Thursday was fun!

Aloha friends!  So, a fan and lighterweight blanket were just what LouAnna needed to sleep so much better!  Huzzah!  What a full day!  So, other than conference stuff; what did we do today?  We did the Atlantis Submarine trip.  What is it?  It is the largest passenger submarine in the world (bigger ones are used by the military and don't have big ole windows all along the side). 😉  It had room for 64 people, but only a little over 20 signed up for the cruise.  That was really fun.  We saw "half the cast of Finding Nemo" as our MC said, along with a sea turtle, several eels, and a couple Eagle Stingrays.  We went 108 feet down and parked on the ocean floor.  They partnered with the University of Hawaii to see if coral will grow on concrete, any guesses???  It doesn't so they created a bunch of artificial habitats so the coral and fish (and friends) found their way to the area and made their homes.

We took an Uber to Iolani Palace and were guided around by Isaac, a seasoned (30 years!) volunteer docent, who is also a Big Island Hawaii native. You have to dress up to attend the palace as it's considered holy and sacred ground.  It was beyond beautiful and very well preserved and restored.  I'd recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys learning about people from history.  You can tell the royals were well-loved by their people.  It is a wonder what Hawaii would be like if the USA hadn't taken and annexed it.

Bathroom with working toilet, bidet, and running water

You can barely see our Docent, Isaac.

We had to walk across the way and snap a picture of the King, as well. 

Dinner was at Tropic Bar and Crafthouse right on the resort because again, LouAnna is also here working from her laptop and learning so she can become even more supportive in her role at work...she is so tired but it's Hawaii, so she's emailing from the beach so don't feel too terrible for her.  ;)

Ahi salad

Wagyu Brisket

We hope you're enjoying our trip details.  Mahalo.

Wednesday - boring day

 We didn't get caught in a hurricane or anything; Wednesday was just boring.  LouAnna did NOT sleep well last night and then went to her conference while Chris chilled on the resort property.  

There was a welcome reception tonight but L has had a full day of learning and listening (and she was very tired) so we bypassed that and bought our own dinner of pizza here in the resort and enjoyed listening to the rooftop luau and one of the resort's bar's live music...all from our balcony and went to sleep early.  Boring.  You were warned.

Mahalo Kona, Aloha Waikiki

 Aloha friends!  What a day it has been?!  We had another great night's sleep and woke up bright and early (7am and 7:30am) to another beautiful day in Kona.  Our check out was 11am so we ate breakfast and enjoyed the last of the views 🏖🌴 before showering, packing, and heading to the airport.  We returned the rental car and then they shuttled us to the Kona (KOA) airport where checking our one bag was quick and easy.  We were leaving out of Gate 4 - that's one of 5 of the KOA open-air gates.  The breeze and shade made the wait not bad at all.  We walked out to the plane, took the ramp up, and found our way into the exit row (window - no one in the middle 👏 - aisle) for the extra leg room and enjoyed the 30-minute flight back to Honolulu (Oahu island).  

Our Uber driver (Lawrence, a military veteran from NY who has lived on Oahu for 40+ years) took us to the Hilton Hawaiian which is a beachside resort-type property with shops, restaurants, and 3 pools right on the property.  Is this real life?!  We check in and things get better.  He asked if we wanted to upgrade to the Rainbow 🌈tower - the one from TV you guys - we said yes - YOLO!!!!!!!!  😂😂  We walk into our room and it has TWO balconies!  We have the doors open to both at the same time and the cross breeze is amazing.  Look at this view!  💝 We cannot believe we'll be here for the next 6.5 days!

We broke ourselves away from the room and made our way to get some food.  We stopped at a shop first and Chris (C) now has two shirts made in Hawaii - aka Hawaiian shirts 😏 or it is a double Hawaiian shirt or a Hawaiian-Hawaiian shirt and LouAnna (L) has two dresses also made in Hawaii...you get the idea.  Watch for them to show up in pics this week.  😉  We passed a tattoo shop and LouAnna was pretty sure that's where she wanted to get inked up before returning home.  First, food.  So, we found an Italian place close by that had a trio of bruschetta that L wanted to try.  Dinner choices were: mushroom risotto with shrimp for L and C got the 12oz rib eye.  Yummy and the service was really good and fast. 

We stopped back by the tattoo shop and set up the appointment for Sunday morning.  Let's go!  We walked around more shops, snap a few photos, then take the leftover risotto back to the room and then put on our swimming suits and head to the beach.  Let's get C into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, already!  The beach is sandy and the water is warm.  We took a sunset stroll along the beach - are we in a Hallmark movie?  Plot: Simple but adork'able midwestern couple go to Waikiki for the first time - stop me if you've seen this one.  

Alright, LouAnna has her conference starting tomorrow.  We need to get to sleep.  Goodnight moon, from Waikiki.

Memorial Day in Kona

Today was our last full day here in Kona.  The morning started out pretty chill.  We weren't sure if L's favorite/convenient coffee shop, The Green Flash, was open since it was Memorial Day.  So we decided to lounge around, do a bit of laundry, and clean up the small kitchen.  

