Kona, Hawaii

“Hawaii is not a state of mind, but a state of grace.”

Paul Theroux

Kona is a lovely town that has a nice downtown area with a sea wall. The town is only at 100 feet in elevation and gets just over four inches of rain in January and about five and a half inches in July. In town the Mokuaikavo Church stands proudly as the oldest Christian church in the Hawaiian Islands. The congregation goes back to 1820 and the building was completed in 1837 and is constructed of lava stones but is designed in a New England fashion. The steeple of the church stands prominently at 112 feet high and is the tallest man made structure in Kailua-Kona and thischurch is located across the street from Hulihee Palace.

The Hulihee’s Palace is designed in a two story New England design and is made of lava rock. It was built in 1838 and became the home to Hawaii’s royalty. This is a lovely building to see. We did not not have time to go inside as we had a busy day scheduled but we would have liked to have had time to see it and hear the history.

This town is quaint and a really nice town to walk around and shop. We did a little of that but had to get on the road to see sights we had scheduled. We got our rental car and headed out.

We drove south and first stopped at the Kona Coffee and Tea Company in Kailua Kona. They grow the gourmet coffee that is only grown in North and South area of Kona. This was a great stop as they give out samples of their gourmet coffee to test before buying your favorite. We were told there are about 800 Kona coffee farms with an average size of less than 5 acres. The grounds are very pretty and it was worth our stop.

Our next stop was Saint Benedict's Painted Church which I had wrote about in an earlier blog. This was a wonderful stop and was about 37 minutes away from downtown Kona. The church is magnificent and painted by a Belgian Priest, Father Velghe who had no formal art training and painted the inside of the church with ordinary wall paint. He painted scenes from the Bible to teach the Hawaiian people by pictures since most Hawaiians could not read in the early 1900’s. This is a very worth while stop as the church is fairly simple from the outside but when you walk in, it takes your breath away with all the details.

From there we wanted to be ambitious and drive to the northern end of Hawaii to see the black sand beach and verdant cliffs of Pololu Valley. We took the drive which was fascinating with the mountains and views of the sea but could not find the beach we wanted to see. It all worked out as the ride was lovely and we did get to drive through many historic towns that were very quaint.

On the way back we stayed in the low country where for miles and miles you saw nothing but lava fields. It was fascinating for us. The black lava and rocks went on as far as you could see. Then out of the blue was civilization and the most beautiful tropical resorts and beach areas. The Big Island of Hawaii sure has a lot of diversity to see.

We stopped at a gorgeous resort called Mauna Lani which is about thirty miles north of Kona. All resorts and beaches in Hawaii are public so you can use any of them. This particular hotel was really something to see. The lobby was beautiful. We walked through the hotel and went to see the ponds with the tropical fish and even a shark. The beach had a great lagoon that was great for snorkeling since the waves were small there. There were water falls to see and paths to walk with tropical plants and trees all along the way.

We stopped at Kona Brewing Company and Pub which is known as the first microbrewery of its kind on the Big Island and is run by a father and son duo who came from Oregon. They now produce about 25 barrels of beer (about 124,000 gallons) per year. They sell gourmet pizzas and you can get a tour of the brewery. It was a nice place to stop and relax and have a drink before heading back to the ship.

We loved the diversity of the Big Island as we drove around. It is a beautiful place. Every part of this island was different and beautiful. It was a great stop and we hope to get back there some day.

Hawaiian Blessing

May there always be

Warmth in your Hale

Fish in you net

And Aloha

In your Heart.