Friday, May 18, 2007
Breakfast at Ken's House of Pancakes (808-935-8711, 1730 Kamehameha Avenue, Hilo), aka KenHOP, with Patrick. Patrick had really good kona coffee with banana pancakes, ham, bacon, and 2 eggs over medium. I had the same kona coffee and "Da Sistah"—char siu and shrimp egg scramble, hash browns, whole wheat toast, small oatmeal. Drove to Rainbow Falls. This is low-hanging fruit for tourists: a short drive from downtown Hilo, no hike required to see the falls. Drove up highway 19 stopping here and there. The World Botanical Gardens and Umauma Falls entrance fee was $12; we decided to not visit. Drove further up the coast, stopped at Waikaumalo Park. Drove back toward Hilo then took highway 11 to Volcano. Stopped briefly at Volcano Village, stopped at a visitor center for restrooms. Patrick bought Hawaiian herbal tea from a small gift shop. Continued to the real visitor center inside the park. Park admission was $10 for one car. AM 540 gave helpful information on the drive in—"feel the power." The visitor center and nearly all the park signs and information were very helpful and well-designed—a nice change from the rest of the island. One notable exception is the Jaggar Museum—many of the exhibits inside had wording that wore away from the displays making them illegible. Patrick's sprained ankle was still not fully healed, so we didn't do any real hiking. Sulphur banks, steam vents, Jaggar Museum, southwest rift zone, halema'uma'u crater, drove down Chain of Craters Road, saw the holei sea arch, came to the road's end. Late lunch at Lava Rock Cafe. Patrick had a bacon cheeseburger and potato salad. I had one of the best chinese chicken salads ever. Chocolate milkshake for Patrick, water for me. Drove back to the hotel. Rested and showered. Watched television: Austin Powers 2 The Spy Who Shagged Me. Late dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe (808-935-4939, 315 Maka'ala Street #109, Hilo) in Waiakea Shopping Center. Appetizer: split plate baby butter lettuce with blue prawns and proscuitto and (manchego?). Patrick had pork tenderloin with risotto cake and spinach, Cadillac margarita. I had macadamia nut and praline scallops with noodles, peppermint tea. This "cafe" is really a fine dining restaurant and bar which happens to be in a strip mall. It was a surprising and welcome find. Everything about our meal was perfect except the baby butter lettuce had edges which were not simply wilted but had gone bad and other portions of the lettuce at the stem were stained reddish orange, clearly indicating a lack of freshness. I considered sending it back but didn't want to ruin the good mood we had going. In the end, I think it was the right decision—everything else about the meal was great. Back to the hotel. Watched part of a Golden Girls episode before bed.