Kailua-Kona

With only a little time remaining in paradise, we have a few items to do here that we'd still like to check off of our list. One of them was visiting the leeward side of the Big Island. We've been to Hawai'i before, but not to the Kailua-Kona (fondly called "Kona," as there is a popular "Kailua" on windward Oahu) side of it. My husband made every last arrangement-- car, room, flight-- and even did a lot of the organizing for how we'd spend each day. Woohoo!

We took the 45-min flight into Kona and we stayed at a little cottage we found on VRBO, so that was a 45-min drive from the airport. On the way, we were both starving so we stopped at a mall food court for a quick bite. Unbeknownst to me ahead of time, there was a Marble Slab! Imagine my excitement! This is, by far, the most delicious ice cream-- the birthday cake flavor, that is, but most everything else I've tried is also unbeatable. The Marble Slab on Oahu closed more than a year ago, much to my chagrin. (When people suggest I try Cold Stone, I just shake my head. Cold Stone is gross-- it's gooey and tastes and looks as though it has been melted and refrozen. It isn't even in the same league!) I'd completely forgotten that there was one on the Big Island, and Sam found it when he went to throw his trash. So this trip was off to a great start!

We got to our little cottage, the owner showed us in and we pretty much crashed immediately. The next morning we decided to have breakfast at a local country inn (which served Louisiana hot links but, no surprise, they had nothing whatsoever to do with my home state. Tsk!!!) before visiting an organic coffee farm. People talk about wine and how smoothly it goes down, old whiskey or other aged alcohol and the ease through your mouth, but let me tell you what-- this coffee is definitely in for the running. I've had Kona coffee, but I don't think I've ever had one this smooth (usually because I don't want to pay the $30/lb it takes to get it!) Absolutely silky, a flavor I've never had in coffee, and as you feel the warmth going down into your stomach you realize how fortunate you are. This is one of those things that I'd say we should splurge on when we have extra money. I can't imagine drinking this and then going back to anything else. Unbelievable.

We went on down the road to drive through the waterfront section of Kona, which was certainly comparable to Lahaina, Maui, though a little newer. Kona is the resort side of the island, while Hilo is older and more quaint. There really isn't much to Kona itself, but every few miles there would be an entrance to yet another resort. We aren't really resort-type people, but I'm sure the spreads here were lovely, if only judging by the well-manicured gardens at the entrance. We stopped at a National Park and quickly learned that it was the cleanest one on the planet. Even at five years old, the paint was fresh, the bathrooms were immaculate, and the employees were full of cultural information. One of the ladies was making a lei for the younger woman graduating the local college that afternoon. What a lovely cultural tradition to witness!

She soaks the leaves she'll use, and sprays the ones already used,
as she takes about 4 hours to make one haku (head lei).

Next, we saw a harbor. I love harbors! I really can't explain why, but the calm of the water, the masses of masts, the beauty of the larger body of water out beyond is just one of the nicest views for me. So we stopped there so I could take a few photos and take it all in. The boats parked there were mostly fishing charters, and several had catchy (pun intended!) names.

We headed back on up to the northern part of the island so that we could get dinner at Merriman's, which came highly recommended by my co-worker. This restaurant tries to stay local when possible, uses fresh ingredients (which is often difficult out here in the most remote island chain in the world), and directs efforts toward local, non-profit, educational, agricultural, and native Hawaiian causes. We had a lamb spring roll appetizer, a strawberry, fennel, and goat cheese (one of my absolute favorites! You say, "goat cheese," I say, "Sold!") salad, and Sam had lamb and I had steak for dinner. We skipped dessert, as we had Marble Slab remaining in our freezer. We also rented "W." since we finished our senior citizen dinner at 7:30 and didn't want to drive anywhere else for more entertainment.

The next morning, we were up a little later and decided that we'd drive up to the coast for what was reported to be the best mochas on the island, as well as "scenic views." We got some breakfast, complete with live music (your favorite artist on CD is grand, but the experience of live music is really a wonderful sensation). The mochas were good, but I was still spoiled from the coffee the day before. We walked around the "town" of Hawi for a bit, and then headed on down the road. In Hawai'i, it's exceptionally easy to take these things for granted. You look at crystal blue water on a daily basis and you see palm trees swaying all over the place-- even right outside my office window. Well we were both a little bit taken aback when we came upon the Pololu Lookout. There were at least 40 cars stopped here, some people taking the 3-mile hike down to the water, others just returning, and plenty of us just taking it all in. The horses were within petting distance as they chewed on the greens, which I thought was found to be such a lovely change of pace.

The vog (volcanic fog) makes it appear as though it's raining, but
it's really just smoky. It's a shame the photos don't do this view more justice!

There are some hardcore surfers down there!

We looked at our guide magazine and decided that one more tour was in order: the Kona Brewing Company. We learned that the Kona Brew you find in bottles is made in Portland, Oregon, but the Kona Brew Pubs in Hawai'i are actually brewed right here on the Big Island. We went through a tour and then got a free tasting of four different beers. (That's a tasting, not a pint-- we still had to get back to the airport!) This liquid aloha was pretty good! My favorite was probably the longboard lager or the golden ale, which are two of the original three created.

More on the organic coffee and beer brewing tours later! For now, check your mailboxes soon for more photos from this excursion!


Copyright 2009 Olivia R. King