Today was my (Paige’s) 30th birthday! There isn’t a much better way to start my 30’s than in Hawaii. We decided to use today to explore more of the island.
We ate crepes for breakfast and then wandered around Kona in the morning, and then headed up to Waimea, a small town on the north side of the island. We arrived in Waimea, and soon realized the poke shop we had intended to stop at for lunch (Amazingly named “Poke Da Dawg,” which let to hilarious directions from Siri) was actually a food truck, and was not anywhere near the address provided. We turned around to go to the almost as amazingly named “The Fish & The Hog,” which was great!
The most amazing thing happened during lunch: Miles learned to chew. He chewed so much and in such a dedicated manner that I initially thought something was wrong. When it became clear that he was fine, and was hitting an important life milestone, I had to take a video to commemorate the occasion (though Miles wouldn’t let me post it, sorry!).
After lunch, we drove through Waimea, and quickly realized that everything of interest was closed. So we started driving. We went first into the hills and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
We then went down to Waikoloa Village to do some shopping. When we arrived at the shopping center, we were concerned that everything seemed overpriced and touristy. But then we stumbled across a small shop selling traditional Hawaiian wooden carvings. We began talking to the shop keeper, and quickly learned that she was from a native Hawaiian family of carvers, which is the only one still doing true traditional carving on the Big Island. Every wood piece in the shop had been carved by her cousins, 4th generation carvers, and she made the jewelry. Talking to her was an incredible experience. We ended up staying for well over an hour, learning about native Hawaiian culture, language, and tradition, as well as her own life and opinions. Among the most memorable moments for me was when she taught me the meaning of Aloha as more then “hello.” She explained that “Alo” means presence, and “ho” means breath, and demonstrated the traditional greeting with me, foreheads touching and breathing in together, exchanging your presence and your breath.
I could have stayed and talked to her for many more hours. She said that her cousins will be in the shop on Tuesday doing carving, so we are hoping to go back to see that before our flight.
We left to make our reservation, at Merriman’s restaurant back in Waimea. We had no idea how amazing the meal would be. The food was delicious! It was the perfect birthday dinner, complete with a lilikoi mousse with a candle in it for dessert. It was an incredible birthday!
