In the small village of Ninilchik resides the Transfiguration of our Lord Church. This beautiful old Russian Orthodox church was founded in 1847 after a Russian missionary and his wife (a Sugpiak Eskimo) moved their large family here from Kodiak. There are now over 3000 descendants from this one couple living in Ninilchik, Kodiak and other towns in the Kenai Peninsula and the church is still active.
I had wanted to come here to take pictures of this picturesque church and cemetery after reading about it in several books about Alaska. It was a bit harder to find since it isn't located right on the highway, but off on a short gravel road. Even with the Milepost on my lap and keeping a lookout, we still missed the turn and had to go back.
The church sits on a peaceful bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. The wind was brisk and I can imagine how cold it would be standing here in the winter! The adjacent cemetery is a unique mixture of wild grasses, native flowers and artificial flowers decorating each grave site. There are very old graves mixed in with newer ones marked with ending dates up to 2012.
Next to the church cemetery is the Legion Cemetery for veterans of all foreign wars. Jerry was standing by the board with the names of people now in their final resting place.
Sandy and Sherry were bundled up against the cold and wind as they walked around.
Gary stopped and took a moment to fix the flag by the headstone of Bill Brody, who was awarded both a Bronze Medal and Purple Heart Medal in World War II.
I have no idea of what it says on the cross the bear is holding,since it was obviously written in Russian, but I loved this marker at the grave. It was fitting for Alaska.
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