Kona to Honolulu

Sunday, 9/1/19

Friday we took a short drive down the hill near Captain Cook and checked out the Kealakekua Bay area. There is a monument in the state park honoring the historical sacred site.

Along the way we saw a small field of coffee bushes behind one of the old dry-stacked walls.

For lunch we stopped at Teshima's, which was highly recommended by the condo staff. They were busy serving tourists and locals.

This sign on the wall above the kitchen entrance looked like it had been brought in from the outdoors.

This locally caught tuna tasted as good as it looked.

Bet it's been a long time since you've seen a cashier's cage like this.

While I was watching the morning develop, I noticed a lot of traffic on the water out front of our condo. I had noticed the canoes going back and forth each morning this week. This morning they were out in force for the Saturday races.

The second flight of  canoes has left the starting ling while the last group waits their turn in front of the power boats.

Yesterday was the end of our week in Kona. We're traveling light with just a carry-on bag plus personal item each, so it didn't take long to pack up and get ready to move. We checked out, turned in the rental car and checked in at the Kona airport for the short flight to Honolulu.

This is gate 9 at Kona. No air conditioning until we were on the Boeing 717. 

We won't need a rental car in Honolulu so we took a Lyft from the airport to the Hale Koa hotel. The Hale Koa is a Special Services hotel operated for military personnel, retirees and certain other categories. It is self-supporting so it doesn't use any tax dollars and is located on some choice real estate on Fort DeRussy, right in the heart of Waikiki. We will stay here two nights because I couldn't get our two condo weeks to exactly match.

Looking east from our room, Ft DeRussy forms a green area in the heart of Honolulu.

Looking SW from our room. The large hotel in the distance is on the south edge of Ft DeRussy.

Looking south from the walkway in front of the hotel grounds, just before sunset.

This morning I went out in the cool of the morning to see the quiet time on Waikiki. Yesterday as we walked around the beach area I noticed a Coast Guard boat a few hundred yards off the beach. This morning it was there again. I don't know if it stayed there all night but this visit is the first time I've noticed it.

It's a different crowd on the beach before sunrise. 

The hotel is mostly air conditioned but the lobby is open the the tropical breezes. Not much stirring this morning.

Just behind me as I took this photo was the coffee shop. Even at this early hour there was a line of patrons waiting for their morning caffeine.