Kona By The Sea

Honest to God this is our view right outside our lanai. We are now staying at the Keauhou Surf and Racquet Club.  The Brown's left on Thursday for Honolulu and we are now sharing a two bedroom condo with the Morken's near Kona about 30 miles from Waikoloa.  I have to say I've never stayed anywhere that was this close to the water. We are loving it.

My blog got off to a late start as my computer evidently adopted the "Hang Loose" mode right off the bat.  But not to worry, I'll see if I can get caught up now. 

We played two rounds of golf, one on the Kings and the other on the Beach course.  Both courses share the same Club House at the Waikoloa Resort. They're both beautiful but the Beach was especially gorgeous with its signature hole, number 7. Surrounded by the water, it made for a pretty spectacular view. The course had a lot of sand and even more than sand, was a lot of the black lava throughout the fairways.  My ball found it all.  It was a tough couple of days of golf but luckily we had lunch and a cold drink to look forward to afterwards.

 

We stopped at "The Three Fat Pig's" restaurant for Happy Hour after our round of golf on the Beach Course.  Mai Tai's and Pina Colada's were the house specialty and they did not disappoint.

 
Dinner at a beach restaurant called Lava Lava was another highlight of our trip.  All dining was outside next to the water, the food was delicious with half our group having barbeque ribs and the other half fresh local fish.

 Lava Lava was a little on the pricey side but there was a father and son duo singing Leonard Cohen, Simon and Garfunkel and some Van Morrison, so with their beautiful voices, accompanied by the sound of the waves we all agreed it was worth it.  The waiters and waitresses were very friendly and welcoming and I would definitely recommend an evening at Lava Lava if you come to the Big Island. 

We spent one day driving down to Kealakekua Bay where we thought we would find the Captain Cook Monument.  After traveling miles of winding, narrow roads we arrived at a beautiful area that is a State Historical Park.  it's on the south side of the island closer to where our second condo is.  We never found the monument but did get some good pictures.   When we were looking at the pictures later, Jean pointed out that the Captain Cook Monument was visible in our photos across the bay.  Don't think we would have gotten there by car.

On the way back to the condo we stopped for lunch at Patz Pies and found the best pizza we've ever had, well, 2nd to Harris Pizza in Rock Island.  The sign you see below is what drew us in there, fun place with excellent pizza that went very well with a cold "Big Wave" local draft beer.  We weren't sure we wanted to try their "decent" wine!

Funny thing happened when we went Sam Choy's restaurant for a Chinese dinner.  The waiter brought us water, and delayed taking our drink order, which turned out to be a good thing.  We opened the menu to find $40 lamb and steak, etc., but nothing on the menu resembling a Chinese dish.  We were looking forward to something more like Kung Pao Chicken. 

We decided to go somewhere else that was more comfortable.  I'm sure the food would have been good, but we were in the mood for an atmosphere that was a little more casual. We ended up at The Tropics Ale House, an Irish Pub for fish tacos and a Guinness - much more appealing to our mind set for the evening. 

The fish here on the island is delicious, they use Ahi and Ono for fish tacos and also for their fish and chips. Another popular fish is Monchong, it's a white flacky mild deep sea fish and we had that a time or two.

Even with all the running around we've done we've spent a lot of time right here on this beautiful lanai, watching and listening to the waves. I'm finding it very meditative as I listen to the rhythm and at times actually feel the sea is speaking to only me. There seems to be a spirit out there, you can almost see it in one of the pictures below,  where the sun is glistening on the water, as the sun was coming down. Incredible vacation indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captivated By Kona

Three AM wakeup call, but neither of us were complaining since our long awaited trip to Hawaii had finally arrived.  It's been quite a few years since we've been to Hawaii and usually we went to Maui. This time we are going to spend 10 days on the Big Island's Kona Coast with our friends Ed and Jean Morken and Dwight and Lillian Brown.  The flight to L.A. was a short 45 minute trip with a very bumpy landing.  At one moment we were looking out the window wondering how the pilot sees when he's going through all those clouds,  the next thing we knew the ground had come up to meet us.  We weren't the only ones who yelped, as most of the passengers thought like we did, that we were still well in the air going through clouds not landing in all that fog.

When you look at the pictures below you may wonder why I was already off the plane when we landed in Kona and able to take that photo of Denny coming off the plane, it's because First Class passengers exit first!  While we were in L.A. they called my name and told me that there was one seat left in First Class and it was mine if I wanted it.  I really didn't want to sit up there alone, but Denny insisted I take it and enjoy.  He had our friends to visit with so I decided to do it.

