Day 115 – July 3 (Alaska Day 24) – Seldovia

We had a 50 percent discount for the ferry from Homer to Seldovia and return trip so we thought it would be fun to go see the small town of Seldovia.  It is located on the Kenai Peninsula southwest of Homer.  You can only reach the town by boat or airplane.  There are roads and cars in the town but they are not connected to any other road system. 

Homer Spit from the ferry

I said the town was small; the total area is about .6 square mile with a population from the 2010 census of 255 people.  It was a booming town until the 1964 Good Friday earthquake when the land mass dropped six feet.  The community was linked by a wooden boardwalk with businesses and homes on both sides of the boardwalk.  According to Wikipedia, “The sudden sinking of the land caused higher tides, peaking at 32 feet, to completely submerge the boardwalk and flood the homes and businesses along the waterfront. The waterfront was rebuilt (known at the time as "urban renewal") using fill from Cap's Hill, which was demolished to rebuild the town on higher ground. There is only one small portion of the boardwalk left; this section of the boardwalk was built decades after the original boardwalk and it is known to the townfolk as "the new boardwalk", even though it is now the only boardwalk. The original boardwalk is completely gone, destroyed during the urban renewal process, along with many homes and businesses.

Seldovia has been home to many industries, including fox farming, berry picking and commercial fishing, including King Crab fishing.”

To say we were all disappointed is being kind.  We were under the impression there were gift shops and restaurants catering to the summer tourist trade.  There were more businesses for sale than those open for business.  Dorrie and I thought the place was depressing.

A couple of photos of Seldovia from the ferry

Dorrie and I walked the complete town in less than 90 minutes, taking time to visit 4 of the town’s parks.

View from one of the city parks

Historic boardwalk 

Planters on boardwalk 

Dorrie on a king salmon

A fish jumping for tourist in the bay

A cabin not far from the old church (not typical of the homes)

The best part of the day was watching a Bald Eagle.  We watched it land in a tree and then get run out of the tree by some smaller birds (Black Birds, Ravens, or Crows, not sure what) and move to a pier over the water.  Then the eagle chased a seagull, and I think the eagle stole something from the gull and landed on another post to eat.  It started flying again and then it was chased out of the area by what I think was an osprey.

Hard to see, the eagle was after the gulls

Flaring for the landing

Watching the birds helped pass the 2 hours we had remaining to wait for the return trip to Homer.  The ferry docked about noon and started the return trip to Homer at 4:30.