JEMS Sabbatical, Part 3: Hawai'i (Big Island + Oahu)
Saturday 1/19: SMF > LAX > KOA
After 2.5 days home in Sac to catch up with the kitties, bills, and laundry, we headed off again for the final part of our travel adventure. An early (6:45am) flight from Sac to LA with a two hour layover spent in the United Lounge before our 5+ hour flight to Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Despite a potential oops with the rental car, Mr. E was able to procure our ride once we arrived, and we got to the Marriott Courtyard King Kamehameha before 4pm.
Smooth check-in process and quick organizing to pull out our swim gear in the hopes of getting to the nearby community pool for laps before closing time. No luck. Darn! Pool was closed all day for a swim meet, but at least we got to see the schedule for the next few days. So back to the hotel and a try for the ocean in the secluded beach but a bit too chilly for us! A dip in the lovely infinity pool instead, which we can see quite easily from our 6th floor semi-ocean view room.
Just enough time for Happy Hour at the poolside restaurant while watching sunset over the mountains and beach. Mr. E had some pupus, I had a seafood-topped salad, and we both enjoyed some cocktails. Thanks to Mr. E's status with Marriott, we get 15% off all food purchases along with $10 daily food credit per person. Sweet!
A stop at the in-hotel ABC Store for provisions (crackers, wine, candy) and then yoga in the room for me. We finished up with drinks and TV as we settled into our hotel room, enjoying the "Scenic Hawai'i" channel for info and images of multiple island attractions.
Sunday 1/20: Coffee, Pool, Manta Rays Attempt #1
Lovey and peaceful beachfront hatha flow yoga class for me from 7:30-8:30am with instructor Danielle, then breakfast at Honu's in hotel where discount and daily credit led to a total charge of under $5 for both of us. Nice!!! Next on the agenda were two errands and a coffee pilgrimage to stock up on 100% Kona beans. Our first purchase was at Menehune in the hotel, of which we had very fond memories from our previous visit six years ago.
The first errand was check-in for our evening Sunset with Manta Rays tour with Sea Paradise. Then we continued farther south to Greenwell Farms for coffee tasting and purchase, including a huge fresh avocado for only $1. Our third and final coffee stop was at Mountain Thunder, followed by the second errand of check-in at Kona Diving Company for our morning scuba tomorrow.
Back to hotel to drop off our purchases and grab our swim gear. Then a 10-minute walk to the free community pool for a lovely and uncrowded lap swim. After we showered and changed, we headed to the nearby retail area for lunch at Subway and browsing at Ross. By this time, we needed to prepare for our night manta rays snorkel adventure, heading south to Keauhou Bay to meet up with the Sea Paradise crew and other passengers. We got our wetsuits and lots of info from the crew and headed off towards the beautiful sunset over the ocean. Maybe we saw the green flash??!!
We also had glimpses of the "wolf moon" and lunar eclipse throughout the night, but unfortunately no manta rays. Boo. The captain and crew tried valiantly to encourage the rays to appear, but they just weren't cooperating, even when we moved into the inner harbour. And the 30+ minutes in the water on the light raft were quite chilly. Maybe try again another night? We can re-book for free since the critters were a no-show (well, there was that one ray that swam quickly by the boat as we transitioned to the inner spot, but that didn't really count).
By the time we dried off and got back to the hotel, we were in search of dinner. Nearly 9pm by now, so we stopped at the AKT grocery store just up the street from the hotel for some provisions for me (cheese, smoked salmon, popcorn) and other supplies for the rest of the stay (cocktail fixings). Mr. E popped down to the ABC store for some additional food, so we had a rather late dinner and later-than-usual bedtime, at least for me. Yawn!
After 2.5 days home in Sac to catch up with the kitties, bills, and laundry, we headed off again for the final part of our travel adventure. An early (6:45am) flight from Sac to LA with a two hour layover spent in the United Lounge before our 5+ hour flight to Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Despite a potential oops with the rental car, Mr. E was able to procure our ride once we arrived, and we got to the Marriott Courtyard King Kamehameha before 4pm.
Smooth check-in process and quick organizing to pull out our swim gear in the hopes of getting to the nearby community pool for laps before closing time. No luck. Darn! Pool was closed all day for a swim meet, but at least we got to see the schedule for the next few days. So back to the hotel and a try for the ocean in the secluded beach but a bit too chilly for us! A dip in the lovely infinity pool instead, which we can see quite easily from our 6th floor semi-ocean view room.
A stop at the in-hotel ABC Store for provisions (crackers, wine, candy) and then yoga in the room for me. We finished up with drinks and TV as we settled into our hotel room, enjoying the "Scenic Hawai'i" channel for info and images of multiple island attractions.
Sunday 1/20: Coffee, Pool, Manta Rays Attempt #1
Lovey and peaceful beachfront hatha flow yoga class for me from 7:30-8:30am with instructor Danielle, then breakfast at Honu's in hotel where discount and daily credit led to a total charge of under $5 for both of us. Nice!!! Next on the agenda were two errands and a coffee pilgrimage to stock up on 100% Kona beans. Our first purchase was at Menehune in the hotel, of which we had very fond memories from our previous visit six years ago.
The first errand was check-in for our evening Sunset with Manta Rays tour with Sea Paradise. Then we continued farther south to Greenwell Farms for coffee tasting and purchase, including a huge fresh avocado for only $1. Our third and final coffee stop was at Mountain Thunder, followed by the second errand of check-in at Kona Diving Company for our morning scuba tomorrow.
Back to hotel to drop off our purchases and grab our swim gear. Then a 10-minute walk to the free community pool for a lovely and uncrowded lap swim. After we showered and changed, we headed to the nearby retail area for lunch at Subway and browsing at Ross. By this time, we needed to prepare for our night manta rays snorkel adventure, heading south to Keauhou Bay to meet up with the Sea Paradise crew and other passengers. We got our wetsuits and lots of info from the crew and headed off towards the beautiful sunset over the ocean. Maybe we saw the green flash??!!
By the time we dried off and got back to the hotel, we were in search of dinner. Nearly 9pm by now, so we stopped at the AKT grocery store just up the street from the hotel for some provisions for me (cheese, smoked salmon, popcorn) and other supplies for the rest of the stay (cocktail fixings). Mr. E popped down to the ABC store for some additional food, so we had a rather late dinner and later-than-usual bedtime, at least for me. Yawn!
posted by jms | 7:18 PM
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