Hawaii (Day 19 of 19) - Big Island - Phoenix - Atlanta

Last morning at our condo in Kona

Our flight home wasn't until 10 that night and I was kind of regretting not booking an additional night just so we would have a place to rest and clean up before our flight. We talked about getting a hotel room near the airport, but decided to wing it.

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We ended up feeling reasonably comfortable about our condo in Kona once we forgave it for not being as nice as our condo in Maui. One thing we couldn't get over was how there was no breeze. At our Maui condo there was a constant breeze. At this condo nothing but stillness. How can you be right by the ocean and have no breeze? We never figured it out.

Still dealing with my elbow that started swelling earlier in our trip

Coffee farm tour at Greenwell Farms

Our guide did a great job

This little dog (and her owner) were fun

Heliconia

Bread making at Kona Historical Society

We really enjoyed this experience. We had fun talking to the hosts. The environment was peaceful and everything felt laid back and authentic.

Warm rolls from the oven with some fresh soft butter...so good

Taking the bread up to the road to sell

Greenwell Store Museum

We enjoyed the store tour. The host talked about the history and then gave us some things to trade with the store keeper.

We saw this fun looking park and decided to stop and play

We kept passing this cute little church in Kona during our trip

Ali'i Gardens Marketplace

Most of the stuff in the marketplace was pretty touristy, but we enjoyed talking to the guy at Stan's Koa Hut

Big Island Grill

This place is pretty run down looking on the outside, but nice on the inside and the food was so good. I was Thanksgiving hurting when I left. We had to walk around the shopping center for awhile afterwards.

Honokohau Marina

Kukio Beach next to Four Seasons Resort

We almost missed this Honu bathing in the sun on the rocky beach

Another turtle on the beach

Such wisdom in those eyes

Driving north to see some more things before our flight

Mauna Lani Resort Area

Fairmont Orchid 

Beach 69

Hokuloa Church

Puako General Store

Hapuna Beach

One of the most secluded beaches prior to the highway in 1975. World War II soldiers trained for beach invasions here (there are signs to beware of live ordinance). Ranked as the best beach in the country in 1993. 

One more Freal

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare...maybe too much time. Luckily by getting there early, we mostly beat a rush of people trying to get through security. The security personnel did not appear to be the most proficient workers. The wallet of a lady in front of us ended up in Helen's bin and the lady would never have known if Helen didn't see it happen and return it to her.

We're always amazed at how non-standard the security experiences can be from airport to airport. This time the world was saved when some young exasperated security worker spotted a 4 oz bottle of cream we were carrying (it had passed through every security check on our trip up to that point) and dutifully disposed of it. I know I felt much safer.

Like a lot of places in Hawaii, the terminal is mostly open-air. We knew it was a small airport, but not that small. We kind of expected it to be a little more hopping. Most of the seats were taken and I generally don't like to be too near other people, so we settled for a stone landscaping bench.

The red eye flight to Phoenix went fine. Other people were sleeping away and looking comfortable, but I struggled. The airline should hold some beds until the middle of the night when the passengers are the most miserable and then offer them up for bid. It wasn't as bad as the red eye flight back from Alaska a couple years earlier where we had no leg room, but it still wasn't good.

In Phoenix it was breakfast time, but some construction problem caused the water to get shut off to the terminal which meant long lines at the bathrooms and restaurants. We left Kona at 10 pm Thursday and arrived back in Atlanta about 3 pm Friday.

Everybody missed Lulu