Hawaii 2022 - The Big Island (Part 1)

Aloha! I wish I was still back in Hawaii enjoying that sunshine and warm weather but on Saturday we were welcomed back to Chicago with a mix of rain and snow after spending 10 glorious days on two Hawaiian Islands. 

We took the kids out of school two days early due to better flights and pricing so we left on Thursday. We had a direct flight to Kona on the Big Island. The airport was crazy crowded just like it was prior to COVID. Our plane was a United Dreamliner. Very nice and new, and we benefitted from it in First Class. As part of the kids' Xmas gift and due to a little other creative accounting on my part, we booked us all in First Class to Hawaii. To say that this was worth every penny and probably one of the highlights of the trip is an understatement. We didn't pay for bags (at any weight), meals or alcohol. Our accommodations were amazing too with seats that retracted to full beds complete with blankets and feathered pillows. I may never travel economy on long flights ever again! I was seriously wishing we had a few more hours after we landed 9 hours later. What a magical way to start our trip. The kids (and us) were in Heaven. 

First class is amazing!

First class breakfast

Austen asleep in his pod

We landed and went straight to the hotel - since we flew in a bit earlier than planned we had to get a hotel for one night since we couldn't check into our house until the next day at 4pm. We knew we would be tired anyway so once we checked in, we did a little shopping in downtown Kona, ate a snack (flavored ice for the kids and pineapple Dole whip for the adults), watched a little March Madness basketball and went to bed really early Hawaii time -7:30/8pm. 

Peyton and Hailey were the first to rise at about 4:40/5am. We held them off til about 6am, ate an early breakfast at the hotel and checked out for our 2 hour drive to Volcano National Park. We planned this the first day since we knew we would be up early and couldn't check into our house until 4pm. 

We visited the steam vents, the lava tube and did a 3-mile rather treacherous hike around and through one of the volcano craters. This path was not for the elderly or anyone not in shape. You had to watch your footing every step of the way and the hike took us about 2 hours. Of course, 1/3 of the way through Peyton (trying to keep up with Austen) tripped over a root and ended up scraping her knee up and twisted her ankle so we had to listen to her complain the rest of the way back and almost hyperventilate since she didn't think she was going to make it out. Drama. 

The hike in Volcano National Park

Peyton's meltdown and scraped knee

Finally, we arrived back at the car and Peyton declared that she would do no more hiking on this trip. She never was the outdoorsy type anyway. Her mood changed though when we arrived at the house we rented just past 4pm and she took in the magnificent view from the double front glass doors. We had a great view of the ocean just over our private infinity pool. The house too was spectacular with separate wings - one for the Master and the other for the two additional bedrooms located on the other side of the house which were split between a big kitchen and family room. The outside lounging area was spectacular too and Austen loved having a putting green right outside his room. He got in a lot of practice in just the short five days we were there. 

We hadn't planned too many activities while we were on the Big Island because we really wanted time to soak up the sun, play in the pool and just relax. It was our first beach vacation in a really long time and we were all looking forward to it. We did, however, plan some dinners including a really nice one at the Fairmont Orchid at Brown's Beach House in Waikoloa Village. Austen and Peyton also did get in some surf lessons. Peyton got up on her board pretty quickly (they said swimmers tend to have an easier time with surfing) while Austen struggled a bit more. The waves were pretty small that day but they each did really well. Unfortunately, they got a lot of sun on their backsides (despite having on SPF 50) and suffered a bit of sunburn the next few days. We did also get to see the famous black sand beaches on the Big Island as well as meet up with some friends for dinner at the Kona Brewing Company who also happened to be visiting the island. 

After five days on the Big Island, we took a short flight (not First Class) to Oahu so we could explore another island or rather let the kids explore another island. It had been almost 20 years (on our honeymoon) since last visiting Oahu. Interestingly enough we were staying at the property next door to where we stayed on our honeymoon (formerly the JW Marriott at Ko Olina now the Four Seasons at Ko Olina). Back then there was no other hotels in the area. Now the Disney Aulani Resort was adjacent to their property sharing a lagoon. More on how the island has changed in the 20 years since we'd been there in my next post. 

The view!

Putting practice

Fairmont dinner

                Dinner at Kona Brewing

Black sand beaches