want on their dollar bill, or sending good luck to those at sea or those lost at sea. And so there's just a lot of energy in that building, and there's a really old lighthouse connected to it, as well as log cabin style. So it's definitely got that, that old school historic pub kind of vibe. And almost anyone who goes fishing here for fun, or, like, when they've come back from a trip, it's kind of a tradition to stop at the dog and grab a drink. Yes, love it. Okay,

Jennie Flaming: 21:55

any other on your own stuff? Mina,

Unknown: 21:57

yeah, I would say once you've hit those main spots in Homer you definitely want to check out east end, which is it's really fun, because the farther out you drive, the closer the glaciers and volcanoes get in your face. So it just gets becomes more more more and more majestic. And there's a bunch of hiking you can do on each side of Homer that gives you incredible views. And even exploring the beach and the river in anchor point is really fun as well, and gives you really unique volcano views, especially and very amazing sunset, volcano views. Yes,

Jennie Flaming: 22:43

you know, I am from, I am from Seattle, so I am from a volcano place. And the first time that I saw those volcanos from from anchor point, like across the Cook Inlet, I was like, What? What like? This is nuts. These volcanos are crazy. Um, they're really cool.

Unknown: 23:04

So I just want to say because I went to school in Tacoma, Washington, at University of Puget Sound. And, you know, the whole thing in Seattle and Tacoma is Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 23:17

while I had a lot of appreciation and gratitude for, like, how gorgeous it is and that you could, like, see it from campus and from Seattle. Yeah, in the back of my head, I was always like, well, doesn't really got a lot on Homer, right? Because we've got like, four of those that you can Yeah, yeah. So funny. I love it. Still Love You. Mount Rainier, yes, Mount Rainier is also very lovable, for sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, Silas, do you want to add any, any on your own fun for Homer?

Unknown: 23:54

Yeah, I think Mina covered it pretty good. I mean, it's just a great place you can do it on a budget. It's just a great place to come back to come to and just kick back, you know, just spending time on the beaches, some of the hiking trails around it's, it's a great place to just slow down and go check out restaurants, go check out art galleries, just the little shops. Just slow down and poke around the community. It's definitely the place to go over that we have different spas that are kind of tucked away, so yeah, lots of different things to do there. I would also just add to the fermentation trail here in Homer, we have some we have two different breweries, a winery and two different meteries. So that's kind of a trending tourist. Thing to do, is explore the local fermentation. And Homer has a rich history in that we have the first Homer Brewing Company was the first brewery on the Kenai Peninsula. It's been around for, I think, over 25 years. And then we have newer guys on the scene as well, and people are really enjoying tasting that side of Homer. Homer's well known for. Food scene, but now we're kind of becoming more well known for the fermentation as well. That's

Jennie Flaming: 25:05

awesome. I didn't know about the mead. I knew about some of the other things, but I've got to, I got to get back there soon to try the mead.

Unknown: 25:13

Yeah, and I was just, I was just looking, there aren't that many meters in the US as well. I think I just saw a stat. I don't want to say it because I don't remember what it was, but it was, but it surprised me how there were and Homer has them, and they both have very excellent reviews. That's awesome.

Jennie Flaming: 25:28

Love it. That's so cool, awesome. Okay, so we'll come back to food and drink a little more in a minute. But um, okay, so we've talked about the town, how to get there, why it's awesome. I would love to have both of you share about some of and we've, we've sort of touched on this a little bit already, but all of the amazing places that surround Homer, that that you can get to, um, and you know, we talked about national parks. We talked about catch Mac Bay. I'd love to talk about those, maybe a little bit a little bit more Silas. Do you want to start with? Let's start with Kacha Mack Bay, because I know there's a ton of cool tours and and things you can do out there. So let's start with that.