For our last lunch here, we decided to go to a spot that C had picked out, the Fish Hopper Steak and Seafood.  C wanted to do dinner but was too concerned it would have been too busy.  It is in the perfect location. right across the street is where the cruise ships drop off for island excursions and nestled in a bunch of local shops.  We prepped for it to be really busy since it is a holiday. We found parking after a few minutes, the downside to going to the small shops is that there isn't a lot of parking around the stores.  We parked about 5 minutes away, which wasn't too bad. 

Once we got to the restaurant, we were seated right away... and even had a coveted window seat.  There were a couple of groups that didn't get the window spot, guess you had to be lucky or make a reservation.  Here's a photo of the view we had.  It is a little hard to see, but you can see our condo from here! 

It is official, C has hit the corny stage.  The waitress went through the drink selection, they had the typical ice teas, alcohol, and Pepsi products.  C said he'd take a Coke. The waitress didn't seem to think it was funny, at least by looking at her facial expressions.  C had been wanting to step out of his comfort zone and do something bold... ordering something with fish in it.  L ordered one of the lunch specials, the macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi with shrimp and mashed potatoes, while C ordered another lunch special, the crispy ono - but fish are friends, not food - sandwich with fries.  Neither of us left with a to- go bag. C ate the entire fish sandwich!  So, maybe fish are friends AND food?!

After lunch, we decided to go into the little shops to see if we could find some cute shirts, or something nice to bring home.  We stopped into quite a few different clothing shops but walked out empty-handed.  C thought that the shirts had pretty interesting prints, but the material just wasn't right.  L was wearing one of her 'ask me about mental health/dog shirts', which drew the attention of a lady working  in a beauty shop.  Seemed like L was getting a new BFF.  They touched on puppies, sobriety, and finally after getting us hooked, she brought us inside for a few free samples.  The sales lady was pushing some age-reduction facial creams.  L was the first vict... err the first to get the cream.  C buckled under pressure, like there was any to begin with... and also got the facial cream applied to him. 

 After several tries to get out of the store and several price reductions, "we look like we might be from Austraila"/"their dollar is lower than the US dollar" we got out of there without buying anything.  We continued down the rest of the shops. Some of the shops had pretty funny gimmicks like the one below.  We also passed by the Hulihee Palace. 

We made it back to the car with a little over an hour to spare on the timed parking.  Their parking system is cool as can be.  You have to provide them with your license plate and phone number, when it gets close to the end, the system will text you that it will expire in 15 minutes.  You have the option then to extend the parking and pay online.  

On the way back to the condo, L wanted to go see if a local Farmer's market was still open.  It was closed, but we did see a little roadside vendor selling fruits.  We stopped in and L bought some apple bananas.  They are smaller than regular bananas, but L seems to recall that's what bananas tasted like when we were youngen's.  C found time to slide off and take some photos of the area. 

Goodnight Kona.  Mahalo for another fun day.

Sun-day!

Today, we got coffee/smoothie from GreenFlash, per usual.  Chris (C) asked for a quiet day in the condo.  We got some sunshine, listened/watched the waves roll, LouAnna (L) took a nap, and we just lazed around.  We did try a new food place tonight for dinner.  C had Pad Thai and L had Fried Rice - both good.  We opened the bag of Butterscotch Mac Nut popcorn from yesterday's excursion and it's pretty tasty!  While getting lunch, L found a plumeria flower on the ground and included it in the proof of life picture for today.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Kona, also Memorial Day.  We expect things to be closed but we still have the views, pool, snacks, and leftovers.  We will need to venture out to get coffee for L and we plan to do laundry (condo has a w/d) before we head to Oahu for L's work conference.

Saturday, we drove around!

We stopped so many places and saw so much of the Big Island of Hawaii today.  The first stop was to fuel up - ourselves - so we picked the Pink Mocha Cafe for a cold brew Kona with caramel for LouAnna (L), the Passionfruit Watermelon juice for Chris (C), and a couple of warm breakfast crossanwiches.  Very nearby was Mrs. Barry's cookie shop so we stopped in there and bought a sampler bag of 12.  Since it's the weekend and most things are pretty busy - we decided to see the island via the rental car.

We decided to go get some macadamia nuts.  We picked Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company.  It was up north in Historic Kawaihae.  They were so nice and the video showed us how the nuts get from farm to store since the factory was closed due to it being the weekend.  They had free tastings of their mac nuts, brittle, ice cream, and two types of Kona coffee that they also sell.  We bought so many things because they were all so yummy.  What you don't see in the pictures are the two types of ice cream we devoured - vanilla mac nut caramel - yummy and C's fave of the two, and the Purple Yam - Ube, which is L's favorite.

