Also, don’t sleep on saimin. My favorite is on Kaua’i but all of them are good if not great.
And make sure you hit the supermarket or gas station mini-mart before 10:30am if you want spam musubi - they are in the hot cases, and they sell out by midday. Best beach/surfing/diving snack to have with you, bar none.
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I think Spam is a required part of a meal, or two, on any trip to Hawaii. Or so i have been told.
Boarding now.
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I LOVED Two Ladies Kitchen. We bought a variety of mochi, after waiting in a lengthy line, and my only regret was not buying more.
Also in Hilo is Kula Shave Ice, which is my favorite that I’ve had anywhere in Hawaii. They have good vegan coconut ice cream that you can combine with the shave ice. Their syrups are homemade and very good. It’s right next to the farmer’s market.
We also liked the malasadas at Tex.
If you happen to be down in Captain Cook area, we liked Black Rock Pizza for a casual meal with beautiful sunset views.
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Save travels! Looking forward to your reports.
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on Kona side: Ululani’s for shave ice (flavors are real fruit), & Randy’s Huli chicken on the belt road around Kealakekua
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Is Kula the place next to the tsunami museum? If so, I concur. One problem, though, is that if the surf is good, the shop may not open! Of course, that’s a problem shared with a lot of small businesses throughout the islands.
I arrived around 1600 and my first impression was how beautiful the water was but then there was a huge “Holy crap! The lava covers most of the NW side of the island!!”
moment. It has cooled of course but you can guess the age of it by the amount of grass clumps growing in it.
The airport is almost all shaded but open to the air which is pretty cool. No pun intended.
I got an Uber for $25 and the driver was a perfect host. Friendly and a fellow traveller who had been to many of the same Costa Rican beaches i have been to.
Front desk clerk? Same.
Visited a place just 200 yards from my hotel, On The Rocks, for a quick Poke bowl that was good, not great but it is a tourist centric place. The photo below the poke photo gives you a good idea where the name came from. The upper blue canvas to the right of the coconut tree is On The Rocks. The lower blue is Huggos, which is more formal.
The bar tender was pretty chill, nice place.
Watched the waves roll in and wolfed poke and a Kona ale. Pretty good end to my day.
The photo does not show the roar of the waves, beautiful view from my balcony.
I am tuckered out. Time for exploring in the morning.
Night shot of the bay.
I need to figure out how to download those 2 second GIF files.
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Hmm not sure. I see on google maps it’s right next to the farmers market
Thank you for asking, Gretchen! It has been very chill. The weather has been cloudy and rainy but the food has been good! I am boarding my flight home in a few hours but todays highlights were a small Saimin soup at Big Island Grill and the Mochi at Two Ladies!
The BIG Saiman earlier in the week was enormous!
Oh, i forgot one of my faves, Musubi rocks!
The room was nice and the views good, but there was a small craft advisory during most of my stay so the snorkeling was only ok.
A pair of these guys followed me one afternoon, beautiful!
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As always, I really love your photos and commentary! Very cute feathered follower. The small saiman looks much more feasible to me than the big one but all the food looks very tasty. Your view was incredible! I hope you share more about your trip. Sister and family want me to go to Hawaii with them and I need some encouragement.
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I just got back up to speed after a bit of a marathon set of flights back from Hawaii to Kalispell MT. Somehow my direct flight from Kona to Denver ended up in San Fransisco due to the crew timing out, so I missed my first flight from Denver to Kalispell and the second flight was delayed by 3 hours, so my tail was dragging by the time I got home!
Kalispell below with a bit of a rainbow.
But the trip was very cool, Hawaii is outstanding! The people are phenomenal! As I mentioned, the lava flows are the first thing you notice as you fly in, and they are ubiquitous on the Big Island. You can kind of guess the age of the lava by how much greenery is growing on it. When you get off the jet, the airport is almost entirely unenclosed. There is a roof over most of it but the breezes blow straight through which is very nice. I got an Uber to the Royal Kona, Charles was outstanding. He is a traveler and had been to a couple places in Costa Rica I used to hang out at. Checkin at the Royal Kona was very nice, Marianne, my desk clerk was a traveler as well and gave me a room on the Bay side with a nice view of Kailua Bay. I was tuckered out so I walked around the corner and got a Poke bowl at On the Rocks and it was good but not great. Excellent local beer, though.