Unknown: 26:18

Yeah, Kacha Mac Bay. Kach Mac Bay State Park and the Wilderness Park are the best thing about Homer. They are some of the most beautiful scenery you'll find anywhere getting across the bay, hiking up into the mountains, I travel a lot. I do a lot of hiking, and that's some of my favorite experiences. And hiking anywhere I've ever been, it's just beautiful. It's remote. There are not very many people that access it. You have to get that on your home or trip. Yeah, Bay State Park. It's really, really amazing. We were just talking about this, you know, you see like these travel influencers that go to all these parks, national parks, state parks, and just this stunning scenery. That's, that's Homer, that's, that's, you're in a backyard, just a short boat ride across the bay. Yeah, yeah, you have to go. It's unbelievable. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 27:16

I totally agree. You know, when I lived in Fairbanks. Homer was like, real far, you know, like, a minimum, 10 hour drive. But, um, it was one of my it's always been one of my favorite places in Alaska, and I really love going out to those yurts that are out in catch mech Bay. I mean, you know, if you're listening, that's something you got to plan ahead, because you got to reserve the year from Alaska State Parks, then you got to get a water taxi over there. But it's so cool. I mean, yeah, it's really fun.

Unknown: 27:50

That's definitely one of my number one recommendations for traveling on a budget, because it's like 75 bucks for the year, and you can rent them at trail heads. And then also, when you get your water taxi over across the bay, you can have, you can rent kayaks, so you can have the whole kind of camping, kayak hiking experience in one Yeah, on a budget, and you're, you're free on your own. You know, not a lot of people next to you kayak out into the sunset. Have a fire. You know, it's really relaxing. Yeah, I agree.

Jennie Flaming: 28:32

Okay, um, Mina, do you want to talk a little bit about bear viewing and Katmai and Lake Clark? I know you that we've already talked about that a little bit. But can you say a little bit more about how people can make that happen if they're staying in Homer for a bit

Unknown: 28:47

Sure, I will say that I had never gone bear viewing until I had the incredible opportunity that work sent me on a trip a few months ago, and it was, hands down, one of the best days of my life, and it completely, yeah, it completely changed me and my perspective of Homer. I thought Homer and the mountains were cool, and then I realized, oh my gosh, it gets so much better. It's even more crazy once you go beyond the mountains. You see from Homer, it's just a fortress of mountains on top of each other, and you, and you get a fly over Augustine volcano, and the water is like turquoise, and there's all these lakes and rivers and ocean. And then you, I took a float plane over there, and you land on shore, and there's literally 10 bears around you, and they don't care about you at all. I honestly was always scared to go bear viewing, because I thought they'd eat me. But they literally, I mean, that's legit, yeah, but they don't care about you at all because they are just. Browning in salmon Paradise, and they're just eating the salmon, swimming with the salmon. So I went to Brooks Falls, which is a world famous location where most bears on the little river, the little waterfall photos come out of, yep, and it was absolutely incredible. It's just such a natural high to be around these majestic, beautiful creatures and really understanding like that this is their territory, like we have one of the largest grizzly bear locations in the world. You know, I think the populations are really healthy, and there's a ton of babies with their moms. That is so adorable to watch. But not only can you go to Brooks Falls, you can go to Lake Clark National Park, you can have experiences where you're more on land, in the in the grass with them, or you're on a boat, I believe. So there's a ton of ways to do it, and I think that every Alaskan has gotta go and once in their lifetime, it just changes you. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 31:19

I agree with that, Mina, and I think I was chuckling to myself when you were talking about, like, I was afraid of doing this, because I was afraid they would eat me. And like, I so identify with that. Because, like, when I've been in those kind of intense grizzly bear situations, which has only been a couple times, but it's funny because you'll there'll be someone near you, like, maybe on your plane or something, and they're from like, Dallas or Brooklyn, and they're like, cool beards. And you're like, what? This is fine. And then you're like, oh, actually, it's cool, you know? But it's like, if you've been around bears, it's almost like you're you have a little more fear that you have to get over.

