Kona, Big Island

Home away from home, headed out on United Airlines to Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport and picked up a rental car from Hertz. Hertz upgraded the economy car reservation to a Lincoln Continental so I had plenty of trunk space for my luggage. The flight arrived an hour early and I was able to make a pit stop at Broke Da Mouth for takeaway. The menu has changed slightly. I later found out that their is a second location planned in downtown Kona that includes beer and wine. The grand opening is a week away but I'll try to hit it when returning in six weeks.

Checked into Kings' Land Hilton Grand Vacations Club. My reservation was for a one bedroom unit. I had not rented a one bedroom before in Kona and I thought it was nice. The unit comes with everything except an oven in the kitchen.
HGVC Kings' Land Suite Living Room

HGVC Kings' Land Suite Bathroom

HGVC Kings' Land Suite Bedroom

I had hoped to do some snorkeling on this trip but the weather wasn't cooperating. The activities were limited to swimming in either the Kings' Land pools or the Hilton Waikoloa Village. I did make an afternoon in "town" by going to the Kona Farmer's Market. I arrived at the tail end of the market so some vendors were already gone. I picked up a pendant earring set and a mango from the market.

Dining

 Broke Da Mouth - before heading to HGVC, made a stop for some takeout foods at one of our favorite spots on the island and ordered our usual plate lunch meals.
Broke Da Mouth grindz


Hawaiian Style Café - went up to Waimea for some breakfast and make a pit stop at the Foodland for supplemental food. I decided to get a lunch entrée and picked the kahlua pork loco. The overall dish was good but a tad too salty for my taste. I also ordered a side of pancake to cut down on the saltiness of my dish.
Hawaiian Style Cafe Kahlua Pork Loco moco

McDonald's - had to make a pit stop to get some taro pies. I was told it was the last week for the flavor but they couldn't seem to tell me what was coming next.

Kapa Lani Coffee & Ice Cream - down the street from the Farmer's Market is this tasty ice cream shop. The baked good included the coconut pound cake that is in the Kings' Land breakfast buffet. I asked for the name of the bakery that provided the goods to the ice cream shop and mentally noted that a visit needs to be done next time.
Kapa Lani Coffee & Ice Cream - ginger ice cream (the white scoop)!

Kona Brewing & Co - breweries are coming up as a trendy alternative to restaurants/bars. They are also expanding and a new brewery site is coming soon. With the expansion, the restaurant's footprint will increase. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was informed that the wait is 40 minutes for the patio but first come first serve for the inside seating. That should be my clue that no ones likes being in the inside seating. The hostess mentioned that they were constantly busy and looking forward to the new changes next year. I shared a pizza, bacon mac n cheese, and a haupia sweet potato pie. Overall, I enjoyed the meal.
The dog got a Kona Brewing Company souvenir - refurbished tire turned into a collar with bottle opener


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Orleans

Image
I'm back again for a conference. Flew out on United Airlines and was able to snag a first class seat on the way out. Luckily, the Hilton New Orleans St. Charles Avenue was able to accommodate an early check-in. The room was just the same as last time. They are renovating the executive lounge which made the perk inaccessible. I was given breakfast coupons for Luke in exchange. I tried the Southern Breakfast sans meat. I found the biscuit slightly salty but I'm prone to being salt sensitive. Not a good thing when it comes to Southern cooking. For lunch, went out to Ruby Slipper Café and ordered the Catfish St. Peter and a double Bellini. The meal was tasty and the service was quick and friendly. Did some antique and second hand clothing shopping before getting dessert at Sucre . The dessert shop sells gelato, baked goods, and chocolate. The gelato was ok but the smore's skillet was super tasty. Ruby Slipper Café Catfish St. Peter Sucre S'mores skillet and a ban
Read more

Salt Lake and Park City

Image
Flew to Salt Lake City Airport for the holiday weekend on United . No new snow systems so I was not in a rush to get on the mountain and opted to bounce around the city before heading up to Park City. Although I could have opted for a cheaper rental, I stuck with the Toyota Tacoma from Avis . Lodging After landing, I checked into the Fairfield Inn & Suites Salt Lake City South . Normally, not a leisure destination but I thought it would be a good location to meet with friends who live south of the city. They ended up being unavailable that day and my companion's former colleagues weren't available (headquarters was just another 10 minutes south).  The next day, I checked into the Doubletree Park City - The Yarrow . Originally, the weekend was really expensive due to the holidays but the prices did drop to under $200 when I was checking in. I was behind a gentleman who inquired about booking two rooms last minute and he was quoted about $200 for two nights. With the continu
Read more

Park City

I joined family to a snowboard trip to Park City and hopped onto a Delta flight to get into Salt Lake City International Airport . As mentioned in prior posts, the Delta gates are in the best locations in the airport. Despite that, I still had to lug my snowboard bag across a really long way (in my opinion).  I had a rental with Hertz last minute. There are close check in gates from the car rental parking garage and the airport front counters; however, the timing of my flights were outside their hours and so I was stuck lugging 70 lbs to the regular counter. I was really sad about it as I walked past the empty counters. Delta fail. My family has a timeshare with Club Wyndham Park Ciry  and they booked a three bedroom apartment. Even though we weren’t an 8 person group, it was nice to have the space because of all the snowboard gear. Note that the hotel does not shovel snow off balconies so you will need to do so if you want to hang outside. The hotel is conveniently located at the Can
Read more