Our Hawaiian Vacation: A Day in Kona
Dorothy was scheduled to work on our fifth day (May 21st) in Hawaii. As we had done on past days when Dorothy had to work, we stayed close to home. Because Bob and I had not yet visited downtown Kona, we asked John to drop us off at the Kailua Pier when he took Dorothy to work. We strolled along Alii Drive, which begins at Kailua Pier. Sights along Alii Drive include:
Ahu’ena Heiau
‘Ahu’ena Heiau was King Kamehameha’s personal temple.
It was here that he spent his later years until his death in 1819.
Mokuaikaua Church
This was the first Christian church built in the islands, in 1820.
The present building dates from 1837.
The church is built of lava rock and crushed coral.
Hulihe’e Palace
This palace was built in 1838.
Vacationing Hawaiian royalty stayed here until 1914.
The palace is now a museum.
We enjoyed window shopping at the wide variety of shops and restaurants along Alii Drive.
Kona Marketplace
Kona Inn Shopping Village
Coconut Grove Market Place
ABC Stores, LuLu’s and Bongo Ben’s
The ocean provided endless entertainment and viewing enjoyment for us.
Stand up Paddling is a popular activity.
Ocean waves rolling in
Some of the waves appeared huge,
especially when taken from a low position!
Fisherman, using net, hoping to catch yellow tang fish.
Yellow Tang Fish
Looking across Oneo Bay to Royal Kona Resort
We admired two murals that we saw during our walk. Both murals were near the Hale Halawai Beach Park.
The bird on the far right is cut off because there was a homeless man sleeping on the concrete slab. I didn’t want him in my photograph.
Dorothy suggested that we visit Royal Kona Resort, if time permitted. She said it was a good place to rest, especially if we wanted to try and walk the 2 miles from Kailua Pier, where John had dropped us off, back to the condominium. The entrance was great, all open air including the lobby. We walked past the check-in desk to an open-air, oceanfront bar. Near the bar were inviting, comfortable sofas and chairs, from which we could view the ocean in comfort.
Royal Kona Resort view from lounge chairs
As we were leaving Royal Kona Resort a taxi pulled up at the hotel entrance. A man, carrying a single suitcase, got out of the taxi. He asked us where to go to check in, assuming we were staying at the hotel. Without a hint of hesitation, I pointed behind us and told him that the lobby was straight ahead, not inside the hotel but in the open air.
Even after resting at Royal Kona Resort, I was not able to walk to the condominium. My knee was hurting. I thought it wise not to overdo it. We did, however, walk a little over a mile from Kailua Pier before telephoning John to come pick us up.
John picked us up across from Honl’s Beach.
We picked up Dorothy at work at 3:00 PM. We were 30 minutes late. After carrying out several bags and a cooler containing picnic supplies, John closed the door behind him. It was then that John realized that he had locked his keys inside the condominium. We had to break into the condominium in order to retrieve the keys! You’ll understand if I don’t show you how we broke into the condominium 🙂
The four of us went to Kona Brewing Company. The boys sat at the bar; Dorothy and I sat at a table behind them. After Dorothy had downed one beer and I had two root beers, we went to the Kona International Market and browsed the shops. The boys stayed at the bar. After we were done window shopping (around 5:00 PM), Dorothy and I returned to the Kona Brewing Company to pick up the boys.
Entrance to Kona Brewing Company
Bob and John came out of the brewery soon after we returned.
John and Bob stopped at the growler shack to buy a growler to go.
Bob and John were quite happy to have spent a couple hours in the brewery.
We all went to the Old Kona Airport beach park for a picnic (hamburgers, corn on the cob, and potatoes) and to watch the sunset. There wasn’t much of a sunset, but the picnic fare was delicious. We enjoyed watching the surf as well.
We got some good beer!
Cheers!
Stay tuned for more posts on our Hawaiian vacation.
11 Responses to “Our Hawaiian Vacation: A Day in Kona”
I loved the yellow tang fish and the dance by Bob and John.The buildings and architecture are quite different here, maybe due to the geography? I think it will be interesting to know more about this place…Ram
i havent seen yellow fishes in their natural habitat, how beautiful. Here, it is common to see blue fishes, striped, butterfly, parrot, etc but no yellow as in that photo. As usual i envy the very clear photos. Bob seems to be enjoying very much too!
Looks like a long day (and fun)! Your photo of the waves reminds me of a friend who was taking a picture of a starfish – totally focused on it. Camera did not survive the wave. :)I have never had Kona beer, even though I have the T-shirt.Thanks for the tour!Arne
Looks like you all had a great day… Sorry your knee was bothering you… I'm afraid that I'm in for knee problems from now on… Darn!!!!!Beautiful church. And that palace looks interesting. There were lots of places to check out along Alii Drive. And I'd love sitting and enjoying the ocean –at that resort… What a life!!! The murals were neat… BUT–most of all I loved seeing the 'boys' after they enjoyed that beer… Your picnic looked like so much fun.Hugs,Betsy
Linda: It looks like you had a ball and what a wonderful place to vacation.
Had to do a double take on those turtles!! Cool mural… Looks like such fun!
Oh yeah, that looks like a whole lot of fun. Great photos all of them, and to top it all off a picnic on the beach. Fantastic!Thanks for stopping by. The only critters I saw in the water at the garden were some sparrows bathing. They were very cute.An English Girl Rambles
Wow, I've never seen fish that yellow except in fish tanks!! You both look like you're having such a grand time that I am really jealous!
Wow, Kona looks like a beautiful place! I loved the ocean pictures too. The sea is so full of life there with such beautiful fish. There were so many yellow tang fish! Amazing.
I loved it all! And there was something so peaceful and serene about the tang fish picture.It looks like you all had about as perfect a day as it gets.But what's a growler? Never heard that term. I assume a food item?
@Cynthia – A growler is a glass jug used for beer. It holds a half gallon of beer.