ADVENTURES WITH LESA AND MATT

We had our friends Lesa and Matt fly into Kona so we could meet them there after work on Friday. They arrived into Honolulu the day before and took in the sites there for a day before coming over to the Big Island. We met them with Leis at the airport and then headed over to our favorite hotel in Kona, the Sheraton. The Sheraton is right on Keauhou Bay and has Manta Ray viewings at night at their outdoor bar. We were skeptical at first about being able to see Manta Rays in the water at night..... but we did!

Lesa and Matt with their first Mai Tais and Leis

Beth and Lesa

We woke up early the next morning, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed out for a Kayak trip to Captain Cook Monument. Since we had been so lucky with the manta rays, we figured that the statement "you'll probably see dolphins" on the kayaking brochure pretty much guaranteed we'd see dolphins. The guy that rented us the Kayaks was super nice and even gave us the Kama'aina (residential) discount. Adam and Matt had never been kayaking and were making fun of Lesa and I on the drive there.... we think they were just really nervous!

Here we are getting ready to put the kayaks in the bay:

We had a really great time and Lesa had purchased some underwater cameras. Unfortunately, we didn't use all the pictures, and since she's going to Key West soon, she's going to wait for a while to develop those pictures. I will tell you that we did NOT see any dolphins. It's about a mile paddle to Captain Cook Monument and back through Kealakekua Bay. Captain cook was an explorer who was killed by the Hawaiians when they discovered he was not immortal. The highlight of this trip was definitely the snorkeling. The water was really clear and they bay was pretty calm. We met some nice people at the monument who let us use some of their goggle defogger after Adam did some pro bono work on the one lady's jammed finger. Anyway, wish we had more pictures, but this is it.
Like most people who come to Hawaii, Matt and Lesa wanted to experience a Luau. It was challenging to find one offered on a Saturday night. We found one at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel, which was a little farther than wen wanted to travel, but we figured what the heck. We were a little disappointed when we first got there because the luau was so far away from the ocean. It was still a super beautiful setting, just not right on the water. We had more mai tais which were not as strong as the other Luau at the Royal Kona Hotel, but still good. They were pretty because they put live flowers in them. Beth only had one this time!

Here's Lesa and Matt enjoying a drink before dinner

On the last post we did about a Luau, we talked about poi and how much we wanted to like it but did not. I decided to keep an open mind and try it again at this Luau, and I was pleasantly surprised. This poi was much better. Like most people describe it, it didn't have too much flavor, and seemed to just take on the flavors of whatever else you were eating it with. Speaking of food, the spread at this Luau was amazing and much better than the Royal Kona. They had foods from all the different Polynesian Islands and everything was delicious!

Here's the poi


Adam and Beth getting ready for the show:

The show was absolutely disappointing. It was soooooo long and the dancers weren't that talented at all. One guy had no idea what he was doing and kept trying to copy the others. It was torture sitting through this.

The next day was another beautiful day in Kona, and also our last day in Kona. We woke up early again, headed to Java on the Rocks and then set out to see a coffee farm. We chose Kona Joe's, solely because it was the only one open on a Sunday.... we were pleasantly surprised!



Here's Adam outside the entrance before we went in. It's hard to tell but the blue behind him is the ocean meeting the sky.... it's hard to tell where one ends and the next begins.

We had a very nice tour guide from Brazil who showed us the inner workings on the factory. Here's the machine that sorts the beans into different sizes and qualities.Kona Joe's is world renowned because of their patented technique for growing their beans. Much like a winery, they use trellises to ensure maximal and even sunlight to ripen their beans.
Here's what the beans look like on the plants. At this stage they are actually called cherries:
Lesa and I after our great tour with free coffee:
We had a few short hours to kill before check out and wanted to make sure we made the most of the beautiful hotel pool. It's becoming a tradition that all those who visit Kona with Beth and Adam must ride and have their picture taken on the water slide..... Mom and Dad we hope you bring your bathing caps and nose plugs!

Here's Matt!

And Lesa:
We should also mention that the Sheraton gave us a fabulous upgrade for our stay. Our room was right over the manta ray viewing spot.... so anytime we wanted we could look out from our room and see them swimming below us. It was pretty sweet!
On our way out of Kona we stopped on the Kohala Coast to visit one of the world's best beaches per Conde Nast Traveler, Hapuna Beach. This beach was really pretty. Really soft white sand and tall palm trees. The water was pretty rough so Lesa and I only took a quick dip.



Here's Matt and Adam basking in the sun:

Lesa and Beth after their quick dip:

When we got back to Hilo that night, we stopped at our house to freshen up and then went out for some delicious Thai food.... yum! There is lots of good Thai food in Hilo.... but our favorite place is called Naung Mai Thai Kitchen. Spicy! After dinner we went for a walk on Banyan Drive. Banyan Drive is known for the impressive Banyan trees that were planted by all sorts of famous people. Here is one planted by Babe Ruth:
Matt and Adam leaning on a huge Banyan:
The next day was Monday and Adam and Beth had to work. But Lesa and Matt went to Volcano National Park for the day. When we got out of work, Lesa and Matt picked us up and we went back to the Lava viewing spot that we had been to with Kim. It was a little more impressive this time since there had been some big explosions the night before and made the lava flows even closer to the viewing site. Our camera wasn't taking very good pictures at this point... here's the best we could get:
The next night Matt had to fly back to Chicago. Lesa and I went out for a few drinks while Adam played basketball. Wednesday night after work, we met up with Lesa again to learn how to paddle board. Paddle boarding is pretty much standing up on a surf board and using paddle to steer yourself around. It wasn't as hard as we thought it was going to be, although Adam did fall off of his board twice! We were in some pretty calm waters since it was our first time. Beth's friend, Michelle, from work, came out to join us for a little while too. Our instructor's name is Herb and he's going to take us into Hilo Bay next time so we can try out some mild waves. Sues and Chris, we hope you're ready for that! Here's Herb on a paddle board:
The next day Lesa had to fly back to the mainland too. We had a really awesome time with them.... it was nice to have some friends again! Lesa if want to fly back for the manta ray snorkel trip.... we're in!