This is Cara again. Justin's been bearing the brunt of the last week or so of posts,, it's my turn. We loved Homer. Originally we were drawn to Homer because we heard that area is great for camping containing one of Alaska's most notorious campgrounds on the Homer spit...a three mile long and maybe quarter mile thick spit of land jutting out in the Kachemak Bay. There are a few of these spits around. They are created by glacial movements, and this one used to be much wider but the 1964 "Good Friday Earthquake" lowered the Homer spit considerably...submerging much of it. Big parenthesis --> ((As a note, we may or may not have mentioned the "Good Friday" earthquake of 1964. It's constantly mentioned all over Alaska, like it happened last year...and you can still see the effects of the quake. It registered over 9 on the ricter scale (HUGE) and lasted from 4-7 minutes depending on which account you're reading. Hundreds were killed by the quake, and by the ensuing tsunami waves which hit the Kenai Penninsula fishing towns hard. In Anchorage, there's a park called "earthquake park" which used to be a subdivision of homes...which were churned up and partially submerged into the soil in the earthquake. In aerial photos it looks like a big cake mixer just mixed up the soil. They cleared the ruins of the homes, and turned the area into a park and memorial. In Homer, Soldotna and Seward entire oceanfronts and boardwalks were washed away. )) It's hard to explain just what we loved so much about Homer, but it is our favorite town we've visited thus far. First off - we didn't camp. We drove out on the spit on a windy rainy afternoon. And I mean windy. Without any trees to protect, and just pebbly beach...we decided these camping spots were too seasonal for us. We headed back more inland to an in-town campground which is more protected by trees...only to find it closed. We then drove around with our rough guide open...looking at and calling the different hostels/inns in the area looking for a private room. (We've decided that although we're trying to be thrifty, spending nights in gender seperate dorm-style hostel rooms isn't our idea of a honeymoon.) We settled on the Driftwood Inn, which was GREAT. A wonderful little gem. It had nine rooms sharing two bathrooms, was affordable and adorable. Right on the beach, our window looked out over the ocean. A common room downstairs which we spent a bit of time in...and a microwave/kitchen area free for our use. The staff at the Driftwood Inn were just the nicest people. It's owned and run by a family of about three or four living generations from what we can tell. The "Grandpa Bob" of the family grew up in Homer. The Inn actually used to be three different buildings which were combined to turn into an inn...but one of the original buildings was a schoolhouse which Grandpa Bob attended when he was five. The woman who checked us in I think is Grandpa Bob's daughter, and her daughter or niece maybe also worked regularly. They walked us around the place pointing out all the details like the common-room TV, movies, the refrigerator, etc etc. Very cute. They also suggested little activities for us and regularly asked us how we were liking Homer and offering suggestions. We originally thought we'd like to maybe stay two nights, and ended up staying three. It was just so comfortable and fun and Homer had plenty to do. Homer's a fun little town, with a commercial and sport fishing emphasis, mixed with an extensive artist community. The mix is interesting and all the people were friendly and welcoming. Part of what was interesting to us is the fact that Homer is at the end of a highway. People are there not because it's on the way to somewhere...but because they want to be in Homer. It's a destination, not a way-point. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, to the guy in the liquor shop who gave us directions to a local brewery to try and get some beer for Justin's Poppa, to a woman in an art gallery who spent twenty minutes telling us about her life in a town a way off "Nicolevsky", and the Old Believers (Russian Orthodox folks who sought religious freedom in the Penninsula) she has gotten to know. We hit a cute little community museum, the Pratt Museum, which was actually quite neat and well done, focusing on oral history of the town in addition to the history of commercial fishing in the area, geographical processes creating the region, and a section of the museum telling stories of shipwrecks and memorializing those lost at sea. Complete with a seat cushion sewn by a woman who's son was killed at sea, and a box of tissues. We fell in love with the local businesses and art galleries. All are run by local people who are clearly very invested in their business and their community. We were lucky enough to be there for Homer's First Friday, all the local galleries featured artist's receptions with FREE FOOD! We gallery hopped all Friday evening, viewing the art and munching on free goodies. The town is so walkable, we only drove out to the spit. We were able to walk everywhere else including to all the galleries. It was on First Friday that we discovered (and fell in love with) Mead. There's a locally run and brewed (very locally, the two women who own the shop also cover the counter during the days and brew all the mead they sell) Meadery just down the street from the Driftwood Inn where we spent a good amount of time testing five or more different kinds of Mead. We both expected Mead to be a thick beer-ish sort of beverage, but in reality it is more like a wine...but sweeter and softer. Not technical terms, just my impressions. It's made from honey and water. And any flavoring (I've included Justin with a blueberry mead) is from local berries. So yummy. And very fun to chit-chat with the owners while they suggested different sorts of mead. We noticed a LCMS church as we pulled into town, and decided to attend church there Sunday morning. It was quite a neat little church, reminded us both of my Uncle Todd's church in Payson, AZ. The people were very friendly and they had the preschool kids singing that morning which is always so much fun to watch...it was just a good time. We left on Sunday, so after church we went to say goodbye to and have one more coffee at a great little coffee shop/bakery we frequented for three days called Two Sisters. Both of us were sad to leave Homer. A wonderful town.