We drove 6 hours south of Anchorage, down the Kenai Peninsula, to Homer. This small fishing village has turned into a tourist Mecca during Alaska’s very brief summer. The stunning scenery of glacier covered mountains make for a beautiful backdrop for this end of the world location. This is the most beautiful harbor we’ve seen anywhere in the world.
The local population is made up of old hippies, artists, and well tanned fishermen. I think this is the last place in America where you can camp free on the beach with no restrictions. One campers driftwood shack had smoke coming from a fire, he’d obviously been there for a while. You can also drive on the beach. Alaska has a live and let live attitude, there seem to be far fewer laws and regulations in general. You see pot smokers outside with the cigarette smokers, liquor and beer can be purchased to go at any saloon. RV travelers can pull over anywhere and sleep. There are no vehicle inspections. Lots of individual freedom.
The ocean is surprisingly blue, almost a tropical color, and the freezing cold water is crystal clear. We walked for 2 miles up a beach and saw no trash whatsoever, nothing man made or discarded at all. We’ve never seen such a clean beach anywhere in the world, wow. Not only are the locals being conscientious, there was no ocean trash from distant civilization.
We took a ferry across a huge bay to Seldovia, a tiny fishing village ( population 255 ) . There are no roads to the outside world, you either fly in on a seaplane or come on a ferry, About half the population is Indians , who say they’ve occupied the area ” forever “. We spent the day hiking, very enjoyable. There were no Grizzly bears in the area.
There are hundreds of isolated coastal villages like this. Supplies are only able to be brought in during the brief summer. Flat bottom barge like boats, with ramps capable of beach landing, bring in supplies, fuel trucks, containerized shipping etc. It was fascinating to walk around the harbor .
We found a place that rented nice little cabins with ocean and mountain views . We enjoyed the luxury of a full kitchen, dining out was super pricey. The local seafood was delicious. We spent almost a week here, it never got above 55. Sweaters sell better than t shirts ! 
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