We took an early flight home. Things went smoothly at Kona Airport. It is small and they don’t have a lot of traffic leaving at 6:25 AM. We needed to route through Honolulu (I won’t bore you with the reasons why) but the plane we were taking brought passengers to Kona. Surprisingly they had what looked like a full flight arriving in Kona at about 5:45 AM. Most of the passengers looked like workers rather than travelers. A tip for you if you fly through Kona (and possibly other Hawaiian airports) be cautious at the agricultural inspection. The inspection was a breeze but they tagged our luggage with tape that has been virtually impossible to remove without leaving a sticky residual on our luggage handles. We just bought this luggage and it is very annoying that we now have handles that will remind us of Hawaii whenever we travel. Possibly if you get a reasonable agent they can apply it to your luggage tags instead.
As usual I will end this blog series with some photos I found of interest.
Hertz asking you not to soak their keys. I guess it is tough on the battery.Interesting privacy tag. You can watch TED talks on the room television.Warning not to jump off the 442 foot Akaka Falls. I saw this just as I was about to change into my bathing suit. Looks like Kona Joe is a bit behind the times (dated July 24, 2008) when it comes to minimum wage. This was their posted sign keeping in line with labor law requirements.I had a staring contest with these guys.
It is good to be back home as always. Patrice is off to her choir meeting and I am going to get ready for going to work tomorrow. Work? Ugh, I need a vacation.
Followers of this blog know that I have often had doubts about Patrice’s suggestions for activities on our vacations but in the end I have a fantastic time. Today was another example. Patrice signed us up for an around the Big Island tour. We needed to get to the lobby at 7 AM for an 11 hour excursion via Kailani Tours [(808) 938-4057]. Lucky for us most of the group were staying at our hotel so we only had to make one other stop before we were on our way.
We had a great time with stops at Kona Joe’s Coffee Farm; Punalu’u Black Sand Beach; Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Rainbow Falls; and Akaka Falls. The sights were great and our tour guide was spectacular. If you decide to take this tour try to get Mike as your guide. Other guides might be just as good, but it is hard to imagine anyone being better,
Naalehu; not part of the tour but Mike stopped to give us a great view of the ocean.Patrice and I at NaalehuAt Punalu’u Black Sand Beach.Our tour group. Can you even see us?Rainbow FallsThe rainbow at Rainbow Falls.Patrice and I holding hands at Akaka Falls. Aren’t we cute? Don’t you just want to pinch us?Beautiful but unknown plant seen at Akaka Falls. Can anyone out there tell me what this is?
We got back to the hotel at about 6:15 pm just in time for DINNER! Speaking of dinner, last night after dinner we decided to go see the Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. It was excellent but much to my surprise (and Patrice’s) I didn’t cry. Am I getting hardened in my old age?
We head for home tomorrow. Patrice is not looking forward to that because as she put it, “Robert you are so much fun on vacation”. I guess that settles it, we will need to go on more vacations.
Oh yes, Cardiology, I knew it was a conference about some medical topic. The conference has had is ups and downs. I have learned some valuable lessons that I plan to bring home to my patients. Unfortunately some of the lectures have been less than inspiring. The conference staff has asked attendees to shut off their cell phones or place them on silent out of respect to the speakers. Today two people in the audience had their cells phones go off during a couple of the talks. Those two individuals were the program co-directors. Oops!
Followers of this blog are well aware that my entries always supply lots of pictures and verbiage about food (today will not be an exception). Many ask me how I manage to stay relatively thin. First of all I exercise on a regular basis. For example this morning I was running on the hotel treadmill at 5 AM. Also, we don’t eat like this when we are at home. In fact my home meals are totally dictated by Patrice. If she is not home I don’t eat. On our trips she is also responsible for feeding the beast. When the morning lectures were coming to a close I alerted her by text, “Morning almost over, please prepare for lunch”.
