Here There and Everywhere

Alaska 2026: Wonders En Route to Homer, Alaska

We awake to a different day, warm, with fog rising off the water.

We have a sweet farewell breakfast up at Northern Lights B&B (Sarah manages several allied B&Bs in the same area as Front Row B&B) with Sarah, and we pack up for our short drive to Homer. 

We have a couple of errands to run as we leave town, and AdventureMan indulges me, I want a photo of the big new cruise ship that has arrived in Seward.

Seward is tourist-friendly, with its train terminal, trolley, good restaurants, and lots and lots to do and see. They recently built a much larger dock, with which to welcome much larger cruise ships. It has caused some controversy, as when a big ships come in, the tourists outnumber Seward residents. Just after we left, the Celebrity Millenium arrived, and sadly, an endangered whale was caught in her propeller, and died, stuck there. Seward loves their whales, visible from most homes and businesses lining the channel. It’s a sad circumstance.

We also need to stop on our way out of town at the Safeway; my lips are dry and I’ve used all my Vaseline. My pens are all leaking on my hands, my purse, ruining anything I write by hand, so I need to pick up some pens I can leave behind. And the local grocery stores are just fun.

Driving past the entrance to Exit Glacier, we get back on Alaska 1S to Homer, spotting elk along the highway and fervent fishermen heading to the salmon-rich rivers and through Cooper Landing and Soldotna.

Heading south from Soldotna, we start to see the far-off beginnings of the volcanic mountains heading down a long chain to form the Aleutian Islands. The day is sunny, and the view is stunning. Every new perfect snow-clad mountain is showing off for us on this gorgeous day. 

We keep trying to find a good spot to stop and take a photo – the frustration of trying to capture the wonder of a chain of perfect mountains is a challenge. AdventureMan spots a Russian Chapel and says “Let’s try here!” 

We drive down to a church, an onion-domed chapel, and a much larger church overlooking an old village. As I walk out to a vantage point, another group drives up in a van, from one of the cruise ships, to have a picnic on the church grounds. We stroll around, loving the old cemetary surrounding the old Russian church, and the new military veterans cemetary under creation. We’re not that far from Homer, so we head on, gassing up in the roadside version of Ninilchik, at one of the Three Bears (Shell gas) stops we see so often selling gas, groceries, and the variety of items people living in relative isolation might need.

As we come into Homer, still a little early for our hotel, we spot Fat Olive’s. We’ve never eaten at Fat Olives, but we’ve tried, and it has been too full too many times. This time, we are in luck. We are eager for some Tomato Basil Soup. I have something called The Trio, and AdventureMan has the meatball pan, sizzling hot out of the oven. It’s all served with more sourdough bread, so much food that as good as it is, we pack up enough to take with us for dinner.

Welcome to the Ocean House Inn; we can’t get out of the car because there is a moose crossing the parking lot to get to the roses.

The Ocean House Inn is on a bluff, high above the water, looking out at the Homer Spit.

It is small, and beautiful. We love our room, which has a small refrigerator, microwave, and a coffee maker, with some cups and utensils – enough that we can work with. Life is sweet.

We settle in, sit outside on our deck, enjoying not-driving. The sun is shining – this is something to celebrate in Alaska. The mountains across Katchemak Bay are gleaming. We have neighbors, but they are all very quiet. 

On our way into town, we got a call from the people we are going on a bay Wilderness Game tour the next day, asking if we would like to be moved to an afternoon tour, they have room. Oh no, we respond, we prefer the mornings. “Uh, OK,” they say. I can worry about anything; I am a little worried the boat is overloaded or something.

We take a quick drive to 2 Sisters Bakery, only to find it closed about ten minutes before we got there, and we hit the local Safeway to pick up some milk and granola. The Homer Safeway is a happening place on a Friday afternoon, and lots of fun. 

So late Friday night that it is actually two Saturday morning, I get up to check if I can see the aurora borealis; reports say with sun activity, the borealis should be very active. Alas, at two in the morning, it is not dark, just a glimmery grey and no aurora borealis is to be seen.

You can still see the bay and the mountains. No aurora borealis.

June 30, 2026 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Alaska, Beauty, Cultural, Hotels, Photos, Restaurant, Road Trips, Travel, Wildlife | Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Fat Olive's, Homer, Homer Safeway, Homer Spit, Kenai Peninsula, Moose, Ocean House Inn, volcanic mountains