Unknown: 32:03

Yeah, it was the first time in my life that I learned that there's a difference between coastal grizzly bears and inland bears. Yeah, and we are more. We're more what we on the Homer side hear about in terms of bear attacks and what we run into on our way to Anchorage, like when they're in Coopers landing on the Russian River, it's like, those bears are hungrier because they're more inland, but coastal bears, they're like, they're like a cartoon character bears, they're nice. They don't they literally don't care about you at all, and that is an amazing experience. I wish I could throw some more facts out there about how special Katmai National Park is and the grizzly bears, but it's definitely the capital of bear viewing in the world. Yes, that's and then, sure, true, yeah. And then Homer is the closest location to get to the bear viewing. Yeah, yeah. And I would just emphasize that for all the people that are checking off their national parks checklist, yes, yeah. When it comes to Katmai and Lake Clark, Homer is the best place. Look at a map like Mina just said we are the closest. It's the most logical jumping off point to go kick those guys off your list. Yeah, I did find a good fact. More than 98% of the country's brown bear population lives in Alaska and is on the west side of Cook Inlet, where we are. So I know that's a Yeah. I think that says a lot. Yeah, right, yeah. So yeah that we have a good bear viewing section in our guide to page 38 so definitely check that out. Sweet. Yeah, cool.

Jennie Flaming: 34:03

Okay, are there any other sort of base camp places that we haven't talked about yet that are good to get to from Homer?

Unknown: 34:15

Or have we covered them all? Well, there is the I

Jennie Flaming: 34:20

know we haven't covered them all, but if we covered the Oh, Seldovia, yeah, let's talk about Seldovia,

Unknown: 34:27

yeah. So Seldovia and halibut Cove are amazing experiences to get a boat over to. So Seldovia is a coastal community that's been there, gosh, I don't know how long, decades. And there is, you know, a restaurant, shops, a lot of people living there. I believe Alaska Native community as well. And it's just super. Chanting and charming over there. It's stunning. And then halibut covid is more of a modern day community of you know, a lot of old time Homer folks living there, but it's like this enclosed community across the bay, and it has a restaurant called the salt tree, and a lot of people love going over there for seafood, fine dining, yeah, and then there's art galleries that you can check out. And it's just a really fun little day trip, or half day trip to do Silas. Anything you want to add about those two spots? Yeah, I think you you covered Seldovia and Alabama go pretty good. They're, they're great communities to spend a day or a couple days even for Seldovia to get over to. Access to Seldovia is pretty convenient. You can take either water taxis or the Seldovia native tribe runs the Seldovia Bay ferry. So throughout the summer there, they make a couple tricks trips a day over there that's affordable, great round trip option. There are also tours. Some of the local tour companies, like rainbow tours, Does, does a round trip daily tour over there drops you off for a couple hours to explore. You can also fly. Was it smokey Bay does Yeah? Smokey Bay

Jennie Flaming: 36:31

like a float plane?

Unknown: 36:32

Yeah, yeah, because they have an airport over there. Halibut, covid again, water taxis are your best bet. The Salt tree does operate a catch Mac Bay ferry to take you over there to explore for a couple hours. But water taxis in that ferry are the good options to get there. So yeah, they're great. So lots, lots of people choose those as as day options for something I would also add too, if you're looking kind of for the next level experience, for using Homer as a base camp. We have a bunch of all inclusive lodges that have been opening recently across the bay in different remote coves and bays. That's another option if you're looking to completely unwind and just go to one place and not worry about planning anything or doing anything, go to they'll take you on all the fishing, bear, viewing, kayaking, hiking, anything you want to do. And it's all included. And there it's, it's kind of the next level experience. Yeah, again, on the visitor guide, in the visitor guide, on those this year, what we probably have like, eight, right? Mina, how many are there? I would say five to eight. Yeah, that that we connect with at the chamber, and we've got two new ones this year, one in bear Cove, Silas, and I will be checking out bear Cove lodge on Friday. I just did a podcast with them called discovering the last frontier, and then another new one in the beginning of China poop called Odyssey Lodge, and they're going to have a restaurant that's open to the public and their guests. So we're all really excited for that as well. Cool. Yeah, awesome.

