by 
San Manuel Miner
If you are lucky enough to travel to the Hawaiian Islands make sure that you plan out your itinerary well in advance. Even then you will probably not be able to see or do every thing that you plan. Not while traveling on Hawaiian time. If your trip to Hawaii is a once in a lifetime trip or you are going for a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary, I recommend that you schedule a lei greeting for yourself and your travelers. After flying for six or seven hours it is nice to be greeted at the airport with a smile, a flower lei and a friendly aloha. The lei greeting will run you about $20 per lei and can be set up over the internet.
Our first day on the Big Island (Hawaii) was spent checking in to our condo and familiarizing ourselves with the facilities and the location. Our one bedroom condo in Kailua-Kona was oceanfront and next to a small beach. There are numerous condos and houses for rent on Hawaii that will cost you about the same price as a hotel room but have the added luxuries of a fully furnished kitchen. The condo complex had a pool, jacuzzi, and barbecue grills. Many of the units have ice chests, snorkeling gear and beach towels for your use. A good website for shopping for rentals is VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner).
As the evening approached we took a walk to the Royal Kona Resort Hotel. At the resort is a wonderful open air ocean front bar known as Don’s Mai Tai Bar. It is a great place to relax and have a drink, nibble on some pupus (appetizers) or eat a quick dinner while looking at the gorgeous ocean views of Kailua Bay. A Mai Tai is a tropical drink featuring two types of rum, orange Curacao liqueur and lime juice. Since Don the Beachcomber claims to have invented the Mai Tai in 1933, I ordered the original. There are now different variations of the drink. There is an annual Mai Tai Festival held at the Royal Kona Resort where bartenders from all over the country compete for a $10,000 first place prize. If you are in Kona, I recommend a stop at Don’s and a Mai Tai.
After drinks and a light dinner we walked along Alii Drive and browsed the shops along the way. We stopped at a beachfront park and watched our first Hawaiian sunset. By this time jet lag set in and it was time to call it a night.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
by by