Day 36
Wednesday, July 13
Homer

Oh what a wonderful thing a free day is!! We slept late, had coffee down by the beach overlook, had a leisurely breakfast and finally left to visit the big town of Homer around 12:00. It is so abnormal to not be up and going by 8:00! Robert and Bet went with us to the Spit to see what there was to see. Quite honestly, there wasn't much to see! The Spit is a 3 mile strip of man-made land that sticks out into the Cook Inlet. It varies in width from a few hundred feet to about 1/4 of a mile and is covered with RV parks, souvenier shops, restaurants, charter fishing shops, and marinas.  Basically it is one big tourist trap! We spent a couple of hours walking between stores and watching the people.  
  Around 1:00 we decided that we needed to find someplace to eat. The number one priority for Bet and Jenna was that a bathroom be on the premesis - not our port-a-potty. We found one restaurant that looked good, but as we climbed the steps we noticed that not only were there no cars in the parking lot, but there were very few people inside. One look at the menu convinced us to keep looking. Most items on the menu exceeded $20 - too much for what we wanted for lunch. After a few more failed attempts we decided that McDonald's might be our best bet. On the way I noticed a diner that looked promising. After we confirmed the presence of a restroom we decided to give it a try. Jenna's cheeseburger and fries and my fish and chips (fries) was $24. Still high, but OK.

After lunch we went looking for an eagle's nest we had been told about. After 20 minutes of looking and not finding the nest we decided to go to the Bear Creek Winery for a little tasting session. The Bear Creek Winery is known for its variety of wines made in Alaska with imported grapes and a variety of locally grown fruits. When we arrived at the winery we were all blown away by the view from the parking lot.
  The trees parted and we were able to see across the Cook Inlet to the mountains covered with snow and burdened with a huge glacier. It was a spectacular view. Equally spectacular was the yard and flowers around the owner's home. A women working in the flowerbed invited us to tour the gardens. It was immaculately manicured and covered with a variety of wildflowers all in bloom.   A huge blue wild geranium was planted next to the front steps, and wild daisies, buttercups, and irises were scattered about the yard.
 
Also scattered about were large bears cut out of tree trunks. The one I liked best was a bear peeking out of a hole in the ground.