I was happy to see that the sun is back again and look forward to more swimming. But first we drove up into the hills along a road which follows a path that the ancient native Hawaiians used - the Mamalahoa highway. It is a narrow, well paved road that follows the trail which existed about the 1500 foot level of elevation around the island. At this level there are many nice homes with spectacular views. There are also stores, hotels, missions, and plantations from the early 1900's.
Ten miles of this road has been designated as the Kona Heritage Corridor. At the center of this stretch is the town of Honualoa. This village is an old sugar town which was settled by immigrants from Europe, Japan, the Portugal, and China. The local post office was the town communication center and the school and churches helped to bring this community together despite its diverse cultures.
Today many of the old buildings survive and are now art galleries and cafés. The old flamingo pink Inaba's Kona Hotel still provides rest for tourists at $40 a night. It also has a unique boardwalk out to a deck which looks down 1500 feet to the ocean. Perched out on the deck are two small bathrooms with windows opening to the spectacular view far below!
We got back to the condo for a afternoon of swimming, lounging and reading. I was excited to see a green sea turtle lounging on the rocks outside the pool. They are an endangered species but seen fairly frequently in Hawaii. We went to Bubba Gump's for a fish dinner served on a covered porch just a step from the waves. One of my favorite things about Hawaii is the many restaurants that have open air dining. It is so lovely and warm in the evenings it seems sad to est indoors. Our perfect day was topped off with a scoop of toasted coconut ice cream. Ahh.
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