Blogs from Hawaii, United States, North America - page 3

A dry day for us, and evidently a rare dry day expected in rainy Hilo, which is on the eastern “windward” side of the island. Hopefully it will also give the waves on the western side of the island a bit of time to calm down. I forgot to mention that we gave a nod to Hawaiian culture by buying SPAM. Evidently one can find spam sushi but we haven’t seen it yet. There are 4-5 types, judging from the small market we went in, and we’ve had it fried up with eggs for breakfast twice now. This one had bacon in it – or the flavor thereof? First stop as we were inland? Our favorite golf course yet again, in hopes of seeing the one bird we are missing that should be there. It was ... read more

What a varied and lovely day – a dry day. After a speedy breakfast we headed out before 7:30 to cross the “Saddle Road” from West to East again – this time all the way to Hilo. Our first stop, however, was the lovely Kaulana Manu trail where we’d enjoyed a walk yesterday. Getting there early rewarded us with a lovely red I’iwi – he loves the Ohi’o tree’s red puffy flowers too. And the Japanese Whiteeye. Then off to the Rainbow Falls in a park just outside the city of Hilo. Yes, we saw the rainbow colors in the mist. It was a very small park so we only stayed 15 mins – there was an enormous banyan tree there too. Then we drove 5 mins to the Boiling Pots section of the park – ... read more

As usual, writing this for the 2ndamazes me, as it seems like we have squeezed in at least 2 full days, and not just one. I'm wiped out! Of course we were up early, but this time waited for the sun. Made a coffee and arrived at the Paradise Bakery by 7:15 for our one purchase of Malasadas, a Portuguese filled donut. Evidently they make 1000 every morning, and yes they were mighty fresh. David had coconut cream filled, I had one filled with pineapple jam, and the other with a local fruit, lilikoi – like passionfruit. We ate one right away before driving the 30-40 mins north to the Black 49 Beach, just south of where we were yesterday at Mauna Lani. We were #13 for 20 parking passes – it is a holiday weekend ... read more

Hawaii Blog 2023 On Wednesday the 30th we were up before the birds (3:00 am) to drive to Columbus for an excellent Southwest connection through Las Vegas. It is amazingly bleak and brown as you fly near Las Vegas! We had Row 14 exit row seats – great leg room and empty middle seat, lucky us. When we arrived David had arranged a surprise welcome party with lovely leis and a kukui nut bracelet. Happy late 52nd anniversary to us! Our car rental – expensive – is a small car (couldn’t get both large suitcases in the trunk, tho’ we didn’t try very hard) but sporty – a Ford Mustang. Good exercise getting in and out too. The AirBnB is only 10 mins from the Kailua-Kona airport, and is just like the back half of a ... read more

According to MSN Tempo: According to a 2020 survey of American grill owners, the Fourth of July is the country's most popular day for cookouts or backyard barbecues. Burgers, steaks, ribs, and other forms of protein will doubtless get charred for the occasion, but somehow it's the humble hot dog that seems most emblematic of the holiday. Maybe that's why we're expected to consume about 150 million of them across the nation on the Fourth this year -- enough to stretch between Los Angeles (the country's hot-dog-eating capital) and Washington D.C. five times. According to some sources, the hot dog was invented in the late 15th century in the German city of Frankfurt-am-Main -- hence one of its alternate names, "frankfurter," meaning a person or thing from Frankfurt. Others trace it back to the Austrian city ... read more