I finally had the opportunity to spend the 4th of July in Seward. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.
Why Seward?
A parade, food, beverages, fireworks, and the Mount Marathon race. Seward is the number one destination in Alaska to celebrate the 4th.
What made this day extra special is I was able to spend it with Jane, Kim, Shana, Todd, Mandy, Bob and Michelle.
The Mount Marathon race started out as a bar bet between a couple of sourdoughs in 1915 to see if someone could run up and down the 3,000 foot mountain under an hour. Today, it has morphed into an event that attracts world class athletes from around the world.
We watched history being made this year when Allie McLaughlin set a new women’s record. She completed the race in 47:09, which was nearly 40 seconds faster than the previous record.
Yup. That’s Gumby in the photo above. Remarkably, the costume stayed on for the entire race.
When the day was over, I was very happy to cross off the 4th of July in Seward from my “to do” list. Even better, I was able to experience it with such good friends. It was truly a wonderful day.
The rest of the week, Jane and I spent our time with Bob and Michelle seeing the sites on the Kenai Peninsula. The Salty Dawg Saloon is a must stop when you’re in Homer.
Bob sure likes to eat fish, but it’s the handling of the catch that he’s not too fond of. It’s been that way for the 40 years I’ve known him. This was as close as Bob got to touching a fish all week.
On Saturday, the four of us tried to catch a king salmon on the Kenai. We gave it a few hours and had no bites. Bob, who won’t touch fish said it was “perfect”.
For the week ahead, based on the trends of the sonar counters, I expect the red salmon fishing to get better everyday and the catch rate for king salmon to improve as well. With time and patience, the catching should pick up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
See you next week. I promise it will be more about fishing than sightseeing…
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/3/22