Jennie Flaming: 38:27

Okay, well, we're gonna take a short break, and when we come back, we'll keep talking about Homer with Silas and Mina. Hi everyone, Jennie here. I hope you're enjoying this episode so far, I wanted to take a moment to share a few ways I can help you make your dream Alaska trip happen beyond the podcast. First of all, if you're traveling in 2024 don't miss out on getting the Alaska 2024 stickers. We have in our shop, designed by Jay they're super unique and beautiful if you're planning a trip in the future, there are lots of other ways I can help as well. For starters, you can take my free quiz to give you the best Alaska itinerary for your travel style. Second, I've got done for you itineraries as well as digital planners for your trip, including specific ones for cruising, for driving to Alaska, and any other kind of Alaska trip. You can imagine, my planners will help you make it a reality. Finally, if you want some personalized travel advice from me, I offer 30 minute planning sessions on Zoom. Dates are limited during the summer, since I'm on the road quite a bit, but there are still some dates available in the fall. I will again offer custom itinerary planning and cruise bookings for the 2025 season, as well as Alaska winter trips. I'd love to work with you to make your dream trip happen to Alaska, and I hope I get to meet you. Links for all of. Different ways I can help are in the show notes, beyond below our patreon link. Now back to the show. Okay, we are back with Mina and Silas, both raised in Homer and working in Homer as ambassadors from Homer. I guess that's like one way to say it. Homer ambassadors at the Chamber of Commerce and the visitors center. So I'd love to have each of you answer the wrap up questions. So let's start with your favorite month in Homer and Mina, let's start with you, and then Silas,

Unknown: 40:47

okay, I'm a little biased because I'm choosing my birthday month and it's June, but there's such an incredible energy in Homer. In June, it's the month, yeah, it's the month right before the main month that I love recommending people visit Homer, which is July, and that's because I really love people to experience Homer when we have our fire weed blooms. And our fireweed blooms are these fields everywhere, all over of this purple, flowery stock and having that experience with just the sun sunsets. At you know, in June, the sunsets around 11pm the sun rises around 5am so imagine those beach campfires late at night, the alpine glow on the mountains, which is pink shades and different hues on the mountains from the sunset, and there's the tourist buzz. Things are kind of in full swing. You know, all the moose and all the animals are out. Yeah, June. I love June and July. Really,

Jennie Flaming: 42:15

you sold me. Okay, Silas, how about you? What's your so we've got June. Do you agree? Or would you pick a different month?

Unknown: 42:24

Honestly, I think you could just say summer, because summer in Alaska really is about a month. I mean, it feels in August that that's we cram. Yeah, it feels like a month that goes by so quick, but I would maybe bump it up just a little earlier and maybe say May. Sometimes we get really amazing weather in May here in Homer, and it's almost like a secret, because things really haven't gotten too crazy here yet, or not, not many people are coming into town, but honestly, can be some of our best weather of the summer, plus everything is finally green at that point. You know, we don't have snow, but everything's so Brown, and that's just going to last until May, yeah? So yes, it's like summer, but we don't it's not as crazy as July is, yeah? But again, kind of, kind of the other book end of that September can be amazing as well, yeah, but those bookends of the season are great, yep. Okay,

Jennie Flaming: 43:24

so I know I said we were going to come back to food and drink, and I know it's really tough, because Homer has a lot of great stuff, but Silas, let's start with you this time. Let's say you were only going to have a day to eat in Homer. I know it's impossible. Where, where would you go for your different meals?

Unknown: 43:48

Oh, my this. This

Jennie Flaming: 43:49

is my Homer food crawl by Silas.

Unknown: 43:53

This is such a hard one, I know. Um, yeah, Homer has an incredible food scene. There are so many options a day is not enough, so don't do that, but hypothetically, if it was all you did. I don't know, Wild Honey Bistro is one that I keep coming back to here recently. They're an excellent breakfast option. They do crepes and sandwiches, and they have a bakery and espresso. They're in Old Town, Homer, so that's a great option. So maybe I would go there for breakfast, for lunch. Oh, my goodness, there's fat olives. You could go to a place down on the spit where there's amazing fish and chips, any kind of seafood, and a couple other pizza options as well. So I'd probably head down there for for one of those for dinner, maybe coming back into old town, AJs has a really nice dinner atmosphere. VITAS, Thai food is one of my favorite places just to sit down for a relaxing dinner. Or, again, one of the higher end restaurants on the spit the chart room at Land's End. Or. Captain, patties for some seafood. But again, I mean goodness, I could go on for food options and all. Yes,

Jennie Flaming: 45:09

so Well, those are some really good ones. Love it. Okay, Mina, how about you same impossible question, do your best.

