Day 88: Norman Lowell Studio and a Fish Fry

July 11, 2014

The rain quit sometime during the night and it wasn't raining when we got up and walked Scout. However, by the time we finished breakfast it was raining. It has continued to rain intermittently throughout the day. We did see a few moments of blue sky and sun but it was short lived.

Before lunch we went to the NormanLowell Gallery. Donna and Lee, who we met and had dinner with earlier this week, joined us for the trip. They arrived at Country Boy yesterday afternoon and are parked right beside us. The Gallery is located between Country Boy RV in Ninilchik and Homer. Norman Lowell is a well-known Alaskan artist. He homesteaded here in 1958, raised his family here and remains here actively painting in spite of failing eyesight.   His studio/gallery is open to the public, free, as are his homestead cabin and gardens. The gallery is filled with paintings of glaciers, volcanoes, and the local area. Our favorite is a huge painting of the northern lights, but he has many other excellent paintings on display. The one of Kennicott Mine was especially nice as well. There were also art pieces in other media such as wood carvings, woven pieces etc. Our favorite piece was a wooden clock that was really amazing. Mr. Lowell and his wife Libby were both at the gallery today, talking with visitors and answering any questions. 

The working wooden clock

In addition to the artwork, there are several displays of historic artifacts.

Norman Lowell

After touring the gallery we walked around the homestead and admired the flowers.

 

 

 

 

After returning from gallery we prepared our food for the fish fry pot luck tonight. We all met at the Up-Chuck Saloon and Restaurant, the chow hall here at the RV park, at about 3:00 pm. Chuck taught us how to properly cut up halibut and salmon and then fry it in various batters. We fried halibut in a flour/meal/pancake flour batter as well as panko batter. We also had halibut cheeks (boiled in Sprite and served with a garlic/lemon butter sauce). Chuck called it "mock lobster". It was good, but in our opinion not a substitute for lobster or crab legs. We also fried salmon. That was a first for us. Then there were hush puppies, and fries as well as the dishes we all brought. We all helped with the cutting/cooking/washing dishes. It was a wonderful meal and no one went away hungry. Sue and Dom, the other couple we had dinner with earlier this week, joined us and Donna and Lee for dinner and wonderful conversation. There was about 35 people there and from all the conversation and laughter it appeared the evening was a big hit. We all thank Chuck for going above and beyond in taking care of his campers.

We couldn't ask for a better campground owner

 

 

 

Chuck supervising the preparations

 

 

That's about it for today. We will need to get some extra exercise tomorrow after the dinner we ate but we really have not made plans. Hopefully there will be some sunshine!