7/18/2009 The Girls Go Shopping

Today was the "GIRLS DAY". We left to go to Homer around 11:30 I guess. Main thing on our list of things to get was corn on the cob from Safeway. The corn we had from there yesterday was so good we're hoping to get corn from the same batch.

Dan was pulling "first mate" duties for his brother Fred today and Bob decided to stay home since it was an overcast, drizzly day anyway.

Our first stop was the outside Farmers Market going on in Homer. It wasn't a huge market by any means, heck it wasn't even a large market. In fact, by most outdoor Farmer's Markets this was, well, to put it bluntly, damn small. Maybe 20 booths all totaled. Several booths of hand crafted jewelry, fresh veggies were sold in a couple places, homemade jams and jellies filled another booth, hand knitted items filled yet another as did a leather goods stand. One booth in particular caught my eye. When you see the picture you'll understand why.

Lin and I both bought butter crunch lettuce at a very good price so I was happy with that. Darlene bought a bag of kettle corn and I believe a souvenir for a loved one back home.

From there we drove out to the Spit and started going through the little shops looking for souvenir T-shirts for Darlene, Lin wanted to buy another blanket and I was most interested in taking pictures.

A wood carving of fisherman and halibut.

We noticed a crowd gathering down the boardwalk in front of a shop called the Time Bandit.

As I got closer I was excited to see why! Time Bandit is the name of one of the crabbing boats on the TV show Deadliest Catch. Its a Discovery Channel show about those that work the crabbing boats off the coast of Alaska in the dead of winter hauling up those huge crabs. If you haven't ever tuned into this show I would highly recommend it. Its just good entertainment and you really do have boats and crews that you root for. It is a competition between the boats to see who brings in the most crabs but that is secondary to the comedy and drama that plays out every week as you watch these guys do this cold, dangerous job week after week. It turned out that Captain Andy Hillstrand was there! In the flesh! He's my favorite Captain out of all of them. I got to meet him and even had my picture taken with him. I'm kicking myself now for not buying a T-shirt and have him sign it as he was doing that time and time again for others.

Our next stop was the Salty Dawg across the street. We didn't stop in for a drink or something to eat, we were in need of the ladies room and I wanted to take pictures.

This is another one of those bars where thousands of dollar bills are tacked to the walls.

The building has served many capacities over the years since it was built in 1897. It has served as post office, a train station, a grocery store, a school house and office space for a few different companies. For the last 52 years it has served as home to the Salty Dawg Saloon. A world famous landmark on the Homer Spit. It has been featured several times on The Deadliest Catch. I think Bob and I will have to make it a point to have lunch here. Or at least a beer and a soda.

The outside of the building.

The lighthouse attached to the building on the opposite side. Actually this was built to cover up a water tower but the light in it does work so I don't know if this really a functional lighthouse or not.

Some random shot around the building.

A few inside shots.

There's a lot of money on these walls and more is added every day.

A sign that just stood out.

A look at the harbor.

Random shots from around town.

Of course there were some flowers I just had to take some pictures of.

So that was a peek at Homer. Bob and I are moving there tomorrow. We want to experience Homer up close and personal and there's no better way to do that than spending some time on the Spit.

So today I got a quick glimpse of what the Spit has to offer and I noticed dozens and dozens of photo opportunities when I have the time to stroll the main drag while Bob fishes the lagoon.