The Big Island - 2013

The Big Island

I love the Kona International Airport - it's like you've landed at the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World:

  

Kona Internat'l Airport

WDW Polynesian Resort

We start our week in Kona enjoying some lunch and the view at Bubba Gump's.  There appears to be a small man-made island offshore in front of us.  Since the "beach" is volcanic, it's a bit dicey to take jet-skis out directly from a dock so the rental place brings you out to this "island".

I love Bubba's - I've got my suitcase, my really large tennis shoes for runnin' and my box of chocolates!



After lunch we head back to the airport to pick up Carol & Mark who are joining us for the week.  We find a bar on the water so we can watch the Gonzaga game.

Our rental car license plate!

Our visit to Big Island Candies (don't believe everything you might read - this place is DEFINITELY open on Sunday!)  And they are working too!!!  This woman is hand-dipping SQUID!  (What a waste of good chocolate!)

I wonder where Gerry could get a home version of this gadget for cutting fudge?

Then we head over to check out the competition at Mauna Loa, which for those not familiar with the language turns out to be Hawaiian for "Hershey's".

Here's a place Jenny would really love:  their very own "COOKIE KITCHEN!"

On our drive back to Kona we stopped to see waterfalls (and for Mark to collect some bugs!)  There is a small parking area here and "they" charge $5 to park a car.  You can either pay by credit card in the machine or there is a guy there to collect cash.  He has absolutely no idea, no certificate to show you that he is legitimately collecting parking fees (he does have a cash bag which seemed stuffed with fivers).  I figure - pay the guy, if for no other reason than he looked like he needed the cash and he would actually watch our car.  Others seemed less inclined to take that approach.  Takes all kinds!

While Mark was off golfing, we took Carol to visit our friend, Emmerich, so we could get re-stocked with fabulous Kona coffee and macadamia nuts.  Fortunately we elected to have some shipped home because we munched through the macs in short order and had to make a return stop with Mark to pick up some more.  (Only Gerry was brave enough to sample Emmerich's newest version - Wasabi Macs!)

Emmerich's a great guy and fun to chat with.  I really love his working philosophy:

Channeling Sarah, one night we actually decided to stay in to eat and Gerry prepared his version of "surf & turf" with grilled pineapple.  YUM!  

We decided to travel south one day.  There is an excellent snorkeling beach not too far from our condo which the boys decided to try out while Carol & I were watching for cruise ships and dreaming of our next cruise!  The water was teeming with colorful fish and a few others fellas!

We kept heading south - I was on a mission to find the bakery with the best malasadas on the island!  After trying several (well you have to be certain!), we drove on to find the southernmost point of the United States.  

Beautiful cliffs and if you're feeling adventurous, there's even a ladder to climb back up after you jump!  (We actually heard one girl say the jump was nothing - the scary part was climbing that ladder!!!)

We discovered a great beach bar (Jake's on the Rocks) where you and your table are actually sitting in the sand!  Happy hour here is the best and I fell in love with their Mezze Platter (hummus, pita, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, cukes - YUM!)  Stay until sunset!!

 

And it isn't a trip to Kona without stopping at the Kona Brewing Company!  (but the beer apparently comes from Oregon!)

Wednesday night we enjoyed a "paniola luau" (a Hawaiian luau with a cowboy flair) at the Kahua Ranch,  A bus picked us up near the condo and after a leisurely drive (picking up other attendees along the way), we arrived at the ranch and were greeted by the owners. No longer at sea level, we could actually see Haleakala on Maui from here.  As always (I think it's a state law), the sunset was gorgeous (and you'll probably be seeing these on both Churchills and our Christmas cards!)  

After dinner there were "ranch" things to try - like branding and roping!  There was a little bit of star-gazing (I was so bummed that we couldn't get a reservation to go up to the top of Mauna Kea - next time I'm booking EARLY!)  There was a sing-along and s'mores (but we were too stuffed from dinner for those).

Thursday was my birthday so after dropping Carol & Mark at the airport, we went back to Bubba's to celebrate (with a blended Mai Tai - delicious!) and I even let them sing "Happy Birthday" to me!

We stopped at the Kona Costco to pick up some snorkeling gear for me and Gerry & I returned to that snorkeling beach so I could try.  It was INCREDIBLE!!!  And I can't wait to try it again!

~Aloha, tw

Oahu - 2013

Oahu

This year I was determined NOT to miss out on Murphy's (the Hawaiian Irish pub near Waikiki that was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) so we planned to spend two days on this island.  















First we went to visit Pearl Harbor and learned that sequester hurts!  Because Congress can't get its act together, the Nat'l Park Service, which operates both the visitors' center AND the memorial  (but not the boat ride between the two - that's the Navy's job since it is active naval waterway) had to shorten their hours.  ARGH!

Then, finally, the much anticipated lunch at Murphy's.  I'm happy to report - IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT (and I would actually go as far to say that a visit to Honolulu is not complete without stopping there!)  The food was fabulous (we each opted for one of the meals highlighted on the show but pretty much everything looked/sounded delicious!)  

While we were savoring the last bit of dessert, the owner (Don Murphy) came out to introduce himself to us!  WOW!

The view from the hotel - downtown Honolulu.

That night we were staying right on Waikiki at the Outrigger Hotel and we had an opportunity to catch up with a former co-worker of Gerry's who's since moved to the island.



The next morning we headed off to visit the Dole plantation,  Another train trip around the plantation (hey, what can I say?  I'm the product of two railroaders!  Besides we were traveling no camera other than our cell phones so we figured we'd at least get a photo of the two of us out of the deal!) 

And then...because it was getting on to lunch time (and try though we might, you really can't live on nothing but pineapple), we decided to head over to Disney's Aulani Resort to check things out there.

I expected to hate - I actually sort of WANTED to hate it (because who could afford it?)  But, as with all things Disney, it was FABULOUS!  We had one of the best meals EVER there!  I found the restaurant to be lovely (overlooking what I'm sure is a man-made "Disneyesqe" picture-perfect lagoon), the food incredible and surprisingly affordable, the pools fun and active - I kept looking for the catch.  Okay, I didn't have to look too hard - the rack rate for those rooms is pretty steep.  I'll have to find a steal of a deal so I can actually stay there but until then, it's a really nice to visit and have lunch!

Gerry had the "blue plate" special - they should have called it the "blue TRAY special" as it was HUGE and included five entrees!

Mattias would love this water play area!!!

Afterward, because it was on our way to return the rental car, we stopped to visit the National Cemetery of the Pacific located in the Punchbowl Crater.  It is really quite a moving memorial to all the soldiers who served in WWII.

From there we made several non-successful attempts to return our rental car (Did you know that if you don't find your exit, the freeway automatically takes you to  the entry gate to Hickham Air Base?  They don't have much in the way of INTERSTATE FREEWAYS on this island we couldn't even handle that!)  

~Aloha, tw