Hawaii: Day 1 (Big Island)

We made it to Hawaii, finally! It's been on our list for years; Dave's been and I have not.

We had to fly in and out of Maui because Dave is spending a couple of days with the Hawaiian schools on Maui as part of the government's relief efforts. However, we wanted to start our trip on the Big Island, so we flew into Maui last night and flew to the Big Island today.

We stayed the night at Aloha Surf Hostel, which is super cute as hostels go, but it was loud, people were snoring, and I realized I'm too old not to have privacy anymore. So, we did save some serious money, but it was our last hostel experience. They did provide chocolate chip pancake fixings this morning, so we ate those and hit the road.

We hadn't sketched the trip out too precisely, so while we waited for our flight to Kona, Dave made reservations at tasty restaurants. That meant that as soon as we got to Kona, we headed up to Merriman's for lunch. This is their beloved original location, featuring lots of local Hawaiian farm to table fare. We shared Moloka'i purple sweet potato chips and beet salad (with Hirabara Farm beets, Pueo Farm lettuce, Hamakua macadamia nuts, and Hawaii Island Goat Dairy chèvre). Although they have a noted wine list, we thought it more appropriate to get some mixed drinks; a mai tai for Dave, a lilikoi margarita for me. Dave got ahi tuna tacos, and I got a mahi mahi sandwich. We couldn't pass up the pineapple & macadamia nut bread pudding, with vanilla ice cream made right in Waimea. A great first meal.

Right in Waimea also was our first brewery, the Big Island Brewpub. We split a flight; Dave's favorites were the darker ones, including the Baltic porter.

Driving over the northern part of the island, we got to see some fantastic sights, including the Waipi'o lookout:

Waipi'o Lookout, Big Island

There were a few other things we wanted to do on that road, but they closed at 5, so we will hit them tomorrow. We went right to our hotel, the Grand Naniloa (as it was fairly affordable for this visit and we are Hilton people), and explored a neat park nearby, Liliuokalani Gardens, a Japanese inspired setting.

Liluokalani Gardens, Big Island

For dinner, we had a reservation at Pineapples, obviously a local favorite because like three people were there for birthdays. Their catch of the day was ahi tuna, so I got it as fish and chips and Dave got it grilled with mashed potatoes. I was so pleased that they cut their fries in the thick steak fry fashion. Their chili mango cole slaw was also tasty.

Off to bed to rise early tomorrow to explore the Big Island!