 

As it turned out, I'm thinking it was meant to be that they called my name instead of his because I sat next to a man from Hong Kong who was a sports photo journalist and had traveled all over the world.  We had a great conversation about all the countries and golf courses we both have played.  I told him about my travel blog.  He was very complimentary and encouraged me to start sending photos and articles into local newspapers.  I was very inspired by the time we landed in Kona.

We collected our luggage and got our rental car and immediately went to the restaurant a friend from home had recommended.  The restaurant was called "Bite Me."  He suggested we order whatever the "catch of the day" fish sandwich was and a Longboard beer.  It really was a great way to begin our trip, sitting there at the water, looking out at the boats and yachts, eating as he said it would be, a delicious Ahi sandwich and savoring a cold brew. 

Onward to the next "must" stop when you go to Hawaii with other couples and are staying in a condo - Costco.  We had to stock up on our breakfast food, coffee, bagels, cheerios and bananas, not to mention the wine and Pina Colada mix for our evening cocktail hour. Staying in that first night was a good idea in view of having gotten up early and the long travel day. 

The condo is beautiful - we have a two bedroom unit that we are sharing with Lil and Dwight.  Jean and Ed have a condo of their own in a nearby set of villas. The balcony is perfect and overlooks one of the golf courses. There are two championship courses on the Waikoloa resort, (The Kings and the Beach) and the concierge booked tee times for us on each.

The Big Island is very beautiful as is all of Hawaii.  Landing at the Kona airport gives you a not so gracious feeling of darkness, because of the mounds of black lava that remains since the eruption of the Kilauea Volcano from the 1800's, however the Waikoloa area where we're staying is full of sunshine and the weather has been perfect.  The few days we've been here have had temperatures in the low 80's and there always seems to be a slight breeze.  The landscape is gorgeous with plants that grow from everywhere, through brick walls and even through the rocks of lava throughout the island. The volcano continues to erupt today and is one of the main attractions for visitors to explore. It is more easily accessible from Hilo, on the other side of the island.

Our first full day was spent walking around the grounds of the magical Hilton Waikoloa Hotel, which is just down the road from our condo.  It's acres and acres of tropical gardens, lagoons, swimming pools and another area where you can swim with the Dolphins.  We probably won't be doing that but it is fun to watch the kids as they do.  There are a lot of "high-end" shops, artwork and a tram that takes you around the whole property.  There is a lovely flow of Polynesian and Asian culture throughout~ simply stunning statues and waterfalls.

That evening, we had our drink on the balcony before going to dinner and were entertained by a group of goats that came down off the hill onto the golf course and practically in our front yard, hanging out on the lava.  We ate at the Seafood Grill, which is about 15 minutes north of Waikoloa, watched a bright red sun drop into the ocean and called it an early night, resting up, gearing up for our first round of golf.

Back to the 1800’s

For years we’ve traveled back and forth from Southern California to Las Vegas and noticed signs for "Calico Ghost Town."  There’s an exit on the I-15 freeway for Ghost Town Road and the only times we’ve ever pulled off there was to eat at Peggy Sue’s 50's Diner.  On our last trip to Orange County we decided to get off and see what this “Ghost Town” was all about.  Once we pulled off the freeway, we drove about three miles on a dirt road and followed the signs to Calico.

Calico is recognized as a County Regional Park and has camping cabins with restrooms, and showers, along with full hookups for off highway vehicle camping.  The town itself is open every day from 8-5 except Christmas Day.

There was a line of cars waiting to get in and when we got up to the booth there was the cutest young woman who was taking the money.  The sign said Adults $8.00, Youth $5.00 and Children under five are free.   Denny asked if there was a senior rate, she said “Well I’ll tell ya, my Nana always said seniors were just recycled teenagers so you fall into this category” and she pointed at the Youth price.  We could tell this was going to be a good time.  We drove through the gate and back in time, back to the 1800’s.

There is a general store, a craft shop, a saloon and an assortment of other establishments.  There are replicas of the old school house,  the hotel and the house that Lucy Lane lived in. There's even an area where you can pan for gold.  You can walk around the cemetery and shop for rocks, minerals, gems and jewelry. 

We were just in time for a good old fashioned gun fight and I’m telling you it was hilarious.  There were two men and a woman, one of the men had shot the woman's horse.  It was a great skit put on by these folks and when it was over there was some talk about a hanging that was going to take place later in the day.
 

If you’re ever driving to or from Vegas on the I-15, take an hour or so and check it out. Its great fun for kids and adults. Calico is one of the few remaining original mining towns of the western U.S.

Mr. Walter Knott, founder of Knott’s Berry farm donated Calico to San Bernardino County in 1966.  It’s located just north of Barstow, California on the I-15 freeway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A City With Soul

 

I am so taken with the city of Riverside California.  Denny and I spent the week there recently while he played in a Regional Duplicate Bridge Tournament.  He and his favorite partner from almost 30 years ago decided to play again after all these years.  I was thrilled that he was thinking about starting to play bridge again and most of all getting to see our friend from so long ago.

