Our July 12-24 Hawaii trip began with a 4 am drive to the Orlando airport. We left super early because Delta was still recovering from computer problems and we anticipated long wait times for check-in and security. Of course, when you give yourself lots of extra time, there will be no wait. We checked our backs at the curb, got through security in about fifteen minutes, so we had two-and-a-half hours before the first leg of our trip.
One of our traveling companions, the one who owned the house in Hawaii where we would be staying, got us into the Delta Sky Club with her diamond travel status. We got to enjoy the buffet breakfast and some great coffee while we waited.
Our first flight took us to Seattle, where we stretched our legs and split a roast beef sandwich and Caesar salad for lunch. For the next flight to the big island of Hawaii, I switched us to two aisle seats across from each other in the comfort plus section. A little more room was nice, and I read and snoozed while my wife watched a couple of movies.
The Kona airport wasn’t at all what we expected. It’s small (only eleven gates), and the baggage claim and waiting areas were outdoors. We were not met by hula dancers putting leis around our necks to ukulele music, either. And once we got our bags and rental car, we drove down the coast through desolate lava fields to the house. We picked up some food and found our way to the house.
The five bedroom, five bathroom pool home was on the side of a mountain with a breathtaking view of the ocean. The owners rented it out most of the year. But these next two weeks, we were there with another couple and the owner. During the busy season and for the annual Ironman, they would get $1,500 a night. Off-season was about half that. So it was a blessing we could stay there for free!
Electricity is expensive on the big island, so there was no central air conditioning. Each bedroom had it’s own cooling unit. Solar panels helped with electricity usage and heated the hot water.
On Saturday morning, Lisa and I walked about a mile-and-a-half down the hill to Kona Heaven Coffee, where we sat and enjoyed some 100% Kona with a nice view of the ocean. When we got back to the house, the other couple was ready to go to the Mountain Thunder Coffee Farm with us. (Read about that excursion here.) After that we found Benny & Finn’s in downtown Kona that had Hawaiian Purple Yam Dole whip, which was amazing!
On Sunday morning, we took the two-hour Blue Hawaiian helicopter ride past the volcanoes, up the Hilo coast, and then past the gorges and waterfalls on the northern part of the island. Each Eco-star helicopter held a knowledgable pilot/guide and six passengers. The lava floes made a lot more sense from the sky. Unfortunately, there were no active lava floes for us to see. We saw the recently vacated Mars dome in the middle of a place that might as well have been a different planet. After refueling at the Hilo airport (which is even smaller than Kona), we flew into some beautiful gorges to see waterfalls not accessible by land. Just before we returned to the Waikoloa heliport, we saw a circular rainbow, visible when the sun is above you but the clouds are below. After our flight, we had a quick lunch at the Lava Lava Beach Club and headed home.
On Monday, we went to the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, where we hiked to the ocean on rocky lava trails to see remains of ancient fish traps, ponds, settlements, and petroglyphs. One sea turtle was lounging on the beach, posing for pictures.
From there, we stopped by a seahorse farm, but decided that the $77 (!) entrance fee was too steep and instead had lunch at Big Kahuna in downtown Kona.
In the evening, I swapped out our Nissan Altima rental at the airport for a Jeep Wrangler, something more fun for exploring the island.
On Tuesday, Lisa and I hiked the Captain Cook trail, a steep, 3.5 mile round-trip trail to the ocean to see the Cook monument. With a 1,300 ft. elevation gain, the all uphill return hike was tough. As recommended, we had decent hiking boots. But we met quite a few other hikers in flip flops. They were either tougher or more foolish than us.
In the afternoon, we drove to the Painted Church. The inside of this church is covered with hand-painted scenes of bible stories. Just about everyone who lives on this little road has a little fruit stand, coffee shop, or botanical garden, taking advantage of the traffic to and from the church.
