There is a beautiful golf course and the ocean beyond that....
We got up at 4:AM to arrive at the airport by 5:30... One of the gals I work with knew I needed to be up by 4: she sat up from 3:30 AM to call me to make sure I stumbled up... (Thanks!! Debbie) It really started my day well with such a nice gesture by one of my pals... We carried on our luggage and landed first in San Francisco then arrived in Kona Airport at 12:20 PM. We had an exciting Travbuddy moment I wanted to share..... the stewardess on our plane was "Lacylea82" .... we spoke to her for quite a while.... she is a really fun outgoing person with lots of great stories... She is going to get together with us for coffee on one of her layovers here in Eureka. We are so happy to meet one of our "friends" in person.
Hibiscus... Some of them were huge
... it makes us feel like we would enjoy meeting others too! Lacey is a kick!
Our friends, Ray and Linda met us at the airport in Hawaii Kona .... We were really excited about seeing them and seeing Hawaii. We were absolutely blown away by how beautiful the plants and flowers were at the airport.... David laughed at me photographing flowers so soon....
We drove to Ray and Linda's timeshare.... it looked like a piece of paradise.... We went to Quinn's Almost by the Sea and ate on the patio. It was so warm and beautiful on the patio.... I saw a little gecko running on the wall and tried to photograph it but it was just a speck in the picture.
Ray and Linda downtown by the kings summer house
... The bathroom was painted really neat!
After we ate we went shopping and sight seeing in Kona Kailua.... It is a larger town but has managed to hang onto it's charm with little shops and friendly people. A cute little surfer town. We walked to the Kings summer palace but it was closed... It has damage from an earth quake and is needing repair.... The yard is lovely with coconut trees..... (just a note here.... we went to Florida and should have seen coconuts but we got there just after Hurricane Andrew so there were no coconuts and hardly any branches... so it's a huge thrill to see them in the trees for me.... which means, of course, a million pictures. sorry) We took pictures of the first night sunset..... It is so pretty reflecting in the ocean.... David always blinks on pictures and Linda took 8 pictures and he blinked on them all.... I adore his consistancy.... :)
The Painted Church was a charming St. Benedict’s church. The inside was painted by a Belgium priest in 1920's. He told Bible stories in pictures on the side walls and painted the ceiling to look vaulted. I took pictures of the inside but I feel they don’t really do justice to the feelings of peace and serentiy of this little church…
The yard had a graveyard with well kept graves and beautiful flowers growing around it. There was a beautiful statue of St Mary with hundreds of shell Leis around her neck. As we walked to the car, Ray spotted a statue up the hill. We walked up the path (next to the gravel road). On each side of the path were crude wooden crosses with things written on them regarding Christ when he was carrying the cross….. The path ended at a crude wooden cross with a wonderful life size recreation of the Pieta (Michelangelo’s masterpiece) This beautiful spot was inspiring.
Pieta statue with cross
The Painted Church from the front
Ceiling of the church... palm le
...
One of the church scenes
St. Mary.... with Shell leis aro
...
Quinn's Almost by the Sea: located across the street from the King Kamahamaha hotel.
We liked the casual dining. We ate on the patio: it had a fan and a nice fountain. The waitress was fast and efficient. The food wasn't fancy but it was very good. We could have had steak sandwiches, Teriyaki burger, salad plates, and fresh fish of the day. (which is what we had for our fish and chips... )
They have t-shirts if you wish to shop while you dine.... We liked this place.... It was fun and it appeared the locals use it (which we think means it is a good value....)
Quinn's sign.... cool place
Eating on Quinn's patio dining a
...
Fish and Chips ....
Fried Calamari: David said it wa
...
Shrimp Fish basket: This was Syl
...
