In 1958, Earl Hillstrand purchased a rare piece of Alaskan waterfront at the very end of the Homer Spit, where he built the Port Wing and Chart Room Restaurant of Land’s End. In those days Dungeness Crab was hauled by hand off the city pier and were plentiful. There wasn’t much to the area at that time, and the 220-mile gravel road from Anchorage took an entire day, but Alaskans flocked anyway.
Spending hours on end around the lobby fireplace, smoking his pipe and welcoming guests as extended family, Hillstrand built Land’s End‘s reputation as the place where Earl’s smile and Kachemak Bay would greet you at the door. Today that tradition lives on with the current management and staff, who are as delightful as the restaurant’s delicious Alaskan Bouillabaisse, or King Crab Legs!