Homer's Best Bets </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 9:42 AM on Thursday, June 25, 2009

Homer's Best Bets

When the sun shines, the waves lap at the shore and the weekly story list hasn't reached critical deadline status, a distant voice calls from the Homer Spit. "Photo safari, photo safari," it whispers.

It would take more than wax in our ears to resist that call. Why, there are boat-of-the-week pix to shoot. Someone needs to get a file shot of the bare concrete chip pad before smashed cars fill up the yard. A photo of the fuel dock? Yes ma'am, it's a tough job, but one of us will tear ourselves away from our desks.

Photo by Michael Armstrong

Michael Walsh sings and plays guitar at the opening of "Facing the Elements," the Pratt Museum's outdoor art exhibit, last Friday.

Three hours later, digital camera card bursting to overflowing, an intrepid reporter returns from the Spit. Holy Time Sink! What with the 10-minute drive, finding a parking spot and strolling along the boardwalk, you just can't dash out and back to the Spit. There are, uh, distractions, like a monster halibut someone just hauled in, famous TV celebrities greeting adoring fans or yet another cute dog to photograph.

Yeah, the Spit isn't the be-all and end-all of summer tourism in Homer, and there's life a-plenty in Old Town and Pioneer Avenue. The Spit has its own magic, though, a little bit of Coney Island, Pioneer Square and Boston Harbor combined with eagles, glaciers and sea otters. To truly appreciate it, take a trip in high summer.

Every neighborhood on the lower Kenai Peninsula becomes magical in summer. From devil's club fronds to birch and alder leaves, vegetation glows an intense, fluorescent green. Lupines, forget-me-nots, chocolate lilies and violets are in full bloom. Even on a dreary, overcast day, fog pokes its little tendrils into coves and valleys, begging for a Zen poet to write a haiku.

We're in full flower now, as if you hadn't figured that out by now, and like the land, grasshopper, there's plenty happening, like some of these Best Bets:

BEST HOMER ORIGINAL BET: The Kilcher family is Homer's own von Trapp family of musicians. There's a lot of history in the clan. Learn about the Kilchers and see their original homestead when they hold this month's Homer Chamber of Commerce mixed from 5-7 p.m. today at the Kilcher Homestead Living Museum, Mile 11.7 East End Road.

BEST RUN TO THE BAY BET: Slow down on the Spit Saturday morning as runners for the annual Homer News Spit Run zip out to Land's End. The race starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Homer High School. Haven't signed up? Register to run or walk at 8:30 a.m. Stick around after the race for the big party on the Land's End Resort deck and watch the Land's End Regatta at 1:30 p.m.

BEST GO OUT AND PLAY BET: Through her Homer Wilderness Leadership School, Libby Bushell is doing her dangdest to make sure kids get some good ol' fashioned outdoor exercise, Alaska style. Help the kids out with a HoWL! Fundraiser from 6-10 p.m. Friday at Alaskan Yurt Village. Rockin' Rudy, CTTC and Camp Awesome play; a $5 donation is asked. All proceeds benefit the HoWL! scholarship program.

BEST GO INSIDE FOR A PLAY BET: After a long, hot day on the bay, relax inside with a Pier One Theatre play. This week Youth Theatre Director Taneeka Hanson shows off what her kids have learned in "All New Flavor of Pomegranate Crush." It shows at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the little red theater on the Spit.

BEST JUDGE JUDY BET: Well, actually that's the Honorable Judge Margaret Murphy, our local district court judge. If you want to meet the judge and the clerks of the court in a situation that does not involve lawyers, police, the DA or jury duty, stop by for cake and punch as they show off the newly remodeled courthouse at 3 p.m. Friday. A new superior courtroom has been added for those big felony trials, and the old courtroom redone.

Homer's Best Bets