By Joe

Day 10: Beach day and a Luau
After a long day yesterday of exploring the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a relaxing day by the beach sounded beachy. Cindy and I ate breakfast at a Starbucks and headed for the beach. We tried to snorkel early but the water was not cooperating as it was not very clear. No worries, the beach chairs felt fine.

While there are many places you can experience a luau in Hawaii we opted to do one at our hotel, the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. The food was good, the bar was open, and the show was a nice time. The food is served buffet style but it was great including the Kalua Pig that had been roasting all day. It was a good thing I wasn’t driving because the Mai Tais were very strong. I was glad I was walking back to the room. Thanks for watching over me Cindy.

Day 11: Another Beach Day for good measure
We got up early to go to 8am Mass in Waimea. Except we didn’t think it was in Waimea. We got bad directions from the GPS on my phone as it dropped us off about 3 or 4 miles before where the church actually was. It was a good thing we kept driving on the same road to try to locate it or we would have been late. The Church of the Ascension was fairly new and had a good service.

Headed back to the resort for breakfast at the coffee shop and then the beach. We “slugged” it there until later in the afternoon. We left time to take a hike on the other side of the King’s Trail. We were fascinated by this very desolate looking trail and liked imagining the ancient Hawaiians who travelled it many years ago. Where were they going and why? How much did they know about the world outside of theirs?

After our hike we got cleaned up and headed to dinner. We walked to an Italian restaurant, Solimene’s, that we had seen on a previous trip to the Kings’ Shops. We split a Caesar salad and I had a cup of their homemade mushroom soup. Not the most notable on either account but ok. Cindy had one of the specials which had angel hair pasta with tomatoes and chicken. I had a lemon angel hair pasta with a cream sauce and baby shrimp. Both of these were better than the starters. I had a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from New Zealand.

We went back to a shop called Walking In Paradise where I had bought a new pair of sandals (flip flops) earlier in the week. I kept them on almost the whole time we were on the Big Island. I really wanted Cindy to try a pair too. She did and loved the feel of them as much as I did. The brand name is OluKai. They are a Hawaiian company and I highly recommend them. I’m not sure where you can buy them on the mainland but I’m sure you can get them online at their website and I also saw some on the Zappos site. We came back to our room and started the sad task of preparing to come back home tomorrow. Packing to return home is sometimes easier because most everything is dirty and you can stuff it in anyway it will fit – but it’s not as much fun!

Day 12: Bonus day
Because most flights leaving the Hawaiian islands and coming back to the mainland are late flights (ours was at 8:30 pm) you can spend one extra day wrapping up your trip with whatever you can cram into the day. We noted that the Marriott resort offered to let you use all of the facilities including a room to get cleaned up for $99. Not a bad deal really. However, we had planned a drive north to catch some of the ocean coast and some of the upcountry where the scenery is green and the big cattle ranches are located. We also wanted to take a tour of a Kona coffee plantation. We finished packing and checked out. This is a very good hotel with a great location. The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort and Spa has a nice set of pools: an infinity pool, sand bottom pool for kids, a regular pool, and a slide pool with no weight limit! Plenty of chairs and there are cabanas for rent. The rooms are a decent size and many give you an ocean view. The area has a lot of shopping and several good restaurants. The beach is very good. And the staff was very friendly.

The drive was beautiful and we enjoyed the little town of Hawi which is an artist community with little mom and pop stores and restaurants. We ate breakfast at the Kohala Coffee Mill which was a little different. I had the steamed eggs (like scrambled eggs), a large portion of bacon, and a cinnamon and raisin bagel. What really set the meal off was they put melted Havarti cheese all over the eggs. Very delicious. My wife had the steel cut oatmeal and bananas and honey which was so large it really was an oat”meal”. She said it was too much.

We drove back down to the coast. I had looked up a couple of coffee plantations so we headed to what appeared to be a good one. We visited the Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation and coffee roaster. This company is located in the heart of the Kona region. They grow their own and roast their own as well as for other smaller farmers that can’t afford the equipment. The Kona region is not that large but no one can call their coffee “Kona” unless it is grown in Kona HI, that perfect location for growing coffee: lots of rain and sunshine, cool temperatures (they were located at 3,200 ft) and rich volcanic soil. It’s similar to the rules for champagne; it must be grown in Champagne France or it’s sparkling wine. Mountain Thunder offered a free tour and free samples. I love coffee and had to buy several bags to take home. We drove around the coast a little while longer and then headed for the airport and a gas station.

We got to the airport plenty early and since this is a small airport the gate staff were not on duty for another hour or so. We went to a little open air cafe to kill some time and to have a snack. We split a fish sandwich and large fries and watched the second half of the University of Louisville women’s basketball game on my phone. They won and were headed to the sweet sixteen for the third year in a row. Who Hoo! We got checked in and found the restaurant inside the airport. It actually is more of a grill and bar. Ate a small pizza and had the Kalua pig nachos. I don’t think we would recommend either, but the beer was cold. We had much better food on the plane rides. We found a place to camp out for the 2 hour wait for our plane that began our long trek back home. Kona to LA, LA to Denver, Denver to home.

One last tip. The www.gohawaii.com is an excellent website for planning that special trip to the most remote islands in the Pacific. It’s been a great time and certainly a good way to celebrate an anniversary. Hawaii has everything if you look at the right island. It’s a great romantic getaway and a great place for seeing sites and experiencing adventure. And as the musician IZ said … “the sound of the ocean soothes my restless soul”. I love this place more each time I visit. The price and effort you pay to get there is more than rewarded back to you in memories you will talk about for ages to come. Aloha!

Maui sunset