Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to Hawai'i (2007)--Day 13
5/5/2007
Circle Island Tour
Once again we arose early; after enjoying our free breakfast buffet, I grabbed the camera bag and we headed down to the lobby for our van pickup by Polynesian Adventure Tours. Intially we were on a van but they soon transferred us to a full-sized bus before leaving the hotel. Today's activity was a circle island tour; we saw this as a good way to orient ourselves to various aspects of the Big Island. Several stops were made during this ten hour tour, but the highlight by far was the stop at Kilauea Volcano, including a drive around the rim of the caldera, a hike through the Thurston Lava Tube, and lunch (an additional cost) at the Volcano House. The lunch was so-so but the views from the restaurant were outstanding. The other two high points of this day were stopping at Punaluu black sand beach, and a stop at Rainbow Falls in Hilo. Unfortunately time didn't allow any other stops in Hilo (I'd wanted to visit the National Tsunami Museum) or at Akaka Falls, a 420 foot waterfall. If we want to visit those two sites in particular, we'll need to hit the road later during our Big Island stay.
Punalu`u black sand beach
Our bus
Patty at Punalu`u
Volcano House
Thurston Lava Tube
Steam vents at Kilauea
Me at Kilauea
Rainbow Falls
On the road back to Kona
Drysdales II
After a long day of touring, we were both pretty tired so we freshened up quickly and headed over to the Keauhou Shopping Center and Drysdale's II restaurant. It's mainly a sports bar (gee, imagine that considering the owner is former major league baseball pitcher Don Drysdale!  ). Pretty decent food there. I had a bacon cheeseburger, Patty had a Cobb Salad. Not the best burger I've had, but it was good enough for the usual price tag of nearly ten dollars. We returned to the hotel after dinner and watched Don Ho's funeral from Waikiki. We stayed up until 10:00 and saw the live telecast of the tribute party. Willie K. and the Brothers Cazimero were great, but the most touching moment was when two of Don's daughters sang at the end of the tribute. I never had the chance to see Don, but as a Hawaiian wanna-be, I feel the loss.
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