It was arranged for us to take the Rainbow Tours
wildlife cruise, which takes you from Homer, around
some little islands in the bay, a stop in Seldovia
for lunch and sightseeing, and back.

For about $14 less (senior discount) I could have
taken a nonnature ride on the Marine Highway on the
Rusty Tusty, which we played tag with both ways, and
given how well I see, it might have been better to
opt for this and meet my people in Seldovia.

The main birding destination was Gull Island, one of
those godforsaken rocks whose only redeeming interest
is the birds (and centuries later, I guess, their guano).
The others saw plenty of birds, including, as I recall,
kittiwakes, plovers, guillemots, puffins, and glaucous
something gulls. Also a band of marauding eagles who, the
skipper/naturalist said, may prevent the breeding season
from happening this year. All I managed to see - one
puffin bill in the distance (I distinguish colors well).
There were a number of otter sightings, and when people
pointed these out to me, the best I could do was to point
a camera in the general direction and snap a picture for
investigation later. I wasn't very good but did get at
least one brown blob (even on magnification it was hard
to tell that they were otters) in four of five tries.

We docked in Seldovia at about the same time as the
Rustumena Tustumena, in time for a latish lunch. Most
passengers went to the Boardwlk Hotel Pub and Grill,
which is closest to the dock and thus very crowded.

Someone had done research that led us to the Linwood Bar
and Grill and Liquor Store, which has an interesting menu.
Unfortunately, once we were seated, we discovered that
there was an abbreviated holiday weekend menu. Our cohort
ordered mostly stuff like wings and beer, so that was fine.
My fish and chips, four pieces of local cod, was actually
quite good, with three pieces of fresh and tasty cod, and,
as they had run out, one of thawed but tasty halibut. The
chips were normal from a freezer bag, the price quite
reasonable. I had some kind of ale from Homer, pretty good.
Bob W ordered the special rack of ribs, which was very
attractively priced; after a bit of an interval our earnest
but somewhat inefficient waiter returned with the news that
they were out of ribs. I forget what Bob got; luckily for
Lilli, they were not out of ground beef, and she said her
burger was decent.

A walk through town to Seldovia Bridge (100% underwhelming)
and Seldovia Boardwalk (110% underwhelming), and we headed
back to the boat early, musing that this town was a tourist
trap that did everything wrong, including the prices, which
were low for Alaska, merely high average for the 48.

The boat went direct back to Homer; it was announced that
if there were nearby reported whale encounters, we would
detour to see them and could be up to half an hour late.
There were none, and we came in early enough to poke our
noses into the famous Salty Dawg, a low-ceilinged, crowded,
mephitic place that really has no appeal except for those
who like to experience dive bars without experiencing dive
bars. Most of us left without buying a drink and made a
beeline to the Homer Brewing Co., where I bought a growler
of stout, and Hermien bought a growler of pale ale, and
everyone had a fine old time, especially as the Jakolof Bay
Oyster Co. down the way has a shack in the side yard, where
I got three dozen of the finest for under $30 - that's the
place where none of the other partakers chipped in, which
didn't surprise me at all (the only one who volunteered
was Hermien, who was the only other one out of pocket, so I
declined her offer).
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