The next morning I woke up and heard the wind roaring from the balcony. I got up wrestled the door open and realized the noise was the surf, not wind. There was a small craft advisory and the waves were booming!
But then I hit my first outside the hotel grounds cafe at Big Island Grill and loved it! I ordered Loco Moco, a Hawaiin comfort food of white rice, hamburger patty (i got Kalau Pork and spam on it too), brown gravy and an egg sunny side up. My order had gravy all over everything which hurt the look but it was still delicious.
Then it was time to walk around a bit and Ali’i Drive was a great walking venue. I was whipping out my phone to use the PictureThis app to identify the trees but I think I saw Banyan Figs, Date Palms, Coconut Trees, Soldier Bush, Beach Almonds and Sea Hibiscus in just a mile or two. Beautiful.
Another thing I noticed fairly quickly is that Kailua Kona has quite a few homeless people but they do not seem to as drugged out as they are in Denver and other mainland cities. There was no human waste and the only signs of drug use was a single syringe on the sea wall. One of the critical things is that Kailua has bunches of public restrooms that are kept open and clean. This cannot be cheap but it seems to help a lot. Congrats to Kailua on working with the homeless community to allow them at least some level of support.
On a lighter note, I hit Kanaka Kava for a bowl of murky grey kava that tasted like bitter dish water. But I got a mild buzz and sat on the little verandah for half an hour with a guava juice and a silly grin.
I meandered down to Papa Kona and then to Kailua Pier where I watched the canoe teams paddle about Kailua Bay. Very scenic. Canoes seem to be a big deal in both Kailua and Hilo, and I am glad to see it and them.
I drove up to Waimea on my way to Tex’s Drive In and loved that town. No beach, just a very welcoming feel to the town. I saw a place called the Fish and the Hog and wanted to stop for one more meal! But I hit Tex’s for Malasada and a small Saimin bowl.
Oh. My. God. Malasada’s are as big as a babies head!!! Bavarian Cream and dusted with powdered sugar. THIS IS WHY I DO NOT EAT DESERT OFTEN!!! That thing is addictive! And the bowl of Saimin was a semi-smokey treat as well. Where does that smokey flavor come from? I noticed it at Big Island later too. Just outstanding food!
Then i saw this…
The next day was all about the food, first a Poke bowl at Pa’akai Poke, much better than the one I got at On the Rocks, delicious!
Then I had an outstanding sour at Humpy’s followed by a marlin dip that was good but not great. Nice view out over the power lines to the bay. LOL!
I tried to find a Hawaiin roasted chicken place so i hit Willie’s, which is a chain from TN i think. So not Hawaiin. Oh well. But the chicken and beans were great!
Finally I hit Fish Hopper for a margarita, rocks, no salt. And I actually got the drink I ordered! Yea! And the bar tender came by a minute later with the extra margarita from the mixer steel glass. Sweet. Thank you, Heather!! The Mahi Mahi with macadamia was good, not great but the place was very friendly in a warm way, not a fake way.
Next morning the wind was blowing again, whoops, more wave action. I think I mentioned musubi already so I will leave my breakfast out of this. Musubi rocks. Anyway, I hit two bays on a snorkeling trip and the small craft advisory did have an impact, the visibility was poor and the sea life was limited at both bays. Captain Cook Monument and the bay to the north of it. I think I timed this trip poorly. Such is life. I have not found an SD reader to download my go pro yet.
Got back to my hotel and bee lined straight to one of the top rated Yelp places (#8 in the US) for burgers. And ordered an Ahi sandwich and a Ginger Beer, and both were really good! Thank you Ona Loa!!
Also hit Quinn’s for a fried Saiman plate. Only so so. Nice staff, though.
