Expanding my horizons

Yesterday I woke up for my second full day in Hilo – 10/26.  This ship was heading into port and let out a big ol’ blast of the horn as he went by.  Cool!

Once I had my coffee and breakfast I decided to go for a nice long walk.

So, the other day I was in the gift shop at the hotel, and I came upon a new-to-me vodka – Pau.  It’s made in Maui distilled from Pineapple!  Very smooth and tasty.  Thinking the gift shop prices were probably exorbitant, I found a liquor store – Kadota Liquors – about 2 miles away and figured I’d venture over there so I could get a feel for the town, and pick up some more Pau.

Here are some photos:

I love all these banyan trees!


Statue of King Kamehameha:

Grounds around the Waimea Center:

I should’ve taken a photo of the liquor store, but, it didn’t occur to me.  Turns out the prices were pretty similar.  Walked back through the Bayfront Park.


Suisan Fish Market – my cousin Ted told me they had really good poke:

Here’s my poke bowl – ahi and salmon.  Yummy!!

The other day I realized that the hotel had a full bar by the pool (there’s one in the lobby but that one only uses plastic cups – this one has real glass).  I had my first Mai Tai!  It was really good.  The stuff on top is frothed egg white with some kind of Hawaiian spice in it – I can’t remember the name now.

One of a few cats “living” at the hotel:

This morning, 10/27, I went down for coffee and to hang around outside for a bit.  Came back to a bird in my room!  Here it is, back outside:

I think I’m going to walk in another direction today.  I came across an article about a hotel near here that is eco-friendly (SCP Hilo) that I wanted to check out, and I also wanted to go see the “Tsunami Clock of Doom.”  I’ll write about today’s adventures in my next post.  Talk soon!