This post covers the first half of our one-week trip back to the Big Island of Hawaii, this time with our friends the Webers.
Day 1
Todd drove us all down to LAX (the Parking Spot, to be exact) bright and early at 5 AM. We made it through security and on to our plane. Here are Todd, Edie, and Cindy sitting in the row behind me.
Of course, the natural question is why I am sitting in the row ahead of everyone. Well……Hawaiian Airlines cancelled our non-stop flight three days before we left and were less than helpful when I called them to get another flight. When they could not get us another non-stop flight, we ended up cancelling the flights and going with United instead. Then they refused to give me a refund. Seven complaints and a month and a half later, I finally received a refund. I will NEVER use Hawaiian Airlines ever again. But enough of that, on to the fun of Hawaii.
We landed, got our rental car, did some shopping, and had lunch at the Pine Tree Cafe. The food was good, but not as good as we remembered it, so no second link for them. We got to our Hilton timeshare an hour before check-in and of course the room was not ready. So we went to the outdoor bar near the pool and this was our view as we were serenaded by some local musicians.
If you have to wait for your room, this was the way to do it. At check-in time our room was still not ready, so I talked to the clerk about the delay. They had to give us a different room that was ready and we were off. We had a great two-bedroom place with a view of the goat infested recently closed golf course. The view was great and the wildlife was fun to watch.
During the tour of our room, I noticed the toilet paper was mounted at an odd angle in the bathroom.
Instead of being mounted parallel to the floor, it was mounted at an approximate 45-degree angle. I have to admit I spent way more time thinking about this than I should have. Was this normal somewhere? Was it an error? Was this a better way to mount it? I actually searched the internet and found 99% of the toilet paper holders were mounted parallel to the floor, with the last 1% mounted perpendicular to the floor. I could not find one picture or explanation of mounting it at a 45-degree angle. And after using it for a week, I did not notice an advantage or disadvantage to the way it was mounted. I’m afraid this will remain a time-wasting mystery.
Day 2
We started the day with Cindy, Todd, and I going for a morning walk and seeing the sunrise.
Cindy and I returned to our place after walking about two miles and Todd continued on to do his usual 8 to 10 miles. Back at the room, Cindy and Edie enjoyed their morning coffee on the patio.
Once everyone was ready for the day, we drove into Kona to do a submarine ride with Atlantis Submarines. This was an amazing experience and we all highly recommend trying it at least once. Of course, there is a link at the end of this post. Here is the storefront, the boat we rode out to the submarine on, and a view from the boat.
Here we all are on the submarine.
We were able to see a lot of fish.
An anchor.
Two different shipwrecks of private boats that sank.
And even fish near the shipwrecks.
We also saw a white tipped reef shark. It is hard to see in the picture, but it is there.
We ended up going to a depth of 107 feet.
After our amazing submarine ride, we walked around the shops of Kona and took in the great views.
Our next stop was for a drink at the Kuleana Rum Shack in the Queen’s Marketplace near our timeshare.
This is another must stop for delicious rum drinks. They sell Kuleana Rum that is made from locally grown sugar and distilled locally as well. I did a tasting of the four rums they offer and all four were good. Todd had a Manhattan that was smoked in what looked like a glass cake dome. Todd said it was one of the best he ever had. And he knows his Manhattans. They definitely earned a link at the end of this post.
We had dinner at Pueo’s Osteria in nearby Waikoloa Village. We ate there during our last visit and it was outstanding. Unfortunately, this visit was not the same. Even with a reservation, we were seated late, the service was exceptionally slow, and our meal was average at best. No link for them.
Day 3
Once again, the day started with walking and some more wildlife sightings. Here are a few Nene ducks and a feral cat.
Then we were off to the east side of the island for some sightseeing and lunch. Our first stop was at the Gilbert Kahele Recreation Center located near the center of the island. From there, we could see Mauna Kea, the volcano that had erupted before our arrival, but stopped before we arrived. Here are two pictures of the area that had lava flow during the previous eruption.
Stop number two was at the beautiful Rainbow Falls.
We lunched at the Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant, home of the International Fireplace of Friendship.
The fireplace was started when the lodge was a boy scout retreat and people visited from all over the world. Over time as the buildings changed hands, each owner kept the fireplace, allowing it to still be enjoyed today. We tried to eat at the restaurant on our last visit, but just missed out. This time we a reservation and the food was very good. We can recommend eating there and there is a link at the end of this post. It is also a lodge that we would like to stay at some time.
After lunch, we headed off to tour Hawaii Volcanos National Park, the home of Kilauea Volcano, an active volcano that was not erupting when we visited. Here it is smoking and emitting gasses.
Here are a few of the nearby steam vents where hot steam rushes out of the ground.
We hiked through the Thurston Lava Tube which is a 500-year-old lava tube that is about a quarter of a mile long.
Hawaii Volcanos National Park is a must visit when visiting the Big Island, and there is a link at the end of this post.
To maximize our sightseeing, we returned to our timeshare via the southern route, which is longer, but more scenic, than the route through the center of the island. And it allowed us to stop at the Kau Coffee Mill. Kau coffee is different than Kona coffee and when you ask the locals which coffee they prefer, it seems pretty evenly split. So the only way to know which is better was to try for ourselves, and when I say by ourselves, I mean Cindy, Todd, and Edie since I don’t drink coffee. All three coffee drinkers loved the coffee. Kona coffee is going to have to be really good to compete with the Kau coffee. They also made chai tea. I had one and it was also delicious. If you are near the southeastern part of the big island, Kau Coffee Mill is a must stop. Check out the link at the end of this post. Here are a few pictures from our visit.
With bellies full of beverages, we headed off to Punalu’u Beach. This is a black sand beach that usually has sea turtles hanging out on the sand. Cindy and I really talked it up and as we arrived, I hoped there would be turtles there after all we had said about it. Luckily, there were several turtles enjoying the beach. It was a very worthwhile stop.
We continued on to the Punalu’u Bake Shop, the southernmost bakery in the United States. Cindy and I visited the bake shop last year and it was fine, but nothing special. This visit was the same. The main reason I would recommend stopping here is to say you have visited the southernmost bakery in the US. If that appeals to you, there is a link at the end of this post.
As we got closer to our place, it was dinner time, so we stopped at a place recommended to us by our waitress at the Kuleana Rum Shack. It was named Umekes Fish Market Bar and Grill and it turned out it was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
I stepped outside of my comfort zone and ordered the Lau Lau, a local dish of pork with Hawaiian salt wrapped & steamed in taro leaves. It came with a side of steamed rice and Spicy Krab, which was imitation crab meat tossed in a spicy aioli. The whole meal was outstanding. We all highly recommend eating here, so there is a link at the end of this post.
Day 4
After our full, action-packed day, we decided to have a laidback day. We did some shopping at the nearby King’s shops with lunch at Foster’s Kitchen. The food was very good and earned a link at the end of this post. We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the pool and drinking tropical drinks. We had a patio sunset dinner at Kamuela Provisions Company. The food, service, view, and experience were all top notch. This is an absolute must do when visiting the big island. See the link at the end of this post. Here we are at dinner with a shot of our view.
And here is the sunset we watched.
And here was the moon that came out after the sunset.
Stay tuned for part 2 when we will learn if Kona coffee can compete with Kau coffee, if I will continue to eat new and exotic food, and will Cindy get to eat a fresh Malasada, a type of Hawaiian donut.
LINKS