Hawaiian Honey!

While all natural un-processed honeys are packed with nutritional goodness, not to mention just plain good to eat, you can get some very uniquely flavored honeys from those bees fortunate enough to call Hawaii home.  Hawaiian honey can be found in lehua, macadamia nut, and even Wilelaiki Blossom (aka: Christmas berry) sourced flavors.

There is even a rare “white honey” available from Hawaii.  An important element to consider when purchasing honey for consumption with the idea of gaining the many health benefits associated with honey is to make sure that you get “raw” (unprocessed) honey.  And, if you can get “organic raw honey”, all the better.

Raw Hawaiian Honey

While most people get their honey from their nearest grocery store, if the health benefits of honey are of interest to you, you would do best to purchase raw Hawaiian honey, either online or from a nearby farmer’s market.  Many of the benefits associated with honey get “cooked” out of it when it is processed.  You should avoid heating honey if you want to receive its maximum benefits.

What’s the difference between “raw” and “processed” honey?

• raw honey contains phytonutrients that can eliminate cancers and tumors
• raw honey often contains propolis, a mixture of resins used by the honeybees to seal their hive against viruses and bacteria
• raw honey contains friendly bacteria that are effective in the treatment of burns and wounds
• raw honey is used as a natural remedy for indigestion, bronchitis and ulcers
• raw honey helps alleviate stomach problems such as diarrhea, indigestion and symptoms of gastroenteritis
• contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and a high amount of vitamin C
• studies have shown that raw honey may be effective in weight loss
• honey also improves HDL cholesterol levels
• honey is an effective cough suppressant

Note:  Honey must not be given to infants below one year.  Some varieties of honey may contain traces of pesticides and pollutants present in plants and flowers.  (Which is another reason to purchase organic, raw Hawaiian honey when you can!)

Organic, Raw, Hawaiian Honey

Non-organic, Raw, Hawaiian Honey

Another project of the Kona Historical Society is the restoration of the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum.  They have gone through great lengths to research and stock items that would have been in need to the many cowboys (yes, cowboys…”paniolos” in Hawaii) and farmers in the area, circa 1890.

Built in 1870, by Englishman Henry Nicholas Greenwell, the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum is the oldest surviving store in Kona and one of the oldest buildings in the district.  Among its stock you will find accurate reproductions from rope to rice, saddles to wild dog poison, and denim trousers to wool long johns.  Yes, you read that correctly, wool long johns.  It gets cold at night up in the hills above Kona.

The H.N. Greenwell Store Museum is located just north of the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, between mile markers 111 and 112 on Mamalahoa Highway (Hwy 11).  This makes for a great pair of stops that can be made on the same day and if you can manage to do it on a Thursday, all the better.

Portuguese Stone Oven Bread at the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum on Thursdays

On Thursdays, in the pasture behind the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum, volunteers bake Portuguese sweetbread in a stone oven the way they did it a hundred years ago.  The Portuguese first arrived on the Big Island in 1878, and among their many contributions to the Hawaiian way of life, they introduced the now iconic ukelele and the sound of slack key guitar.  The sound of Hawaiian music would be completely different than what we have come to know as Hawaiian music without them.

They also introduced the Forno, or stone oven.  Whether it was a large communal oven or a smaller family forno, its where they made the taste Hawaii adopted as its own, the Pao Duce, now called Hawaiian Sweetbread.   (They are responsible for yet another island favorite, Portuguese sausage.)

To bake bread in a forno, someone has to be there at 6:00 AM to get the wood fire going to heat up the stone oven.  It takes 4-hours for the stone oven to sufficiently heated, then the coals are removed from inside of the oven and the bread is put in to bake in the residual heat stored in the stones.  (To experience this alone is worth visiting the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum.)

The H.N. Greenwell Store Museum is open Mon thru Thur, from 10:00 AM till 2:00 PM.  The Portuguese Stone Oven Baking is done on Thursdays only, between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM.  The bread starts coming out between 12:00 and 12:30 PM and is sold for $7.00 a loaf.    Only 30 loaves fit in the oven, and they are sold on a first come, first served basis, so make sure you time your arrival early enough to get a hold of one…or two.

Admission to the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum is $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for children 5-12, and free for children under 5.

Newest Pahoa Flow Moving Northeast

As of Dec. 2, 2014, the area where the two lines of descent (the blue lines) is approximately 400 yards from the current flow.  At the current rate of advancement, it should reach it sometime today.  So, tomorrow will give a better idea of which direction the flow will take.  It could follow the current line, which would take it toward the Pahoa Marketplace, it could take the more northerly track or split and take both.  On the other hand, as we’ve seen in the past, it could very well take a completely unexpected path or stop, like the original flow.

The original flow, shown in pink above, advanced at an average rate closer to 100 yards or less daily.

