Still 'ALOHA!' after all these years

The Graceful Dancers of Kona Airport

HUZZAH! For the 5 or 6th time - I've actually lost count - my long time friends Ron & Jeannie invited me again to join them for a week's visit to Hawaii - the Big Island. last time we visited the 50th state together was 2015.We are now 20 years out from our first island trip. However did that happen? 

As at a previous trip stayed at the Kona Coast Resort which I remember fondly from an earlier vaycay. 

During our week in paradise, we hit the Farmer's Markets, visiting markets in Kona and in Hilo. 

I went decidedly bonkers over the fresh fruit sold at the stalls.     

Imagine any tropical fruit you can,
and it was for sale at the market

Assuming we were all going to eat fruit
for breakfast during our stay, I purchased at least
a half dozen types of Hawaiian goodness

This lady's specialty was coconut milk
in the shell - massive straws a plus

Jeannie bought gifts for her many grandchildren and her great-grand as well. All I bought was fruit: a cocoa pod, 2 varieties of flavorful bananas, Rambutans, Mangosteens & more. Like Harry Potter on his first trip to Hogwarts I was all "I'll take the lot!".

One activity we enjoyed was hitting various restaurants on the island. We had Thai food in Hilo.

Street food at a Hilo Farmer's Market

Shave Ice Shop

We absolutely HAD to have some shave ice. So we visited Da Hawaiian Brain Freeze shop where we went for gigantic 'Halo Halo', a Fillipino dessert of layered shave ice, fruit, cream, flavored jelly bits, topped with a giant scoop of ube ice cream, sweet cream drizzle and coconut flakes. 

Halo Halos 

One morning we hit Punalu'u's the Black Sand Beach, which I remember from an earlier trip.

My favorite thing about this beautiful beach - other than the cool ocean breeze - are the Hono - Green Sea Turtles. 

Ooo, the turtles are so ashy I wish I could get at them with some nice lotion

By far, the most interesting meal we had was at the Paniola Ranch on the northern end of the island. Here lies one of the big differences in this trip vs previous ones. We opted to skip attending a Luau! Why? I guess most of our reticence was Luaus these days are about $200 per person. We scratched our heads trying to recall what the Luaus cost to attend back in the early 2000s and it was approximately half the current amount, or less - $85-ish? Anyway, the bottom line is this was my first Luau-less visit to the islands. That is what led us to the Paniola Ranch for their alleged famous Barbeque. 

The Barbeque was Wednesday night, so we spent the second half of the day along the coast, driving northward. viewing a few sites. 

Mãhukona Beach Park

We stopped at Mãhukona for a short visit. I remember us snorkling there eons ago. 

Pololu Lookout

We drove to the Pololu Lookout, one of the northern most roads on the island. Along the way we passed an old friend - His majesty, King Kamehameha.

county courthouse in Kapa'au

Arriving at Paniolo Ranch, there was beautiful sunset scenery, as well as horsies and cattle which were busy having their own dinners.

The feed has arrived!

We only just climbed out of our rental car when I spotted something, got excited & raced away. Up from the parking lot there were a couple of folk, demoing how to throw a lasso. Well boy howdy I was there, swinging a lasso and as per usual missing my target steer, lol! I, and my cousins had all had lasso lessons from cousin-in-law Tom's Aunt Judy. That was in Colorado at Judy's Bridge Party. 

Ron got his first ever Lassoing lesson

Prime Rib, BBQ Chicken and all the fixings

The Barbeque was served up buffet style, a table at a time. A young woman joined us at our table and we chatted with her. She said she was from the mainland and came to Hawaii to stay with friends who encouraged her to sign up for the barbeque. She was told the Paniola folk first told her they were full, so she was disappointed. But later they called her back, and asked to her attend the dinner, as their guest, free! So that was surprising that in this day and age, there are still nice folks out there!

The talented singing Cowboy

Jeannie's Branded Block

While we happily wolfed down our dinners, there was a singing cowboy up on a little stage. I assumed I would tune out whatever he sang because Country Western is no big thing for me. However, the guy was so flippin' talented that even old farts like me were soon laughing and singing along with him because he. was. awesome. The funniest bit was he started a tune... Jeannie squeaked, 'that's Gilligan's Island! I remember! The Minnow sailed from Hawaii!' I, being a stubborn soul, looked that up immediately on my phone and by golly, Jeannie was correct. 

Ron branding his wood block

When our main course was done we hit the dessert table which featured large brownies and/or Macadamia Nut Pie (think Pecan Pie). Yum. But Paniolo didn't stop there... just outside the dining room was a set up for roasting your own marshmallows for S'mores. But we skipped the marshmallows and went for another  post dinner entertainment special - making  your own hand branded souvenir. 

Here's a closer look at the 'Honu' on the beautiful Black Sand Beach.