A Day at The Spit

August 23, 2012
At 5 am we pull into Sal's Klondike Diner in Soldotna, AK. We're tired, cold, and hungry. We order coffee first and foremost, then choose different breakfast plates. We are the only customers. Sal's isn't a big fancy place, but it's warm and cozy, the portions big and yummy, and the staff friendly. The waitress is young and happy, especially considering the early hour. She strikes up a conversation after we are on mug #2 of wake up juice. We chat there for an hour at least and head to visit the local grocery store. I am especially excited about this for a couple of reasons. We had heard food was more expensive and we needed to figure that into our new living expenses. I had also heard that they carried the best peanut butter in the world. Previously I have had to travel to Columbia, Myrtle Beach, or Kentucky to get my peanut butter so I had to know if I was actually going to be able to get it in my new hometown. It was really there!!! Now, I know in your head you are picturing a rinky dink general store type grocery. FM (Freddie's to locals) isn't like that at all. It is actually quite large. It is most comparable to a supercenter type store. Groceries, clothes, sporting goods, a cafe, you name it, they've got it. Even a Star**** coffee. Yes you read that right. We were pleased to find that the grocery prices were pretty much the same as at home. There were, of course, items that were more expensive, like fresh tomatoes, orange juice, and milk, but the sales were the same. I was thrilled. Andrew picked up some new boot socks, I got an orange water bottle for our trip and we got back in the car.
We were now driving down the coast towards Homer. Along the sides of the road were views to die for. Snow-capped mountains, evergreen trees, fireweed. We were hoping to see a bear or a moose, but no such luck. We stopped when we saw a sign for beach access. Everything looked abandoned, too late in the season I suppose. We walked along the sand a bit and spotted a juvenile bald eagle (shown in my last post). It was beautiful. We didn't stay too long, as the wind was a little chilly and we really wanted to get to our next stop. Homer (pictured above) is an adorable fishing town with a definite hippy feel. We had been told about a cool bar on The Spit ( the bit of land, like a peninsula, that acts as Homer's pier ) that we wanted to check out. We had to drive up and down The Spit a couple of times to find a parking space. The Salty Dog is a pub so small that we walked right past it twice. By small I am not simply referring to square footage, but it almost seemed like Andrew wouldn't be able to walk in the front door. It is basically an old sea shanty made for hobbits. We were there right as they were opening and as we walked in, we were shocked. Every surface of the place ( except for table tops and bars where food would be placed ) was covered with dollar bills. When the bar first opened, it was a common meeting place for fisherman, visiting friends, lovers, etc. Sometimes, fate being what it is, one individual wouldn't show so the person that was then drinking alone would get a dollar bill, write their friend's name on it and hang it on the wall. Then the next time their friend came to The Salty Dog they would have a drink paid for. Cute, right? Well, this has gone on for years and now it is tradition to hang up a bill with a name Then when there is no more space left, management takes down all the bills and the money is donated to local charities. Now, does your bar do that? I don't think so. So of course, we hung up a bill with the kids name on it and sent them a picture. Andrew drank a beer ( a little too early for me ) and we left planning on getting some food. We had halibut on the brain, seeing that Homer is the halibut fishing capital of the world, but we are cheap and halibut is not. So we settled on sandwiches and started our drive back up the coast to our B&B in Nikiski.