Saturday Aline and Dave picked us up and we went to a small car show at a nearby plaza.
The Lanihau Center Car Show was free and was a fundraiser for the local humane society.
It featured a number of cars, bikes, and trucks.
Sunday the main street (Alii Drive) in Kona was closed to traffic and over a 100 vendors set up stalls along the street.
Monday morning, while we were enjoying coffee on the lanai, a huge group of swimmers and dolphins went past, following the Iron Man course.
Dave and Aline picked us up late morning, and we drove just past Hawi to see the original King Kamehameha I Statue. Known as Hawaii’s greatest king, the statue is erected near his birthplace.
Our next stop was a trail beginning on the roadside, leading down to Kiholo Bay. We saw some wild goats.
Once we reached the water, we walked along the shoreline – a bit of a challenge through the stone and sand.
We came across three interesting properties. First was the “Bali” home built for John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell hair products. The home was built in Bali by 280 Balinese carpenters. The hand-carved house took 4 years to complete, then it was disassembled and shipped to Hawaii where it took another 2 years to reconstruct.
The next home, “The Yellow House” was built for Earl Bakken, the inventor of the pacemaker. He moved into his 17,000 square foot dream home at the age of 65. He’s over 90 now…
The third house was built for Loretta Lynn, but after the death of her oldest son, she never moved in. The 2,000 square foot house was left vacant and finally sold to Bakkan along with its 3 acres of land in 1999. Bakken then did a land swap with the State – trading the 3 acres of land with Lynn’s house for 6 acres of land next to his existing property (expanding his property to 9 acres).
Tuesday, after a day of rest, Dave, Aline, Todd, and I made our way to Umeke’s again to say hi to Naia. And once again, we had a few beers and ate dinner. I had the short ribs with mac salad and fries…so tasty.
Todd had the Bomb Trio – 3 kinds of Poke served on sushi rice with a wasabi mayo drizzle and a side of cucumber kimchee. He said it was really good (I’ll take his word for it…).
Wednesday, we went with Aline and Dave to see a house being built by a couple they know. It is quite impressive. Their 1 acre of land includes numerous plants: coffee, avocado, mango, lemon, and squash.
Then we went to a market by the Sheraton. We picked up 3 packs of mac nuts, some local honey, and a Patriots hat( Hawaiian style) for Todd.
Thursday we went to Mauka Meadows Coffee Farm with Aline and Dave. We enjoyed walking the grounds as we headed down to the coffee tasting area.
The views are quite picturesque.
Spiders are plentiful and BIG !
And the grounds are impressive (even if few plants were currently blooming).
This was a return visit – we came here last year. They now charge $5 pp, so after 2 visits, we probably will not be returning…
We get such great entertainment just sitting on our lanai looking out to the water.
Saturday, after a night of heavy rain, we woke up to an amazing rainbow, that continued to intensify, then was joined by another rainbow; not quite as intense, but a stunning view.
In the afternoon we, walked into town to the Huilhe’e Palace for their annual fundraiser event. We toured the palace, then walked the grounds.
Todd found this giant bee buzzing around the flowers in the gardens.
Vendors set up on the lawn and live music and hula dancers entertained the masses.
Chef Todd continues to make amazing meals (although, that is no real surprise). Below is one of our lunchtime salads with homemade dressing.
We have been eating a lot of a local mushroom called the Alii Oyster mushroom. It has a firm texture and is delicious.
Fried in butter, they go great with bbq steak.
With only 1 ½ weeks left, we are fully appreciating every amazing sunset…
