Making our way to the Aleutians

The Aleutian Islands stretch from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula nearly to Russia. There essentially are no roadways in the Alaska Peninsula, much less bridges connecting the Aleutian Islands. So, the only way to get to them is by sea or by air. We decided to fly to Homer and catch the Alaska Ferry which is pretty much the commercial lifeline to the communities on the Peninsula and out in the Aleutians.

Since we hadn’t been in Homer for nearly 10 years we decided to see if any of our old haunts were still there. While a bit foggy, we were able to remember the feel of Homer, if not specific places. We hopped on a narrated trolley that circled town and got refreshed. However, we didn’t need the narrated trolley to remember this place – not a hang out for us back then, but how could you possibly pass this up?

We had almost 10 hours to kill in Homer between the arrival of our flight and the departure of the ferry. We thought we would book a room at the hotel next to the ferry dock, just to have a warm spot to relax and store our bags. But we didn’t consider Alaska in the short summer season – fully booked! At least they were willing to hold our bags while we strolled around town and didn’t even charge us! As the time of embarkation came, we spotted two possible ferry boats nearby that could be ours. Sadly, it turned out to be the small one in the foreground, the Tustumena, and not the larger one in the background.

Our first stop was one place I always wanted to visit, Kodiak Alaska. Kodiak is an island far south of the Alaska Peninsula in the North Pacific Ocean. With a population of over 6,000 it is the largest city due east of the mainland. This island had been inhabited by the Alutiiq for over 7,000 years before being overpowered by the Russians beginning in 1763.

There are only 4 Russian Orthodox Churches that still stand on American soil. One of them is in Kodiak. We saw it as the ferry came into town, and we managed to find our way through town to see it. While significantly updated during WWII era, it was still a strong connection to the Russian heritage of this region.

We got lucky. A cruise ship was in town. They opened up the church so the cruise ship passengers could get a glimpse inside. Since we were old and white, we blended right in with the cruise ship folk and nobody asked any questions. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

We also found what is now referred to as the Baranov Museum. Kodiak was really established as a Russian settlement in 1793. Originally built as a storage magazine in 1810, it is the oldest Russian structure in North America. Over the centuries it changed hands many times and was primarily used as a personal residence. It is now referred to as the Baranov Museum named after Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, chief manage of the Russian-American Company who built the structure.

The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was on our bucket list – not near the top, but on there. We visited the only Visitor Center for the Refuge which happened to be located near the ferry in the city of Kodiak - Bonus! Now out to the islands!

Talk to you soon!