Male ingenuity --- Angel and I got ready first this morning and were catching up on our journals this morning on the balcony. I heard some little boys laughter. They were having the best time tossing the lid of an ice cream container like a frisbee. The best part was when it landed in the flower bed. The boys, who were about 6 or 7, appeared not to want to put their bare feet in the dirt. They bent over and reached -- couldn’t touch it. They grabbed onto the palm tree and tried to reach it -- no go. They tried 4 or 5 different ways to reach it without having to put their feet in the bed. Then they gave up in frustration and walked in the flower bed and picked it up. They quickly jumped out and started wiping off their feet. It was very funny to watch. It happened again and they repeated their actions. I couldn't figure out why they didn't want to get their feet dirty, they were playing in the grass already.
This was one of the trees they tried to climb so they wouldn't have to touch the dirt.
We got to Kona and parked on the main drag by the little market area. Due to our time constraints, a 2:00 p.m. spa appointment, we split up to shop. The main drag was right beside the water. The market had some beautiful plants -- the ones with the leaves as a pot.
They had a few small shopping areas -- one built like an old fort. A great little art gallery had caricatures of animals in bright colors. They even had a frog bell, which I decided to leave there. I am amazed at the beautiful artwork on these islands. They have such great scenery to draw from. In one of the shops, I saw my first Hawaiian drag queen -- was I in New Orleans? He was in the cheapest t-shirt shop we had found yet.
Along the strip, we found a beautiful sight -- Mokuaikaua Church, the oldest church in Hawaii. The structure is constructed from old Hawaiian temples’ rocks and the beams of ships. I went in and it was very peaceful. There was a man vacuuming the red carpet. They didn’t have any electric lights on, the only light was sunlight through the windows.
This was a very good place to say a prayer or two.
The pews were made of beautiful wood and the flowers on the altar were all local ones. The stained glass was my favorite -- Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. To me it is one of the saddest points in Jesus’ story, where he is praying with earnest and being so vulnerable, while so alone.
Further down the street was one of our last stops -- Joy’s shop -- she had some Kona Coffee reversible bags. Her best friend’s husband made them. Angel and I cleaned her out and bought them for some of our friends. It was interesting to learn how they name the coffee farms and those bags have the symbols and farm names -- some were fun - donkeys and Buddha. The generic bags had open places for the farmers to put their names--- fyi we got a much better deal than they were offering.
On our way to the waterside, we passed the Donkey Balls Store. You have to love a shopkeeper's sense of humor.
hum, I wonder if I could find a good deal on some waterfront property?
For lunch, we stopped in at the Kona Canoe Club. Our table was right by the water and we had a great view. The club sandwich and hamburgers were great and we tried they even served them with a flower on our plate. Where else can you get this kind of treatment?
Though we didn’t have much gas, we went north to the Fairmont Orchid for our spa treatments. I am a little neurotic about running out of gas, but tried to relax about it. Angel kept repeating “I’m happy” so I adopted her state of mind. Especially since we were headed to the Spa without Walls. The Fairmont Orchid was a swanky resort with a great view. We took pictures and wound our way down the grand staircase to the spa area.
Once there, they gave us our lockers and thin Polynesian designed robes (the thinnest I have ever seen at a spa -- normally they give you terrycloth robes). I still had my plumeria in my hair as I retired to my lounge chair in the shade. There was a lady beside me from Canada who was staying there and having a treatment. She had a beautiful looking Cobb salad with guava juice while I wrote in my journal and relaxed in the quiet.
Suzanne came out in her nurselike uniform and tennis shoes with a big black bag. We meandered through a garden and passed waterfalls on our way to the shoreline. There were signs reminding us to turn off our phones (mine was in the locker turned off) and announcing this is a Wahi Malie, a place of calmness.
There were about 6 cabanas lined up less than 10 feet from the rocks and the water. Suzanne went in the cabana and I sat in a chair by the water while she readied the table area. My view was awesome. I don’t really have words to describe how relaxing this was to have a massage and a facial with the waves crashing right there on top of you almost. I don’t know if I have ever been this decompressed in my life. It was as if all my worries and troubles were gone from my thoughts. This 2 hours had rearranged my thoughts and concerns.
All I can say is I was in a very tranquil calm place when done, it was magical. She left us there to relax as long as we wanted. Angel moved over to my area and we sat in our chairs quietly (which is a feat for me) and watched the stand up paddle boarder in the setting sun. Princess was lounging in her area and I could tell she didn’t want to move. Lily had gone back to take a shower etc. After about 30 minutes, we left our place of calm and found our way back to the spa -- we had missed the gate and had to go through the front. As there were only two showers, we relaxed in the sauna for a few minutes and regained our calmness. I tried to remember why I didn’t live over here.
After showering and freshening up, we went to the restaurant near the beach --- Hale Kai. The tables were in sand and ours had little bird foot prints all underneath it. And yes there was an aloha cat running around here too. Gotta love a place where you can eat with your shoes off and run your toes through the sand (right after a massage too).
Princess got the Lobster Fried Rice (our best meal of the whole trip). I had garlic edamame and coconut shrimp with mango jelly. Lily had a very pretty looking fish and Angel had a mango salad. The menu was very interesting and had different Lifestyle Options.
We watched the best sunset and took many photos.
Also a local was running around in a sarong lighting all the torches. It takes a very confident guy to wear a sarong like that.
After we finished here and the sun had set, we relocated to the bar close to the entrance -- they had “mini” desserts and between the four of us we ordered 14 -- we had to try them all, right?
We met a nice young man, Ben, 25 years old, who was very excited about not having to pay the extra fee to get his rental car. Goodness we felt old, I mean mature. He was really flirting hard with Lily. There was some type of International Genetics Conference going on and he was a graduate assistant at Vanderbilt, so I am sure he was real dumb. He livened up our little group.
On the way back to the hotel (and yes we had enough gas to get us there) Princess had some interesting thoughts she shared with people. :) A very entertaining end to a magical day.
