January 23, 2009
Aloha! (Actually, I like “ciao” better, but doesn’t seem Hawaiian somehow – although it has enough vowels to be Hawaiian…R having a TERRIBLE time with pronouncing names here!)
It is Friday now, and I’m needing to catch everyone up on our Big Island adventure to date. We left Oahu about 9 o’clock on Wednesday morning on Hawaiian Airlines. Very empty flight – probably no more than 30 people on the plane, so we were ALL able to have window seats if we wanted them! Only took about half-an-hour to reach Hilo. While Robert has flown into this airport before, I’ve only gone into the Kona side. This was so green and lush; a very different introduction to the Big Island! Our luggage had actually arrived before us – it went on the 8 o’clock flight (and yes, we were that early…surprise!) Picked up the car – a screaming bright blue PT Cruiser! And headed to our hotel, the Hilo Hawaiian, only 10 minutes from the airport. Checked in and got a nice room, facing the ocean on the 4th floor, mid-building. Hotel is right on the lagoon facing the Liliokalani (sp?) park and gardens; just lovely!
Unpacked a bit, then headed downtown for lunch and a look around. Our favorite place has always been Café Pesto, and surprise! It just happened to be lunchtime! Got a nice table by the window and a terrific lunch! Mom ordered a chicken salad on pasta; ate every bit! As did R with his beef quesadilla…so that he could help me with my incredible oriental pizza – had pesto, garlic and pepperoni on it – YUM! Walked around downtown, including the farmer’s market – saw the BIGGEST avocado’s we’ve ever seen! They were the size of softballs!! Toured the shops and had a good look around. Saw some absolutely beautiful quilts … Hilary…seriously thinking about getting some fabric…From there we decided to pick up some supplies, so headed up to the local mall, first to the Borders and then for wine and snacks. We also tried to head to Lava Tree State Park in Puna, but the traffic (it was about 5 p.m.) was SOOOO bad that we decided to save it for another day!
Back to the room about 6, and Mom and I went out for a walk around the grounds and the local park. It was getting dark, and Mom unfortunately managed to fall on some lava. The good news is that her hip stayed exactly where it was supposed to, and the damage was pretty limited to a scraped knee and hand. She is a bleeder, though, so we did have some clean-up to do – and thankfully the hotel has a laundry in the basement! (Also, thankfully, she was wearing her Tilley clothing, which cleans up beautifully, without a trace!) We were still so full from lunch that we decide to snack in our room on cheese, crackers and salami … and wine; did I even need to say that??
Thursday morning (yesterday) we got up fairly early, and over to Ken’s House of Pancake’s for breakfast. (It got a good review in both of our guidebooks; very basic kind of place, but good service, and lots of fun!) Mom had poached eggs, bacon and toast; R had pancakes and bacon, and I had the breakfast burrito with hash browns…VERY filling, let me tell you! From there we headed to Volcano’s National Park, arriving just after 9 a.m. Did the visitor’s center first, and got an update on the volcanic activity. Things are now flowing outside of the park, biasing on the Hilo side, and because of some recent seismic activity, large portions of the park were closed because of excessive levels of hydrogen sulfide. We drove the roads that were open – through intermittent rain, and then down Chain of Craters road to the end … where the old lava has closed the road. Also visited the Volcano Art Gallery (and picked up a stunning piece of glass!!!) and Volcano House, where we stopped for drinks (the non-alcoholic kind)…just there really for the view over the steaming/smoking crater! Then headed out and into the small village of Volcano, where we stopped for lunch at the Kiawe Kitchen. Really terrific food!! I had Manhattan clam chowder and baguette (would put money on the fact that whoever makes their bread is FRENCH!). R had a tri-tip sandwich on baguette, and Mom had a prosciutto and cheese and tomato sandwich on baguette … all VERY pleased!
From there, we headed back toward Hilo, detouring into the Puna area. Our first stop was Lava Tree State Park. Took the circle walk; just beautiful place; SO lush and green! Very interesting formations – the lava encircled living trees at one time, and formed around them. Tree then died, leaving the lava formation intact. From there we headed down to the coast, and had a truly beautiful drive along the coast. Passed many deserted beaches; really an incredibly lovely afternoon! Finally, we arrived at the end of the road, where the lava has closed Chain of Craters from the other side. Parked the car and started heading up the trail to the viewing site … and that’s when R went head over tea kettle and down on the lava…what IS it with these folks, anyway??? We’d been walking all of 3 or 4 minutes!! R really hit the lava hard; knocked the lens out of his glasses (remember this, Kathy and Nic?) really scraped up his leg and arm; even managed to scrape his face on the temple! Fortunately, there was a little store right there, and they folks were great about helping me get Robert cleaned up. Bought some hydrogen peroxide and used that and water to clean, and was able to get him into the car. Boy, was Mom surprised! We headed directly back into Hilo, and stopped at the local Walmart, as they had an optician listed. They very nicely repaired Robert’s glasses for him, and the pharmacy provided a large tube of Neosporin as well as bandages. Got him back to the hotel and into the shower to wash off … Here I am, being Nurse Margaret again!
Fortunately, the spill didn’t seem to affect his appetite at all, so we headed out for Hilo Bay Café for dinner. WOW! Know we’ve had basically incredibly good food this trip, but this was, for me at least, the BEST yet! Nice little place – probably 12 to 14 tables; good atmosphere – all in a strip mall! We had a very knowledgeable waiter, Shane – recommended their homemade limeade with coconut – Yummy! For starters, R and I shared two perfectly cooked scallops in a wasabi cream sauce, sprinkled with TRUFFLE oil! AMAZING! Mom had lamb T-bones, R had Opah (fish) on an artichoke and caper polenta with spinach, and, at Shane’s recommendation, I had the homemade red pepper manicotti stuffed with 3 cheeses and eggplant, and served with 3 sauces – pesto, marinara and beurre blanc – absolutely INCREDIBLE! For dessert, Mom had coffee ice cream, R had a pineapple and peach crumble, and I had their warm chocolate lava cake and homemade vanilla ice cream…3 very, very happy albeit bruised people heading back to the hotel for the night!
Well, that brings us up to today, which I want to do separately, so will close now!
Much love to all!
m
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