Hooked on Homer

We arrived and docked in Homer at 10 am which meant for a nice, relaxed breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. After eating, we gathered our belongings and headed to the end of the pier where we were to meet for our scheduled tour. This was one of only two ship’s tours that I purchased, Best of the Bay. We were soon on our boat, The Discovery, and on our way. 

Brian and I sat on the upper deck where there were probably only 15 people. Not crowded at all and we had easy access to the sides and front of the boat for viewing sights along the way. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Homer, sunny, but a little cool. As we boated out of the harbor, we passed our cruise ship which made for some nice pictures. 

Across the water, our first viewing area was Gull Island, aptly named for hundreds of sea gulls as well as other species of sea birds. My main interest for the day was to see puffins, which we did right away. There weren’t a lot of them, but we did see 4-5 in the waters. Cute little birds. There were also Common Murres, interesting birds themselves. The Murres “lined up” on the sea. As our boat motored around the island, if we came near to them they just casually dived underwater, not seeming to be frightened or bothered by us at all.

                                                 Gull Island...Sea gulls, Common Murres

                                                              Tufted Puffin

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                                                    Common Murre

After viewing these birds on the island, we headed off for more sights. Soon, we spotted a whale spout off in the distance. We were able to get a little closer, just in time for the whale to surface and then dive, giving us some nice shots of the tail flip that every photographer wants to capture. We also came across several sea otters as we boated around the bay. So cute!

                                                                 Sea Otter

As we traveled around the bay, we did see two different whales dive, several sea otters, eagles, and three Black Oyster Catchers. Even without all the wildlife that we saw, the scenery would have been enough. It was breathtakingly beautiful in every direction. A stunning day of nature. 

When we returned, we took a nice long walk around the harbor and to the end of Homer Spit. Truly a beautiful little town, surrounded by mountains and the sea. We stopped at a restaurant and had lunch out on the patio, enjoying the view of the harbor, mountains, and sea. Lunch over, we made our way back to where a shuttle picked us up and took us back to our ship. Tired, but very satisfied with this beautiful day, we took a nice late afternoon nap, leaving Homer at 5:30. This was a new port for us and we would love to come back some day.

                                                    

                                                                      Halibut

Dinner this evening was Le Cirque in the Pinnacle Grill. For this one night of the cruise, they change the menu and decorations to replicate the popular New York restaurant, Le Cirque. It was delicious. I had lobster salad as a starter, chilean sea bass for my main entree, and creme brûlée for dessert. Brian had a caesar salad chateaubriand for his main course and a chocolate souffle. Scrumptious!!

We took in the entertainment at the showroom which was a juggler/comedian. Mildly entertaining. We haven’t been very impressed with the shows, therefore most evenings we just go back to our cabin and watch videos or read. We’re boring!