Dinner was a Black Rocks Pizza and it was pretty darned good. Drove down to a beach a couple miles south for a walk and the clouds were pretty intense. Should have taken a picture…
Went to Papa Kona again and ordered another Loco Moco, this time it was served right and was very good but not quite as tasty as Big Island Grill. Great view of my hotel. LOL!
Went to Big Island again for another small bowl of Saimin. Talked with a local guy at the table next to me, again, very welcoming place.
Finally, on my last day I drove to Hilo and hit the Suisan Fish Market at 2pm. The poke was looking a bit on the wilted side, so I chastised myself for not getting there sooner and hit Two Ladies for mochi instead. Very sweet staff, especially considering how slammed they were! Grabbed an 8 pack to go and hit Liko Lehua for a bite. They were on sabbatical, traveling to some food festival that their Lilikoi Butter was entered in. Major sadness.
But the drive back to the East shore was just beautiful desolation. High desert with scrub and black lava. Steam rising from the lava fields. Roadside monuments to relatives lost in traffic accidents. Volcanos rising on the horizon. Amazing.
Finally, I hit a local chain, L&L, for a seafood/pork combo that was a tasty, fat filled treat. That is a fast food worth indulging in!
There is one subject that I hesitate to bring up because it may be slightly contentious. What is up with macaroni salad in Hawaii? It is everywhere and it is prepared way too sweet! Argh. I like me some mac salad almost as much as I like potato salad with egg, and I was less than thrilled with the mac salad here. LOL!
YMMV.
Still having troubles downloading photos from my Google account to HO. Will try to enter them from my phone. Crossing my fingers.
I just want to thank all of you who gave me tips! I really try to visit as many of the recommended places as i can! It means a lot to me to have you all tell me places you like.
United was looking good at this point. Little did I know what was in store…
And I like United normally.
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The little beach in pic #3 was where we would play and swim almost 60 years ago when we lived in Kona for a summer. Dad would set up his water painting gear on the seawall and paint the church, the Hulihe’e Palace gardens and the bay sights. When I visited it 8 years ago it was sadly so filthy with trash and occupied by those without homes. I cried. Sounds like Ail’i has been cleaned up since I was there. So glad you had a nice trip!
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It is sad to go back sometimes. Especially to family places you went when you were younger.
The beaches right there are not in the best shape, but they are much better than some I have seen of late. There are homeless people camped out under tents and umbrellas but they are much better than what I have seen in Denver and other places recently.
Well done, sir.
You did the Islands proud.
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I feel ya, brah!
Very confused and taken aback the 1st times. Especially with white rice??? That’s just not done in my myopic egocentric world.
Like ordering white rice with ramen in Japan. Whazzupwiththat!?!?!
Now I love it. Even made some for an island theme party at home once.
Reading you makes me miss paradise. Thanks for taking us along!
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Thank you! I was thrown for a loop a time or two. No pineapple to speak of, no sweet Hawaiian rolls, only one pack of surfers, the snorkeling was only so so, sweet macaroni salad, no red 308 GTS Ferrari or a little bird to speak of…
All my preconceptions, crashing down!
Seriously, though, it was a great experience and I really enjoyed my time there. And the meals ran the gamut from rather good to outstanding. Plus, I now have a second Spam association. I have never been to Korea but I love making and eating Budae Jjigae/Army Base Stew with Spam and now I have Hawaiian Spam Musubi on my list of favorites. WWII continues to cast a long shadow.
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Musubi is another that I had problems with. Not for the Spam, but combined nori, rice and Spam. I was very narrow in my food outlook.
Saimen is another. can’t even make wonton mein right, I thought.
Many years ago, one of my first trips. Six papayas for a BUCK!?!?! Paradise indeed!!!
Across from the Kailua Pier, one of our favorite hotels. I had brought some rods and tried my luck. No love.
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That was my new little swimming area on my last visit to Kona. It was closely monitored by the equipment rentals staff. Sweet little yellow fishies nibbling on your exposed ski. The luau pavillion there puts on an almost nightly show that you can see from afar. If you are ever on Molokai, check out the evening bakery and their massive sweet bread offerings.
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