Unknown: 45:18

Sure, I can definitely let you know what I would recommend tourists who want to experience world class dining, you know I really feel like in Homer, you have like the best of the best of what you would try to experience like on the east coast at a seafood restaurant or at a fine dining restaurant, like even in New York, because that we have really talented chefs. So some favorites in town are the broken or which is like an oyster bar with a lot of seafood dishes right above the water. The cannery grill is a local one in Homer that's got incredible drinks and seafood, and they infuse a lot of creativity in there. A classic that's been around for decades is boardwalk fish and chips. For your fish and chips one of the most, more high end, hard to get into dinner options is fresh catch cafe on the spit. Um, Captain Patty's is a classic one that tourists love to go to for the seafood experience as well. A really fun, like locally infused seafood restaurant on the spit is law baleen cafe. And you know, beyond that, there's still a ton more. So we do have a really up and coming food truck scene as well, so that those are fun to hit as well. And then we have some cute cafes. I mean, we used to have more, but definitely the cafes are something to hit, like everything from the Kraken out east to two sisters in town, got a new one in town. But the cafes are fun because they give you an experience of like the Homer vibe community, yeah, the chillness of Homer, but I will say My personal favorite is VITAS Thai food. It's funny. There's all these jokes that we have three Thai restaurants in town. We don't need more, but I am just a sucker for Asian food. So I love it,

Jennie Flaming: 47:40

yes, and people who've listened to this podcast for a while know that many parts of Alaska have excellent Thai food, and that is kind of a theme. So it doesn't surprise me that you're a fan of the Homer options as well. Well, that is an awesome list of restaurants. Thank you so much. Okay, last, but not least, favorite Homer activity. So let's say, for like you personally, it's your day off. It's summer, it's June, let's say, or maybe May.

Unknown: 48:18

What are you going to be doing? I'm I can go first. My number one thing that I want to do and that I want my friends who are visiting to do is go kayaking. We did touch on how incredible kayaking is, but the sea kayaking experience of capture Back Bay is unlike any like kayaking, I feel like you can experience in the States, unless you're like on the sea on the east coast or west coast. That's my favorite activity. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 48:59

love it. Okay, so kayaking,

Unknown: 49:02

wait and making sure that you plan it with a sunset, definitely that. Yes.

Jennie Flaming: 49:09

Great tip. Love it. Okay, Silas, you're gonna get the last word. What are you gonna do for your perfect your on your perfect homework day?

Unknown: 49:19

Yeah, if it's perfect, like, yeah, getting across the bay, either for kayaking or hiking, is amazing. What I'm more end up actually doing, honestly, is heading down to this pit and getting gelato at sunset.

Jennie Flaming: 49:30

Yes,

Unknown: 49:31

that's more where I end up, right? It's easy, and Carmen's is open till 11 at night, and so it's easy and it's beautiful, and it's the best gelato in the world. So

Jennie Flaming: 49:43

awesome. Love it well. Mina and Silas, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing all about your hometown, Homer. It was really fun having you and chatting with you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank

Unknown: 49:59

you. Yes, yeah, thank you for having us. It was a blast. We we love Homer so much. And there's, there's, honestly, we could have been talking to you all night. Yes, so but, but this was great, and we truly do recommend checking out our visitor guide online, at home, alaska.org, Silas and I put so much work and love into picking out the photos and making sure that it really does represent how incredible Homer is.

Jennie Flaming: 50:32

Yes, love it, and it'll be in the show notes so folks can find it really easily. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Mina and Silas as much as I did. Conversations with people like them is what keeps us going here at Alaska uncovered and really makes this podcast special and unique. We'd love to have your support in keeping us going by joining our Patreon and becoming a member, you can find the link in the show notes. Thank you So much for listening. You