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We landed at the Kona airport, right around twilight. After being off the plane for no more than 5 minutes we both declared "we should move here". There was a nice warm breeze, it didn't feel humid even to us coming from Arizona and the airport was all open-air. The security area, ticket counter, baggage claim; all outdoors with random thatched hut looking coverings. It was awesome and very inviting! After we got our rental car, we started our drive up to the rental house. Up, up, up we went in a fast ascension through the cloud forest, along winding roads. The house was even better in person! Beautiful and spacious and clean and airy and homey and charming. A hot tub, fireplace, soaking tub, homemade ceramics, high vaulted ceilings, humongous lanai with views, spacious yard with greenery everywhere, goats peering through the fence talking to us. This place was perfect! The sky grew darker and darker. We saw the huge moon rise. We later watched the Blood Moon lunar eclipse while wildlife sang us a night tune. What a warm welcome to the island!
The next morning the property manager of the house swung by to see how we
were doing & we ended up chatting with her quite a bit and picked at her brain for ideas on where to go, what to see. The home owners happen to be bee keepers in the mainland and she recommended we visit, amongst other things, the Big Island Bees museum & tasting room. So we headed south of Kona, down Hwy 11, and towards Kealakekua Bay. The tasting room/museum was filled with different honeys to try, recipes, tools of the trade, viewing of a hive in action, old photos and more. Nestled in large, clear cubes were head sculptures covered in random spots with honeycomb: collaborative works of man & bee. Harmony. They also offer free tours of the hives, which we signed up for and did later in the week.
After time with the bees, we had no plans but to drive and explore whatever we happened to find. We continued down towards Kealakekua Bay where we stumbled upon the Hikiau Heiau Sacred Temple, a temple of human sacrifice. It overlooks the bay and off in the distance you can see the Captain Cook monument. We watched waves crash onto rock and dozens of black crabs scampered among
them, dodging the waves. A couple of locals set up a little umbrella and sold fresh coconuts to those passing by. It seemed like a lovely place to post up all day long. There was no real beach here, so no wading or swimming with the kids. Plus, we weren't prepared and didn't have swim suits nor did I have a wrap to carry Violet for a long trek. Onward we went.
Next we saw a sign for the Painted Church. Sounded interesting enough so we went there. It was a tiny building, perched atop a hill with a cemetery below, and amazing views of the ocean. The inside of the cute built in1899 St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church was ornately painted with murals. We were greeted by a sweet pit bull looking pup. He met us at the car, said hello and then went about his business. After wandering the grounds for a bit, Lilly had started to cry & out of nowhere that dog RAN, full speed to investigate and make sure she was ok. Sweetest thing ever.
We stopped for lunch at the Strawberry Patch Restaurant along Mamalahoa Hwy, ate a delicious meal on the
tiny outdoor patio. And then we headed up Hwy180 through the town of quaint artsy, older town of Holualoa. The windy, 2 lane road travels high above Kona. It was nice to take this alternate route back to the house. We stopped at a road side fruit stand that took donations only. We got a few items but most looked rotten or questionable. We didn't end up stopping anywhere else and just enjoyed the scenery on the drive. We needed to get back to the house, go to the grocery store for food, meet our friends & family at the house to start prepping for our wedding the next day!! Eeeks! We ended the night by relaxing under the stars, in the hot tub. Aaaaaahhh.
www.konamountainhome.com http://www.bigislandbees.com/
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Connie
non-member comment
Wow!
You picked the perfect place for your wedding!