Day 23 & 24 - Aloha, Katie & Margie

We had a slow day on Monday.  We went to Quilt Passions where Margie bought a kit for a wall hanging and Mom & I bought kits for projects to work on during the remainder of our stay.  Then we went to Discount Fabric Warehouse and bought some more...fabric!  We had not been to Quinn's Almost by the Sea yet, so chose that as our lunch spot.  I had great fish tacos and a Longboard (Kona Brewing Company's lager beer) while everyone else had calamari.

Before going home we went up country to Holoalua where we stopped in at the Kimura Lauhala Store.  When we were here two years ago, Mom and I stopped here and had a visit with the nicest Japanese lady whose grandparents walked across the island from Hilo to settle in Kona more than 100 years ago.  "Talking story" with her was one of the highlights of that trip.  She is now 87 and still active, but today her daughter was working at the store - also a nice lady. Lauhala is woven strips of leaves from the hala tree (aka pandanus).  Historically, lauhala mats were used as rugs covering dirt floors and as walls in grass-thatched houses, and also made into hats.  Weaving was done by the wives of the coffee farmers and sugar cane workers to make items for their own homes and to supplement income. Today lauhala is used  mostly as decor and the weaving is a cottage industry or done as a hobby.  Lauhala items are not cheap.  I paid $12 for a woven hot pad.  A hat could set you back $100 or more, and I wouldn't want to know how much a floor mat would cost.

Holoalua is sort of an artist's colony, but unfortunately since it was Monday the shops  were closed, so we weren't tempted to buy anything in the town's galleries. 

For Katie & Margie's last dinner on the island we went to the Kona Canoe Club in downtown Kailua.  Mom & I had Blue Hawaii cocktails, and I had a burger while Mom had the chicken salad served in half a papaya.  Margie had kalua pork sliders and Katie had calamari...again.  We had a beach-side table and watched the paddlers out on the ocean while the sun performed its magic and gave us a glorious sunset. A nice ending to their stay.

Tuesday, we dropped Katie & Margie off at the airport for their 1pm flight back to the mainland, then stopped at Costco for pineapple - third time we've stopped to get pared and cut-up pineapple and third time with no luck.  I got 2 whole pineapples, though.  After dealing with whole pineapples I can attest that the price you pay for the cut up ones is well worth it!  Next stop Safeway.  Our plan for our remaining week is to mostly hang around the condo, so we wanted to get supplies so we could eat lunch at "home."

The afternoon was spent washing sheets and towels, remaking beds and moving Mom back into the other bedroom.  Then we went to the pool and splashed around for over an hour, visiting with a couple of other ladies.  This is pretty much how we plan to spend the next week, so this may be the last post to this blog.