We are thoroughly tired and used up. We slept in till 8:00 and grabbed breakfast at the buffet (fruit, miso soup, fried rice, and some cheese and smoked salmon with lemonade. Holy moly fresh lemonade is good stuff! Are we noticing that I am eating increasingly larger meals as the week goes by? Umm... It's good. It's good. Of course, it's all mostly fruit, fish, and rice.)
Today we decided to be tourist bums. We drove to Kona today- we stopped there on the way out from the airport the day we arrived but never saw the town proper. It's hot and dry and touristy! Pretty amazing the difference all around the island. Kona is where cruise ships come in- neat to see a thriving artisan community tucked amid the plastic leis and plumeria necklaces. (I say that knowing that we filled our suitcase at the tourist shops finding trinkets for the kids at home. Ha!)
Farmers market finds-
We found the Kona temple today too. It is amazing how different the temple grounds feel. Without being over the top, they feel better-dressed than the nicest resort. Without gates, they feel secluded. Nice reminder for me. God does it best.
I loved the orchids and pointsettia by the front doors!
We found a local place for lunch- we both had poke (poh-kee) bowls for lunch. I had "da hottie" poke (chunks of fresh ahi mixed with a creamy and SPICY dressing), two scoops of rice with furikake (seasoned seaweed flakes with sesame seeds) on top, and a scoop of salad made with fresh fern shoots and seasoned with soy sauce and sesame. The salad was awesome- I have been studying about harvesting fiddlehead fern shoots in the spring and I will definitely give it a shot next year! They were crispy like green beans.
There was one other thing in town I wanted to try before leaving, so we walked down the main drag to find a little place above a snorkel shack that sold acai bowls- I had heard of them but never tried them, and this place got rave reviews. Turns out an acai bowl is a smoothie prepared so thick it needs to be served in a bowl with a spoon. The blend was acai berries with strawberries and bananas, and ours was topped with granola, papaya, strawberries, dried goji, and bee pollen. Yum! Smoothies are hit and miss with my kids, but my "blender ice creams" are always a favorite and they are the same consistency as the bowl today. Could be a good experiment!
We made our way back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon, about an hour, reading magazines (him) and blogging (me-hi!) on the beach. We are there now, watching kids race back and forth on the shore as the sun is setting.
The conch shell is blowing! The tiki lighting ceremony is starting :)
We had a small dinner at the outdoor restaurant- split a dim sum platter and a piece of coconut tres leche cake. Did I mention the floor is sand? This is the restaurant to come to if you're in your swimsuit, it's next to the pool. Toddlers are a riot to watch there- they ALL climb down from their seats and play adorably in the sand, and then throw it. I love kids haha. They're more fun to watch in public than supervise in public, though!
In the evenings there is live music on the lounge behind the lobby- we are listening to the mellowest guitarist I have ever heard. He just sang Here Comes the Sun and just about put me to sleep! Fun stuff, he puts a bit of local spin on the tunes.
We will go and pack our bags, get some good sleep, and be ready to go home tomorrow.
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