Red road, Uncle Roberts - good intro to B.I.?

[HI_Someday]

Thanks for the warning. These days 1 beer is pretty much all I want. I haven't been buzzed, let alone drunk in a long time. And when, on the rare occasion I do imbibe a bit more, I stay away from driving.

[Chas]

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Originally posted by HI_Someday

We'll be there Nov 16th through the 28th...

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As Carey noted on the other thread about seeing a show at the Peoples Theater, you will be there for John Mayall on Saturday the 26th!

Again, here is the website:

http://honokaapeople.com/events.html

[HI_Someday]

That sounds nice, but we had noted there was a Christmas lights parade in Hilo on the 26th. So much to do...

[heyyou]

At the Hilo Farmers Market, get her an anthurium bouquet ($6) and move it with you from hotel to hotel. A good vendor is on the far edge of the market, across from the KTA grocery corner. Someone else will have to name the streets.

[birdmove]

The Honokaa Peoples Theater gets some good bands in. We've seen John Mayall once, and Taj Mahall once. I had never seen Taj, and had always wanted to catch him live. It was a great show too. Also Kim Simmonds, which I think was there along with Mayall. Mr. Simmonds was the guitar player for Savoy Brown.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[Chas]

While you are on the Kona side you should do the “Manta Ray Dive”. You don’t need to scuba dive. We went with Jack’s (though there are others) and they take both divers and snorkelers. For my money, the snorkeling was actually a better option. It doesn’t cost as much, it’s easier and you don’t miss out on anything.

When we went, they took us out right before sunset. At that point, we snorkeled and the divers set out lights while they were down. The snorkeling in the area isn’t really that great, but it was good for an introduction to the area and to get the “lay of the land."

After dark the mantas showed up and we all went back into the water. The divers were at the bottom at about 20 to 30 feet and the snorkelers were on the surface. With the bright lights, you could see everything. The mantas do a loop de loop type of dance as they gobble up the plankton attracted by the lights. They come so close that you actually have to be careful not to contact them. (They are completely harmless though.)

We did this about 8 years ago and still rank it as one of the best experiences we’ve had in our almost 20 years of coming to the big island.

[Kelena]

Uncle Roberts is the quintessence of Puna. When I have visitors and they talk about luaus on the Eastside, I try to nudge them toward Uncle Robert's instead. I go because it has really good --sometimes thrilling-- local music. Sometimes someone will spontaneously break into a hula. Lots of locals. It is an evening of total immersion in Eastside culture.

In addition to music, there are vendors there selling food, drink, produce and odds and ends with a counter-culture flavor. Two words: Poi balls.

It's a humble, sort of ramshackle place but that's part of the attraction. You feel like you are on an island in the middle of the Pacific in a jungle hut on the edge of the lava, listening to hyper-authentic Hawaiian music, drinking beer, getting a contact buzz and maybe even getting your passport stamped. So much better than going to Bubba Gump's.

Flying from SAC is easy and when you get your luggage and car you will be energized and ready to go. I think the Red Road is one of the most beautiful drives in the state and if you go to Uncle Robert's you will start to get that feeling that you aren't in America anymore. I'm not saying you won't be. But you may start to wonder.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

you will start to get that feeling that you aren't in America anymore. I'm not saying you won't be. But you may start to wonder.

Once you've lived here for awhile, you may also find there are some days, even weeks, where you're pretty sure you're not.

Something is wrong, I know it, if I don't keep my attention on eternity. Mary Oliver

[HI_Someday]

Thanks for all the tips! We'll definitely hit up some farmers markets, look for the vendor mentioned and get an anthurium.

Honokaa - I showed her images of the town, some of the old plantation era houses for sale and the NY Times video of the theater. She freaked out. She loves old, creaky houses, period architecture and just everything about Honokaa that we read/saw. She is jazzed to spend some time there (as am I). When we get closer we'll start tracking the theater calendar for events.

The manta rays on the Kona side have been on my bucket list. Actually, just being in the water with mantas anywhere, has... I did a dive trip to Palau and there is a place in the area known for Mantas, however none while we were there. Sounds like Kona is about a sure-thing as you can get. If we can't get to it this trip it will happen next time.

We looked at pics and videos from Uncle Roberts and it looks just like you portrayed Kelena. So looking forward to it.

23 days and counting down...

[heyyou]

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you will start to get that feeling that you aren't in America anymore

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As Dorothy said to her dog, "Toto, I think we are not in Kansas anymore." We say that to our family and friends when we are at the lava flow.[8D]

There are a few preserved old buildings in Wilea, on the south side of Hakalau, between Hilo and Honokaa. The few is about all that were ever there.