I was excited to go along because as anyone who has followed my blog knows, I love to travel.  It doesn’t matter where it is, I like to go.  I looked forward to walking around, shopping, relaxing and reading, and I looked forward to dinners out.  It’s really interesting what happened that week in Riverside and I’ve been looking forward to writing about it ever since.

On Monday, we checked into the Marriott, which is such a nice hotel. The staff was friendly and very interactive with the guests. The Convention Center was just across the courtyard from the hotel where they would be playing bridge, and the hotel has a wonderful poolside fire pit - perfect for an evening cocktail and cigar.

A lot of folks were checking in that day and Denny recognized a few of the people from years ago.  I remembered a few, not necessarily their names but knew I had seen them way back when. There was an energy that filled the lobby as the bridge players began to arrive.  It all seemed familiar and had a real sense of excitement about it.

I knew this was going to be a special week for sure. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it seemed like, well it seemed like someone was in the room.  I found myself looking closely at everyone, it was as though I was about to see someone I hadn’t seen in a long time and yet, I didn’t know these people like Denny did, and I didn’t play bridge but nonetheless there was this wonderful charge that just seemed to elevate how I felt.

Our friend Jon arrived, it was wonderful to see him. He and Denny seemed to pick up where they left off all those years ago, as though no time had passed.  We went out for dinner, they played bridge the next four days, and I enjoyed walking around the lovely downtown area. There was a real European feel with areas to sit outside with a cup of coffee in the morning, along with a beautiful Asian and Spanish flare. There were a lot of antique shops, restaurants, a used bookstore, and there was a jewelry store.

I did what I did in Ireland in September, I walked into a jewelry store and asked if they had any charm bracelets, I’ve been collecting charms along my travels and was now looking for a bracelet to put them on. He said “No, I don’t have any charm bracelets but you know, I do have this lovely bracelet over here, it’s from the 1920’s.” He put it on my wrist and I took it. Hey, I didn’t ask to see a bracelet from the 1920’s but he was obviously compelled to bring it to my attention so I’m thinking it was just one of those “meant to be” moments.

That night after the bridge game was over, we went out to eat and then walked around the classically historical Mission Inn Hotel.

The Mission Inn Hotel has been around since 1876 and occupies an entire city block in the heart of downtown Riverside.  I think we probably knew of it but for whatever reason, never went to see it.  It is a MUST. It’s gorgeous. You’ve heard the phrase “Timeless Beauty,” “Old world charm” well that is a perfect description of the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa. There are two high-end restaurants, "Duane’s Steaks and Seafood," and the "Mission Inn Restaurant and Spanish Patio."  We walked around as much as we thought we could and then the next day I found out we could have gone all the way to the top, so I did that on our last day.

Each day I felt more uplifted, every person I saw spoke to me, it was as though everyone was in a great mood. The shopkeepers had lots of time to visit. I told them  we had lived in Orange Co. for a long time before we moved to the Las Vegas area but I was just now discovering Riverside.

After about three days, feeling inspired as I did, I walked into a beauty salon. I walked up to the desk and made an appointment for the next day to have my hair cut. I’m thinking as exhilarated as I was feeling I certainly couldn’t go home with this old hair style. I knew it would be expensive in this upper end salon but it was O.K.

Every restaurant we ate at was good. We had steaks at “Mario’s Place” right across the street from the Mission Inn entrance, we also ate at “Bella Trattoria” and had a delicious chicken pinini with tomato basil soup.  "The Tamale Factory" was also good for lunch, not to mention the beer and wine was good everywhere.  We had catfish and red beans & rice at “Gram’s BBQ and Seafood,” and our last night was at "Sayaka Japanese Restaurant." We all three had Filet Mignon and Scallops cooked right there in front of us Teppan style.  Every restaurant is within walking distance from the hotel except for Sayaka.

Oh can’t forget "ProAbition," delicious burgers and fish and chips. Thanks to our good friends Ed and Emilie Kain for driving over to join us that night. The restaurant is modeled after the movie Chicago. A fun place, especially for us folks with Illinois roots.

 

 

Well the week came to an end and Denny and Jon had renewed an old friendship and agreed to play together again soon - On the final day at the tournament they finished in 2nd place out of more than 100 players. 

I felt good and looked great with my new haircut. I didn't look a whole lot different when we left from when we arrived but I was indeed changed.   As it turned out, that presence I felt as someone in the room, was perhaps an energy, an energy I obviously needed, and without a doubt I welcomed it with open arms.  

If you ever get the chance to go… Do.  I’m telling ya, there’s something about Riverside.