Big Island of Hawaii- Day 9: Coffee Farm and National Historic Site

Sick of being in the car we decided to find some sights closer to us to check out for the day and have a more relaxed/resting day. I hadn't found malasadas yet and had read they were a "must try" Hawaii food so that was my first agenda for the day. 

We got some freshly baked malasadas from Standard Bakery; sadly they only had plain or Bavarian cream filling (I was hoping to find coconut or POG filled). I ate mine on the deck watching the waves while reading my book. It was heavenly. 


We packed up and headed down the road to Greenwell Farms to learn all about how coffee is grown and processed. They have been open for over 100 years and are still owned by the same family. They started out with orchards of citrus fruits and while they are mostly known for their Kona coffee they still have lots of different types of fruits and things they grow. 

Kona coffee is only grown in a small strip of land in the Kona region of the big island. If it says 100% Kona coffee it is grown here in this region. 



avocados

Our guide was amazing! 

I forgot what these were... 


we learned all about how they process the beans

Here they are drying after having been soaked in water



Papaya trees

The coffee "cherries" waiting to be picked

They also grow peppercorns

There were beautiful flowers all over too. It was a fabulous FREE tour

From there we went to Pu' uhonua O Honaunau national historical park and learned all about this area with a self guided tour and a wonderful movie they had playing. It was a really beautiful area and our tri-park pass got us in for free.













Lava flowed around a tree; encasing the print of the bark in the lava









We were told at the coffee farm to try some Lau Lau-- pork and salted cod cooked overnight in taro leaves served with rice and a bit of macaroni salad (and poke-- a raw fish "salsa" of sorts). We got 2 meals to share on the way back to the condo and it was pretty good even if it doesn't look like much. 

This is often referred to as a Hawaiian "plate lunch"-- a meat (usually pork) served with rice and macaroni salad. 

After lunch we walked down to a local mini beach area near the harbor and put our feet in the water. 






We walked back to the condo and spent some time in/by the pool too. We preferred the ocean pool where we could watch and hear the waves too. 



We ended our night with some gelato from Gypsea Gelato. 

Comments

  1. Maria RineerJanuary 23, 2025 at 6:10 AM

    Neat tour! I can see how staying close to your condo for a day would be nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:18 AM

      It was a nice break from all that sitting in the car. As much as we loved driving around seeing the various parts of the island it was nice to have a more laid back day.

      Delete
  2. Melynda@Scratch Made Food!January 23, 2025 at 6:29 AM

    That tour looks great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:19 AM

      We really enjoyed it a lot; and we don't even like or drink coffee!

      Delete
  3. Kathrine EldridgeJanuary 23, 2025 at 7:01 AM

    I know need to add a coffee farm to our itinerary when we go to Hawaii next year!

    https://www.kathrineeldridge.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:19 AM

      Oh yes, you really should. It was so interesting to learn about.

      Delete
  4. Amy ScottJanuary 23, 2025 at 7:08 AM

    It's almost too much to see this beautiful weather when it is so cold here, right? That pastry looks delish! The plate lunch is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:21 AM

      It's supposed to be very economical too and a staple of most diets since it's usually served "on the go."

      Delete
  5. mireilleJanuary 23, 2025 at 7:14 AM

    I had forgotten papayas grew on trees! It was really cool to see the different fruit trees! I loved the coffee tour in Costa Rica: it was so interesting! Hope to make it to Hawaii one day.
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Molly | Transatlantic NotesJanuary 23, 2025 at 7:56 AM

    Pu' uhonua O Honaunau, the historic park looks and sounds like a wonderful place to learn more about the history of that area and the land. This was amazing to read about, thank you for sharing this, it's somewhere I would love to visit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM

      We really enjoyed our time there so much. I love learning about the history of the various places we visit.

      Delete
  7. Dara @ Not In JerseyJanuary 23, 2025 at 8:20 AM

    When I was there I wasn't a coffee drinker! Now I really need to get some kona coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:15 AM

      None of us drink coffee but they did have lots of free sample and Alec and I both took a sip of one of their seasonal "favorites." We were not fans but, again, we don't like coffee! LOL.

      Delete
  8. Amy JohnsonJanuary 23, 2025 at 8:51 AM

    Now I know where my Kona coffee comes from!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 23, 2025 at 9:26 AM

      Yes! It's a very small region called the Kona Coffee belt and both the climate and the volcanic soil is what gives it its unique flavor. That and the fact they are hand-picked, sorted, and adhere to strict certification guidelines accounts for the higher price point.

      Delete
  9. Tanya January 23, 2025 at 9:34 AM

    We also did a lot of driving on the Big Island - everything was so spread out. We also enjoyed that historical site.

    ReplyDelete
  10. HollyJanuary 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM

    Look beautiful and delish! What a trip of a lifetime :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Salad Love with The Cookbook Club

Image
 Joanne Tracey over at Brookford Kitchen Diaries has started up a monthly cookbook club and the rules such as they are are loose enough that it's easy to follow along and participate.  This month we were asked to look for some sort of healthy living cookbook. I found Salad Love: Crunchy, Savory, and Filling Meals You Can Make Every Day The very beginning of the book David explains that he's not a chef or a cook or anything in the culinary field. His book came about naturally after challenging himself to come up with healthy lunches (at his desk!) for a year. He talks about how/where he stores his tools and foods in the office, why he chose to eat mostly non-processed foods, why his has more of a plant-based focus, and how we able to prepare these right at his desk.  Then the next sections gets into how he assembles his various salads. What he uses for bases, what he uses for proteins, what toppings he adds on, what dressings he's made/uses and goes over the amounts of ea...
Read more

Big Island of Hawaii -- Hawaii days 6 & 7: Settling in & Touring Volcanoes National Park

Image
Day 6; Monday December 23rd was the day we were leaving Maui and heading to the big island of Hawaii. Our flight with Hawaiian Airlines was around 11 and we still had to drop off our rental car and navigate the crowded airport so we left our rental early in the morning just in case.  It was a very short flight between islands but we still had to check bags, pick up our bags, drop off one rental car in Maui and pick up another in Hawaii so we treated it like any other arrival/settle in day.  my new favorite Hawaiian snack! (we tried one other brand but it wasn't as good!) Leaving Maui, I had a window seat! Already spotting the big island on the horizon. You can see huge lava fields from the plane; the ground is all black and cracked and dried looking.  After picking up bags and the rental car we headed to The Big Kahuna Beach Grill. The food was yummy and we had a pretty view too.  It rained a bit but we had to go get groceries anyway (at Wal-Mart with what seemed li...
Read more

Talking About it Tuesday #54

Image
Hello and welcome to another Talking About it Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I hadn't realized it was a 4 day weekend here for many people in the states with Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday until Alec and I were talking. He came home for the weekend and was debating about what day to go back to school. We celebrated his 19th birthday this weekend while he was home. The weekend flew right by though as they always seem to do. How was your weekend? It's time for another link party. We had lots of people linking up with us again last week and I just love the variety of content!  The link with the most views from last week's party: Bedroom Update- Overdue by My Seventies Split A few that caught my eye: Easy Cucumber Roll Ups Recipe by Organized Island Styling a Plaid Ruana by Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom Capliano Suspension Bridge Park Vancouver, Canada by Life of 2 Snowbirds This party will remain open until the weekend.  My hope is that everyone wi...
Read more