Just off the front steps of Stillpoint Lodge, the waters of Kachemak Bay can look silver, deep blue, or sometimes an impossible shade of turquoise I once thought was reserved for the tropics. 

The bay is always changing. Sometimes it’s glassy smooth, and you can see the reflections of mountains in it. Other times it rolls in lumps. Some days, wind kicks up white caps that rise like the snowy peaks along the shore. I look at this water again and again and again, and I never tire of it. Its beauty forces me to slow down.

 

I often walk down to the water’s edge and just stand there. There’s a sound the bay makes as waves drain through the cobble beach. It’s a calming, shushing sound that somedays I feel could cure almost anything.

 

Time Moves Differently In Nature

Time works differently here. Each day, the bay rises for two high tides and retreats for two low tides. At certain points in the month this can mean two or even three stories of water are moving in and out of the bay twice daily. Tides, of course, are the result of the moon pulling on the ocean, and they are the bay’s clock, and a clock by which many of us here live.

 

At Stillpoint Lodge, you’ll live by the bay’s clock, by the weather, and by your own curiosity, eagerness to explore, or desire to slow down.

 

Why You Should Take A Nature Vacation

We all need brain breaks. We all need to get away from screens and schedules. Spending time and taking a nature vacation in a remote and beautiful place in Alaska—like here at the edge of Kachemak Bay—can provide that deep break that few other life experiences can. 

You’ll live by the tides. You’ll eat from the ocean. You’ll explore, and be immersed in a stunning, natural setting that recharges even those of us who have lived here for decades. And you’ll experience a kind of silence that shuts out the buzzing of daily life on your nature vacation. This is a precious commodity in most of our lives. 

 

And these days, these breaks are crucial for our kids too. 

 

Your Time at Stillpoint Lodge

During a stay at Stillpoint, you can wander down to the water’s edge and watch sea otters playing and diving for food. You can hike, paddleboard, kayak, and fish or just sit quietly, listening, watching sunlight play on nearby mountains. Or you can take advantage of wellness activities such as yoga, meditation, and massage. 

Kids have their choice of activities too. The all-inclusive lodge can be your relaxation base camp for Alaska adventures that take you far off the beaten path, with rigors that have nothing to do with deadlines and to-do lists. And I didn’t even mention the hot tub and sauna.  

 

Stillpoint Lodge will whisk you away to live by a different clock. A vacation in Halibut Cove will help you slow down, help you explore and soak in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I know because I live here.

 

Silence your phone. Ignore your email. Listen for the plaintive, three-note call of the golden crowned sparrow. Listen for a mother sea otter calling to her young. Listen for the shush of the ocean against the rocks or of the whales breaching nearby. It has something important to tell you.

 

 

by Miranda Weiss, author of Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska

www.mirandaweiss.com