Honolulu to Kona
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Flying to the Big Island today at 10:30am. Take limos to the airport, where we board two
9 seat charter planes. We are on one plane with 3 of the main band members. No one sings 'La Bamba' or 'Freebird' as we board...
Arrive at the Kona airport in under an hour. Rent a Jeep so we do some exploring on our days off.
Check into the hotel/theme park/resort (Hilton Waikaloa Village). This place looks like Disney World with the monorails and boats to take you to your rooms. In other words, this place is HUGE. We are in the coveted 'Oceanview Tower', sadly our view is of a construction site, not the ocean...
Head up to Waimea for lunch, it drizzles on us once we get into the mountains. Have lunch at a small restaurant recommended in our guidebook. Its good, not great. Dessert is a Coconut Custard, best part of the meal... Afterwards, do some shopping in Waimea. Should have eaten at the Thai place we find in the shopping center. Doh!
Head down through Waikloa Village proper, where there is basically NOTHING. Then on to Kailua-Kona, which is a lot like Lahaina town on Maui. Cool, seaside town vibe, with restaurants and shops. And, thank God, a Starbucks... We wander around for a few hours checking everything out, unfortunately when dinner rolls around we are still full from lunch. And since the hotel is 30 min away we can't really go back and change clothes then come back, as it'll be too late (stuff closes early in these towns). So we're stuck eating a $14 quesidilla at the hotel when we get back...