Honeymoon: Days 8-10

I'm lumping these three days together because they were rather lazy days that we didn't do much, which was exactly what we needed. They mostly consisted of going to the beach and moseying around Kona.

Day 8:

We hung around our condo for most of the morning. We ventured over to some thrift stores and I found a flowy green shirt for $5. We ran some errands and got groceries for the last bit of our vacation and headed back to the condo for lunch. We went to the beach on the other side of the harbor known as "dog beach." It's one of the only beaches locals can bring their dogs to. We really liked it because it was much more calm. There was a couple scuba diving there and they talked with us for a bit. Craig asked them what they liked to do when they have visited (because they have a home here and in Colorado!). They gave us a lot of great ideas like the observatories, viewing the Manta Rays from the overlook at the Sheraton, and viewing lava with a boat tour. Craig and I were excited about the lava boat tour and talked about checking it out.

After the beach, we came back to the condo, did laundry, and got ready for dinner. This night, we ate at the Big Island Grill. This place has always been packed with people whenever we'd drive by. We'd already eaten there for dessert (Mega Mud Pie #1). I got the Chicken Katsu (fried chicken with brown rice and gravy) and Craig for the Saimin (noodle soup with pork, shrimp, and dumplings).  This is all authentic Hawaiian comfort food. I couldn't believe the portions! It was enough for two large dinners. We ate enough, and ordered a banana split for dessert. We followed our previous trend of going home full and happy.

Day 9:

I had read about Honomolino Bay in our travel book, The Big Island Revealed. I fell in love with the picture. I didn't take my camera, so here's a similar picture to the one I fell in love with:

Honomolino Bay

To get here, we first had to drive down to Miloli'i Beach Park. Miloli'i is known to be a rural area and the last fishing village on the island. They have done a lot to fight for the preservation of this rural area. I wish I would have brought my camera to take pictures. While driving down to this village, you can see down the hillside where people have built their homes on lava yards. No vegetation was in sight. I can't imagine what it's like when it gets really hot. We drove through the neighborhood to the Miloli'i State Beach Park. Honomolino Bay was about a 20 minute hike from the Park. There was a park pavilion by where we parked and a sign about a Charter school. I'm not sure if that was the school, or if they were hosting a summer school there. Close to the trailhead were multiple homes that had many signs about it being private property and to keep away. I read in several places online and in books that to be respectful to the locals of this area, to stay away from Honomolino Bay on the weekends. It is their stomping grounds at that time.  

On our way through the beginning of the hike, we saw a couple and their young son walking towards us. The boy had something draped over his shoulders and neck I assumed was their dog. As we came closer I saw the mother had a gun in her hand, and the dog was actually a goat. This is no different than seeing someone who just killed a deer in mid Missouri, but it just wasn't what I was expecting on my way to the beach. I pushed the feelings of shock down and smiled as they walked by. They were polite and said, "Hello, " and we continued on. It was a really cool and easy hike. We got to see the lava covered hillside and the ocean on the other.

We got to the beach, found a shady spot, and ate lunch. A family of 3 children arrived shortly after us and got in the water. I could tell the waves were a bit stronger than I was hoping for. The kids screamed over the waves pretty much the whole time we were there.  Craig and I tried getting into the water a bit but it was too difficult fighting the rip. We'd do enough to get cooled off and spent the rest of the time exploring.  Some people had made some beach chairs out of the larger rock on the beach (with armrests!) and they even had a palm tree thatched roof overhead for shade.  I had read that there was also a white tipped shark that lived in one of the caves on the sides of the beach. I think I found the caves, but no shark. Boooooo. The caves were pretty cool though. They were just these holes in the lava rock, and water kept shooting out of them like a fountain.

We came back after the beach and hung out in the condo the rest of the evening.

Day 10:

Day 10 was pretty uneventful. Which is exactly what we needed because we’d be visiting the volcano the next day and needed a lot of rest. We headed out to the dog beach by 11am. I really liked this day because the sun was out for most of the time we were there. I like getting all warm and toasty in the sun so the water feels cool and refreshing. Craig is more of a shade person, which is definitely better for you anyway. For lunch, we decided to stop by a place that was by our condo that had received great reviews on Yelp. It’s called Da Poke Shack. Craig had scoped it out, and I’m up for anyplace with good reviews. When we walked in I could tell I would need some explanations from the employees. There was a glass cooler in the from with multiple salads/kimchi on the top row and a variety of raw fish cut into cubes. I asked the employee and he said this was called, “poke,” and everything was raw fish. They did have a chicken option, but they were sold out. So, you choose a grain (quinoa, white/brown rice), a salad from the top row, and a fish from the bottom. I had never had more than maybe a ¼ of a cup of raw fish at a time, and this was not what I expected for our lunch. I would have had a better mindset if I had known what to expect ahead of time. I decided to be a good sport and try something different. I chose brown rice, kimchi, and the “wet shack.” It was yellowfin.  Craig got quinoa, seaweed salad, and some other fish I can’t remember. He did try the octopus, which surprised me, but he opted out of that one. Later, he told me it was pretty chewy. We met with Laura, who filled up our Costco card with some money, and headed back to our condo for the rest of the day. We wanted to get plenty of rest for our volcano adventure the next day.