On Wednesday, we took a quick flight to the Honolulu airport and took an Uber to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. We spent time at the submarine museum and walked through the U.S.S Bowfin, toured the U.S.S. Missouri, and went to the U.S.S. Arizona memorial. There is more to do and experience at Pearl Harbor than we could do in one day, so we didn’t get to the Aviation museum. It was a moving experience, and I learned more about World War II.
On Thursday, we took an ocean kayak and snorkeling tour. The ocean was fairly calm and the kayaks very stable. It was a beautiful day and I must have seen fifty different kinds of colorful fish in fifty-feet of absolutely clear water.
After we got home, Lisa and I took another walk down the hill to Kona. Once there, I started feeling light-headed while perusing the Lava Java restaurant menu. After I sat on the front steps, someone brought me some ice water, and I actually passed out. I woke up to EMTs who took me to the Kona Community Hospital to get checked out. My EKG and blood work were fine. With a little fluid in me, I felt better and we took an Uber back to the house. Even though I thought I was drinking plenty of water, apparently I got dehydrated. When I got back to the house, the rest of the group was waiting for me to get home so I could grill steaks for supper.
Friday was a busy day. We headed out about 7 am to get to Punalu’u Bake shop, the southernmost bakery in the United States, and also the place to get the best malasadas (Portuguese sugar-coated doughnuts). The Portuguese came here in the late 1800’s when sugar cane farming was a huge part of the island economy. Malasadas go down very easy. I ate four that day.
With cartons of malasada in hand, we drove to the green sand beach at South Point, the southernmost place in the United States. Rather than a five-mile round trip hike, we hired a driver to take us on a bouncy standing ride in the back of a four wheel drive pickup to the beach. It’s not a big beach, but it’s one of only four places in the world where the sand is green.
Next stop was the black sand beach, a little farther up the coast. It was unique, but not especially exciting.
From there we drove to Volcanoes National Park. This park is huge. When this volcano last erupted in 1959, lava shot up 1,900 feet into the air. That’s taller than the Empire State Building! We saw the crater from several vantage points. We could have spent a whole day here.
But we wanted to go to Mauna Kea to see the sunset. Unfortunately, the mountain was clouded in, so we couldn’t see anything.
We tried to do too much on Friday. We could have spent a day doing any one of those things. Plus, there were so many little coffee shops and bakeries along the road we could have stopped at!
On Saturday, we went back to downtown Kona. We had lunch at Java Lava, another Dole whip at Bubba & Finns, and bought ornaments for all the grandkids.
On Sunday, we worshiped at Waikoloa Lutheran Church. After lunch at Lava Lava Beach Club, we drove to Waimae to visit a coffee shop and general store.
On Sunday night we went to the luau at the King Kamehameha Courtyard resort. The food and entertainment were okay, but not as great as we expected. When you go to Hawaii, you have to go to a luau, right?
We celebrated by 67th birthday on Monday with a trip to Hilo on the other side of the island. We started with breakfast at Ken’s Pancakes, where I also got a souvenir coffee mug. The pancakes were good, but their famous macadamia nut pancakes were just pancakes with macadamia nuts sprinkled on top. The wait staff sang “Happy Birthday” to me and brought me another stack of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.
Then went to Akaka Falls State Park. It’s only a short hike to the falls, which at four hundred feet are actually taller than Niagara Falls. After we toured the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut factory we took a tour of the Lavaloha Chocolate farm. I loved learning about the production of chocolate, from the cacao pods to a big selection of 70% cacao chocolates.
We walked around down Hilo and visited a ukulele shop. The impressive selection of ukes was priced from $90 to over $1,500. The owner taught us a lot about the instruments, but we decided not to buy one on this trip.
We spent most of Tuesday packing up and cleaning up the house. Our flight home left about 8:30 pm Hawaii time, and we were back in Florida by late Wednesday afternoon.
It was a great trip, but Hawaii was much different than I expected. It wasn’t like Hawaii 5-0 or Magnum P.I. The coastline was mostly rock, not sandy beaches. Of course, we were on the big island of Hawaii, not Oahu which is more touristy. When we go back, we’ll hop and see what the other islands have to offer.
