May 20 – May 24, 2017
I’m finally writing this post — a year later! I think maybe I didn’t ever write this last post about Hawaii because I couldn’t bring myself to finish the last post of our adventure as it meant it had really come to an end. Thankfully, we’ll be able to relive it over and over through all the stories and pictures we continue to share and all the amazing memories we have. I love how a smell or sound or feeling or a picture can bring you right back to a particular place in time.
So, here we go, our last few days in Kona on the Big Island. We stayed at a great Airbnb condo that was a block off Ali`i Drive, but had a private, quiet pool area tucked away for us to enjoy.
After a bit of swimming, we spent part of the afternoon watching the waves (which you really never tire of doing — they are so magnificent!)…
…walking along Ali’i Drive for Kokua Kailua Sunday – a festive, pedestrian-only outdoor marketplace (including food, artisans, crafts, and music)…
…and then happened upon a concert which was taking place at the palace as part of Kokua Kailua Sunday. The group performing was called The Merry Monarchs, a group of 15 or so men who love music and love to sing Hawaiian songs. In addition to the Merry Monarchs, there was a pahu drummer who played for several groups of Hawaiian dancers.
The waves by this time were breaking over the wall that separated the palace yard from the ocean, which was cool to see.
Despite how big they were, there were still a few surfers out there surfing right toward large, sharp, black lava rocks!
The next day, we packed up our stuff one more time, had a yummy lunch at Kona Brewing Company (where Grace had the pepperoni rolls again. 🙂 ), and then checked into the Marriott Courtyard, our favorite hotel in Kona, for our last night!
While we were swimming and hot tubbing, we met a woman (Aleada) who’s originally from Minneapolis and while living in many other places since leaving MN, she’d most recently lived in both New Zealand and Australia! We had fun chatting with her about our common travel locations as well as our adventure around the world.
That evening, we ate at Chillin on the Bay and watched a beautiful sunset!
On our last day, we had plenty of time before our evening flight back to Minnesota. We started out with a swim and chatted with Aleada again. Grace gave her a bunch of book and movie recommendations for her 6 year old. 😉 She gave the kids each an Australian pin (a koala and a kangaroo) as she carries them around with her to hand out to people when she’s traveling. 🙂
After swimming, we headed up to pack and then chatted with Nastia (our French friend at the front desk, who we met on our first stay in Kona) and then went to lunch at The Frenchman’s Cafe. It was a darling cafe owned by a husband (Gil) and wife (Flo) from France. We had the most delicious and most beautifully plated lunch!! Flo and the kids had fun speaking a little French. She told the kids it was fun speaking French with someone other than her husband! 🙂
We still had a bit of time before we needed to head to the airport, so we decided to tour a coffee farm. Greenwell Coffee was recommended to us by friends who had been there fairly recently and it wasn’t too far from where we were or where we had to go. The tour included a personal walking tour of coffee fields (including a chameleon sighting) and the processing facilities, followed by samples of their coffee.
On our way to the airport, we made one last stop at Mrs. Barry’s Kona Cookies. Definitely a must stop place on your way to the airport! We each chose a few cookies and headed off to drop off the car and shuttle to the airport.
When we arrived, there was no one at the check-in gate and (we found out) wouldn’t be for an hour or so. The kids entertained themselves by tossing coins in the air and catching them in their hats, which moved to dancing in front of their hats, hoping that others would toss coins in their hats! Generously, an older couple who Mike was talking to threw a quarter into each of their hats. 🙂
Once we got checked in, we sat in the outdoor airport area, checked out the gift shop, got some food to nibble on, and saw a gorgeous rainbow! It seemed like a beautiful ending of our adventure and a beautiful beginning to returning home.
Our flight left on time at 8:30pm, but ended up being quite a turbulent flight (moderate turbulence according to the cockpit). While the kids slept for about 3 hours, I didn’t sleep at all. :/ We arrived in Seattle at 5:30am (Seattle time).
We had a bit of breakfast in the airport and then left for Minneapolis at 6:30am (Seattle time) — another “moderately” turbulent flight from Seattle to Mpls. 🙁 We arrived in Minneapolis at 12pm (Mpls time). Not much sleep for Mike or me and the kids didn’t sleep at all on that flight.
Aw, this made me feel sad for you.