When I arrived at the room Patrice told me that the nearby Lava Lava Beach Club (69-1081 Ku’uali’i Pl, Waikoloa Village, HI 96738) was walking distance and highly recommended. We took a circuitous route but finally found it in a lovely setting (seems like you can’t find anything here that isn’t beautiful), We had a wonderful meal (sorry, no pictures. I was too hungry to think of taking pictures) but there were lots of bugs that we had to fight for our food. As soon as any plate was cleared we asked the staff to remove it so as to limit the bug’s feeding frenzy. It was like the flies we encountered in Australia’s Outback. No that is an overstatement. Nothing compares to the Outback in Australia (and explains why it is the rare Aussie who has visited that area of the country).
Tonight we had a lovely dinner at Pueo’s Osteria (68-1845 Waikoloa Rd, Waikoloa Village, HI 96738) with Patrice’s friend, Robbie and her husband, Jim who moved here recently from Southern California. Robbie says she loves it here but misses Handel’s ice cream from Torrance. I told her we would have brought her some if we had known. Sorry, no pictures of our dinners. But how about a look at a couple of desserts?
Jim and Robbie shared the cannoli.Patrice’s Chocolate Hazelnut Torte.
Enough for now, I need to get to bed. My 5 AM treadmill appointment will be here soon.
We escaped Los Angeles on what started out as a very rainy morning. I don’t know what happened later in the day because we were aboard an American Airlines flight to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. I will be attending a medical conference in order to keep up to date with the latest medical information. I know what you are thinking, “Robert is going on a vacation at taxpayer’s expense”. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am very interested in the topics to be discussed this week and that is why I decided to attend. This conference is about…… wait I need to check. I know it is some sort of medical topic, so let’s leave it at that. I will find out tomorrow.
I would like to tell you that the flight to Kona was delightful but unfortunately it wasn’t. We had a lot of turbulence. I kept on grabbing Patrice’s hand because I was so scared. Sorry, I am a big flying baby and that is the painful truth. The only thing worse than the turbulence were the two movies I watched. I saw two films I had never heard of (that should have been a clue). One was called “Bottom of the 9th”. I won’t even bother to discuss it. The other had Alec Baldwin, Selma Hayek and a bunch of other very good actors. It was a comedy titled “Broke Parents” and it was AWFUL.
Upon arrival to Kona it was clear we were not at LAX. The airport is tiny and signage very poor. Luckily staff were great. I found a security guard who was very helpful in directing us to baggage claim and the rental car shuttles. Security guard friendly and helpful? Yes, we were not at LAX. The weather was a major change from LA. It wasn’t raining or cold but it was very humid and hot.
It was a 25 minute drive from the airport to our hotel. We are staying at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (69-275 Waikoloa Beach Dr, Waikoloa Beach, HI 96738). The staff members are very friendly and accommodating but the wait to check in was awful. A sweet young lady offered us an Aloha greeting and placed a puka shell necklace around each of our necks. It was a kind gesture but I would have appreciated her using her time to check people into the hotel instead.
After resting up we headed out for dinner. We ate at Napua at Mauna Lani Beach club (68-1292 S Kaniku Dr, Waikoloa Village, HI 96738). The restaurant was recommended by one of Patrice’s friends who recently relocated from Redondo Beach to the Big Island of Hawaii. We had a wonderful time at the restaurant. Service was excellent . The surroundings were beautiful (lush vegetation with a calm ocean bay just footsteps from our table) and the food was superb.
Restaurant employee lighting lanterns close to our table.We shared the calamari appetizer.
Patrice here. “We shared the calamari appetizer”? Robert and I each had one piece then I looked up as Robert was finished the last serving. That is his idea of sharing.
Patrice’s BBQ ribs.
Patrice had BBQ ribs as you can see above. I love this woman but doesn’t she realize this is Hawaii, not Memphis in May? If you don’t know about Memphis in May I feel bad for you but please click the category named Memphis on the right side of this blog and you will get your full of the MIM celebration.
Caesar Salad with Shrimp.
I had the Caesar Salad with Shrimp shown above. It was spectacular. Patrice loves shrimp and I knew I had to offer her one. Luckily she declined. Enough about food. I need to get ready for tomorrow’s conference. I have to find out where and when the conference will be. I probably should also look to see what it is about.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 