Belle the Cat

Breakfast today was our last croissant from the Medcalfbakery in Madison, topped with butter and organic strawberry jam. I also had a ginormous banana offered in a fruit basket outside the resort gym and a cup from the pot of 10% Kona blend coffee I brewed in the room.

We ran to the store and stocked up on some beer for the room, including Maui Brewing's coconut porter, and milk for coffee.Milk is pretty darn expensive and apparently comes from Texas. A pint was $2.99.

 Our resort is built on an old sacred location. It actually seems like most of Hawaii was originally worshiped for some reason or another. We keep find
ourselves wanting to apologize for any perceived affront. There is a sign and a brochure about the areas around our resort which we should respect. 

Our resort is older, and has passed through a number of hands. But still, the room is of a good size (albeit a bit musty) and the lanai (balcony) is as big as the room. It does have ferns growing from the ceiling tho.

 

 

There are a selection of native wildlife throughout the area. Giant crazy looking spiders with webs I keep almost walking into because I won't stay on path, Giant land snails, and squirrly looking things we call tree mink.

We took some pics in front of the Royal Palace, and the church in Kona-Kailua, two of the only remaining original buildings in the town.

Out exploring the town, we found Lulu’s, which I had looked up online before our travels as a place to watch NFL games. It resembled what I guess a bar in the Florida Keys would look like, with dollar bills and license plates stapled to the wall, open air views of the ocean, and string of light-up puffer fish.  We each had a Red Lava Kona Beer (these are delicious), and ordered their signature manapua appetizer: soft buns stuffed with pork that are then deep fried and drizzle with nacho cheese sauce. Sounds like a strange combo, but it was delicious, especially when we dabbed some Tabasco sauce on top.

With that under our belt, we wandered over to the Kona Inn, a restaurant that use to be a motel and is now a supper club. I had my Mai Tai (recommended by a lady at our Resort).  I don’t know, but I always expect a fancy drink to come in a fancy glass. And to be bright colors. I guess I’m confusing it with a girly drink…

At the Kona Inn, we were privy to a slice of island drama. Apparently feral cats are part of the local wildlife.  We saw them all over. Some have obviously been born in the wild, or have been without human caretakers for so long they don’t even know they’re cats. However, I think others are former pets, or perhaps only one generation removed so that the wildness has not completely overtaken them yet. At the restaurant, we sat at the bar, and soon heard whisperings amongst the waitstaff (mostly women) that “someone (couldn’t quite make out the name) is back.” Eventually I asked a blond server what was up. “Oh, we use to have a whole bunch of cats here, but the management doesn’t want them. Bazooka was the last one, and we had him neutered and everything. He’s gone home with two different people who said they’d adopt him and,” at this point she got choked up. “He keeps coming back here. Because this is his home.”

 

“What’s his name?”

“Bazooka. Because he has a bubblegum nose.”

She scurried away, and lo and behold, the fabled Bazooka hopped up onto a stone fence nearby.  Sure enough, the lithe feline did have a pink nose. He kept a close eye out, but allowed himself to be pet by anyone that approached him with calmness and love.

We drove back to the Resort, but stopped off for our main fare, burgers from Ultimate Burger, an unassuming joint in a strip mall that served locally grown beef and fresh caught fish. I snapped a pic of a sign for the catch of the day. I got the local beef with Swiss and mushroom, tomato, white onion and lettuce. DMV ordered something of his own creation, a burger with cheddar, jalapeno, pineapple, tomato and lettuce.

For dessert we ate some really amazing toffee we’d brought from home.