We decided to go on to Hilo, which is on the eastern side of the island.  We stopped at a grocery store to buy apple bananas since we heard about them at the coffee tour and now we want to try them.  What you also don't see in the picture is shaved ice.  While in Hilo, we also stopped at Kula Shaved Ice.  L got the 1/2 pineapple, 1/2 blueberry ice and C got the passionfruit ice with chocolate shell topping.  Then, we set the GPS back to the condo.

This island is so large that it has different terrains throughout.  We drove up in the clouds for many parts of the trip and our ears popped like Rice Crispies for those ~4 hours we toured around.  We saw lush and green and leafy parts, then the desolate black lava parts, and then the parts that looked like we could be driving through the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  We didn't stop and take pictures.  We just took in the day.  Driving up and down the top 1/2 of the island - stopping to gather snacks.

Once we returned to the condo, we ordered dinner from a local Mexican restaurant because L was in the mood.  We ordered two types of tacos, a chicken/cheese empanada, a big ole burrito, and chips with queso.  The refried beans and the chips were good.  We wouldn't recommend it.  Everything was either very greasy or bone dry.  Fear not, we are rich in snacks! 

The pool and hot tub were too busy for us to get in this afternoon so we just sat on our balcony and enjoyed the last 2 hours of sunlight.  We both took many photos of the sunset tonight as it was just glorious.  We're showered and ready for bed.  It was another fun day in Hawaii.  

Realization #7294: Chris and LouAnna hardly ever take photos of themselves! 😂

2.5 more days in Kona!

Friday - relaxing day

 Aloha friends!  So, Chris (C) and LouAnna (L) may have gotten a tiny bit burnt outside yesterday but nothing that needs extra attention, thank goodness.  If you've met LouAnna, you know she's either: SPF 100 or burn/peel/freckle.  I dear say it, but LouAnna might actually have a baby tan.  We're just as shocked as you are!  Pictures to come.

Another beautiful day of waking up around 7am after another amazing night's rest.  We sleep SO good here!  It also starts to get dark at 7pm which works for these two, 40-something homebodies.  Our natural melatonin kicks in and our bodies are like "oh, sleepytime? sounds good. Zzzzz".

Today we stayed mostly in the condo.  We started the morning with coffee (L) and a green smoothie (C) from the parking lot cafe, Green Flash.  LouAnna was ready for a loungey-type day of watching the waves all day, taking a luxurious nap, and then another yummy dinner from a nearby place.  We went with takeout from Ono Grill for fish tacos with sweet potato waffle fries (L) and Applewood bacon cheeseburger with house fries (C).  All of it was so fresh and delicious!  We'd eat here again.

It was a beautiful day.  Tomorrow is the weekend and we're going to venture out to the other sides of the island and see what we see (with many stops for food - we LOVE to eat!).  Here's a sunset photo from our balcony.  Almost every sunset includes these heavy clouds, as well.  They are a daily combo.  We still haven't turned on the TV...it may not even work for all we know!  😂

Coffee, Pizza, and Honey - Yummy Day!

 Another beautiful good night's sleep and good morning, friends!  It's early today.  LouAnna was up at 7am today and Chris woke up at 8am.  We decide to get up and head out on some [free] tours.  We stopped at the Greenwell Farms first and even before the free tour, they give free samples of many of the Kona coffees that they grow, harvest, and roast.  The macadamia nut was very good but the rarest was the peaberry.  The tour was amazing and thorough.  We learned about the region that is "Kona" coffee, the cherry fruit and how it gets to store shelves, the pests that lead to the grafting process for arabica plants, and the other fruits growing on this farm (apple bananas, Naval oranges, white pineapple, black peppercorns, avocados, papaya, etc).  It was a relaxing and highly informative tour.  Chris even saw a mongoose!  I guess it's the "squirrel" of Hawaii. 😂

Then, we head out to get some lunch.  We found a cute pizza place with a beautiful back patio that faced the sea with lots of vegetation.  We stopped at Black Rock Pizza.  We got the Chicken Bacon Pesto Rolls and they were AH-MAZE-ZING!  We'd get them again and again!  We ordered two mango/dragonfruit lemonades and two medium pizzas. #leftovers  The fresh/roasted pineapple was so good but watch out the jalapeno overpowers the entire pizza.

Our next stop was Big Island Bees Apiaries.  This was such a fun part of the trip!  We learn about the European honey bees, the endangered yellow-faced bees, how to save the bees at home (plant native plants, don't use pesticides are two big ones), and all the bee puns you could possibly want!  LouAnna LOVES puns!  We tried honey tea and part of a Honey caramel macadamia nut tart.  Both yummy!  Then, we got to taste about 6 types of honey (we liked all of them) and watched a short video.  There was a gift shop to purchase honey and we had to get some!  LouAnna liked the honey with cinnamon sourced from a nearby farm and Chris was very intrigued by the Chili Pepper Honey and how we can use it to cook at home.

Then, we headed back to the condo for more sunset views.  We walked around this little complex and found the pool and hot tub.  And look at all the beautiful flowers just on the condo property.  It's so beautiful in Hawaii.