The Cultured Girl

The destination: Located just south of Anchorage, jutting into the Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula is an easily digestible slice of the country’s most massive state. The land itself is dominated by the massive ice fields of Kenai Fjords National Park and rounded out by rushing rivers, snow-capped mountains, and evergreen forests. Along the coast, quaint seaside towns, most notably Homer and Seward, offer plenty of redneck hippy hospitality.

What to do: Outdoor activities abound, including biking, kayaking, rafting, and fishing. There’s plenty of hiking as well, including the Harding Icefields and the Exit Glacier (below) at Kenai Fjords park, as well as Kachemak Bay State Park, which can be accessed from Homer by boat. It’s not unlikely that you’ll run into a moose or two or even, god forbid, a bear.
A whole other level of exploration can be found in the towns. Downtown Seward is more charming, with mountainous ocean backdrops, while Homer’s main selling point is the so-called “Spit,” 5 miles worth of beach-shanty bars and fishing boats that’s perhaps the world’s narrowest strip of land.

How to get there: Book a flight into Anchorage and rent a car in which to road-trip the peninsula. From there, it’s about 5 hours to Homer and 3 hours to Seward. Most of the drive is majestic, though some stretches of highway look more like Mississippi.
Where to eat and drink: The local cuisine of the Kenai Peninsula can be summed up pretty simply: halibut, beer, salmon, Alaska King Crab, and beer. You can get your halibut or salmon fix in almost any form, from tacos to blackened fillets to burgers. (For the latter, try the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake in Seward.) If you’re after more classic preparations, try Captain Pattie’s on the Spit; the King Crab starts at $44 and it’s worth every penny. Another great find is the Fresh Sourdough Express, a Homer breakfast institution offering massive baked goods and just about everything homemade—even the granola. Just be sure to find time to enjoy a local microbrew at the sawdust-covered floors of the Salty Dawg (below).

Where to stay: To really experience the local culture, skip the Days Inn and stay at one of the many roadhouse/hostel establishments that cater to local backpackers. In Homer, there’s Mossy’s Seaside Farm (below), a collection of cabins overlooking the water and overseen by a mellow hippy; in Seward, try the Moby Dick Hostel or the rough-and-tumble, but comfortable, Kate’s Roadhouse.

When to go: May through early June. Oddly, the Kenai is a big RV destination, so the roads can get pretty crammed later in the summer. But the tourist season starts in May, along with the impossibly long days. The sun does as much setting its going to do around midnight (leaving the sky a sort of dusky dark blue) and hovers on the horizon until 4 a.m. It’s a wonderfully weird experience and good for sightseeing too.