Homer, AK (I will be going back there)

Frenchy's cousins are in town and spent the night here in Sterling last night. They're from Texas and weren't enjoying the chilly air here. It's hot as hell in Texas, so I don't blame them. We had a fire out back and made food and s'mores, which is a perfect night for me. They didn't make it out there for too long, though, so it was just Frenchy and me for most of the time. It was chilly even for here, about 45, but it wasn't that bad, especially by the fire. Oh well, they caught up on TV watching while I got to eat delicious s'mores. Their loss.

Today we drove down to Homer, which was just a beautiful drive. The volcanoes across the cook Inlet are visible from parts of the road there and when you get to the outskirts of Homer the trees just open up to an amazing panoramic view of all of it. I'll upload pictures later. There were eagles galore, too. We saw a few perched on top of trees, one in a nest and several others flying around. A few actually flew along with us for a distance, which was cool. I tried to get a picture but I failed miserably. The way the feathers on the very tips of their wings curl up when they fly looks so neat. I love how people always get excited when they see an eagle. I think I get more excited now than ever before, even though I see them pretty regularly.

Homer is what I've been looking for in my journey. Every town I go to I keep thinking it'll be cutsey and have a nice little artsy downtown. Every town I'd been to before Homer was nothing but gas stations, grocery stores, fish processing and mechanics. Oh, and usually a taxidermist in there someplace, too. Which reminds me, I uttered a phrase I never thought would come out of my mouth. I said, "I'll just ask the local taxidermist, I'm sure there's one in town." First off, at home I'd never assume there's a taxidermist and second, I don't refer to anything as "in town." Here I have to drive to get to anything, so it's normal to say that. okay, back to my original train of thought. In Homer I finally found the cute little artsy town I was looking for. They have lots of cool little shops and really good food places.

Speaking of food, we went to lunch while we were there. We stopped into a place called the Spit-Fire Grill which had great sandwiches and good desserts. Unfortunately, I was the only one that wanted to go there. On we moved to a little cafe that was really neat, called Spit Sisters Cafe. Everything has Spit in the name because Homer is on a spit, which is a piece of land that extends out into water. Sort of like Nahant, but it's long and thin, with room for just one road down the middle with stuff on either side. Everyone vetoed that cafe, too, because there wasn't really enough sitting room. I was all for getting something and sitting on the benches to eat. It was a little cool because it's right on the water, but it would have been perfect in the sun. Oh well. We walked across the street and went to a sit down restaurant where everyone ordered fried food but me. I hate fried seafood. Seafood is usually such a delicate flavor that I think frying it just kills the whole experience. I got baked halibut with dill sauce and it was very good. Halibut is a white fish and it's extremely mild. I also got a beer that's made in Homer. Surprisingly, they make wine there, as well. It's berry wine, which I usually hate, but it's still neat. I also got a cup of chowder in lieu of cole slaw and french fries, which was also pretty good. After noting that the chowder was so thick I could stand my spoon up in it, her cousin tried to tell me that it's supposed to be that way. Puhhhhlease. I just simply told him I'm from Boston. I didn't think he'd need more explanation since I had already said it was the thickest I'd ever seen. C'mon, if I've never seen it like that, chances are it's not supposed to be like that. Chowdah, it's all we got.

I'm really critical of people's eating habits. I usually don't say anything out loud, though, that's just bad form. I'm pretty sure I picked that one up from the Bartlett side of the family. Especially because I'm even more critical if they're overweight. I really don't like that I do it, but I can't help it. It's especially stupid because I eat my fair share of bad foods, too. Balance is key, though. We stopped at a gas station that had fountain Dr Pepper, so of course I had to get some. Any time I see fountain Dr Pepper I'm allover it. It's the one soda I really like. Every size was 99cents, so I got the biggest one because A) it's funny to have a 44oz soda and b) who cares if I don't drink it all, it's the same price. I was laughing at the size when I got to the car and the response was, "oh, that's nothing, I drink the 64oz size." They were both on the larger side. I feel like such an evil person, but I just want to say, "yeah, no shit, I can tell," or, "no wonder!" Really, I feel like such a jerk when I think these things in my head, but I suppose it would be a lot worse if I actually said them. It's no excuse, but I'll just tell myself that for now to feel like less of a schmuck than I am.

The cousins didn't quite keep up with our speed, but we all still had a good time. We stopped at a bunch of places on the way, one of which was an art gallery this woman had in her house overlooking a stunning view of Mt. Iliamna (it could have been Mt. Spurr or Mt. Redoubt. not so sure on that one). She did beadwork and it was all really neat. She also had some small antiques. I picked up this little two compartment silver pill case and opened it up to find mysterious white powder residue. hmmmmm. Didn't explore that one any further. I used her bathroom. . . which was an outhouse. Another phrase I never thought I'd say: "Your outhouse is so cute." I seem to be saying a lot of phrases I never thought I'd utter ( I originally typed that as udder by mistake. haha!). The outhouse was cute, though. Peeing in a hole in the ground has never been so splendid.