This video is from the Dec 1, 2014 update and has some great video shots, as well as good information on what’s happened.

The community of Pahoa and its surrounding subdivisions has been threatened by advancing lava since June 2014.  To date, as far as I know, only one residential property has been completely lost to the lava.  A few other properties have been affected with the lava entering and covering part of their property, but otherwise, damage has been minimal to this point.  Of course, there was ranch/cattle land covered along the way, as well.

The Civil Defense, Hawaii Volcano Observatory, Hawaii County, the state of Hawaii, and the utility companies have all made great efforts to keep the public aware of on-going activity while trying to maintain as much of the utilities and road access available to the residents of Pahoa.  The Federal government and FEMA has been somewhat slow to provide much assistance.  Lava, and its unique properties, is not something national emergency procedures address well.

I’m sure FEMA would act quicker had the entire community of Pahoa disappeared under a massive advance of lava, but the fact that this is a slowly developing situation and with unknown properties affected, they seem to be at a loss as to what to do.  Even President Obama, who likes to claim Hawaii as his birthplace, was slow to declare a State of Emergency which provides access to federal aid to affected families and small business owners.

The problem with not only federal aid, but with homeowners’ insurance, is that they don’t kick in until and unless your residence or business has been destroyed.  They do not consider you’re leaving or evacuating in advance of the lava, as their problem.  In fact, homeowners’ insurance goes so far as to punish those who evacuate by declaring your home as vacant, therefore limited in coverage if covered at all.  The other problem that the state is looking into is the cancellation or non-renewal of policies on properties in the affected areas by insurance companies.

Cafe 100 in Hilo (808 Kilauea Ave.), is the birthplace of this all-in-one, nutritionists’ nightmare, local favorite!  The classic loco-moco is a bowl of rice, an egg fried over-easy, one hamburger patty, all smothered, generously in brown gravy.  (You can feel your arteries harden with each delicious bite.)

Cafe 100 is a must-stop for my family whenever we’re in Hilo…the variations on the theme seem to be endless.  While I love the original, classic loco-moco, I also enjoy the Spam loco-moco and the Portuguese-sausage loco-moco.

On the other end of the island, in Waimea, is the Hawaiian Style Cafe (64-1290 Kawaihae Rd.), which is credited for what might just be the biggest loco-moco  using a 1-pound hamburger patty!  While the following video runs 22 minutes, the Hawaiian Style Cafe is covered within the first 4 1/2 minutes…although, you might want to watch the rest of the video as well.

Of course, today, there are various renditions on this Hawaii favorite at many restaurants throughout the state.  I’d be curious to know which and from where,  is your favorite?

One of the many Kona Historical Society’s projects, the Kona Coffee Living History Farm is a 5 1/2 acre farm with coffee and macadamia-nut trees, a farmhouse, and a coffee-processing mill, circa 1913.  It is a reflection of life for some of the thousands of Japanese immigrants living in the area pre-1945.

The Kona Coffee Living History Farm has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994.

My maternal grandmother grew up on such a coffee farm and I vividly remember visiting my great-grandmother there.  We had many “chats”, even though she spoke no English and I spoke no Japanese.  Somehow,  we still managed to sit and “talk” to one another.

I remember her as a frail, petite, weather-withered old woman who still rolled her own cigarettes, even at age 80, and who’s whole face would light up when she smiled.  They still had to use an outhouse and water was supplied by the rain.  An old tobacco pouch was tied around the water faucet in the kitchen, to catch leaves and whatever else happened to fall into the rain catchment system.

The Kona Coffee Living History Farm can be found on Mamalahoa Highway (Hwy 11), between mile markers 111 and 112.   Its approximately 14 miles from Kailua.  If you’re coming from Kailua, it will be just beyond Captain Cook.

The Story Behind The Kona Coffee Living History Farm

They open Mondays thru Thursdays from 10:00- 2:00 PM, although the visitors’ kiosk opens at 9:00 AM.  They close the gate at 2:00, so you’ll want to be sure to arrive by 1:00 PM.

Entry fee is $20 for adults, $5.00 for children 5-12, and no charge for children under 5.  The Kona Coffee Living History Farm is currently offering a special of $15 (25% off!) for adults, making this a great time to visit if you’re in, or planning on being in Kona.

You can reach them by calling (808)323-2006 or email them at coffeefarm@konahistorical.org.

My #1 Pick for a Scenic View of Honolulu

Without a doubt, the best view of the Honolulu city-scape would be from the Puu Ualakaa State Wayside park area up Round Top Drive.  The park is a popular destination for locals looking for a getaway picnic site without having to go too far.

View from Puu Ualakaa State Park

Map to Puu Ualakaa State Wayside Park

There is also a roadside pullout area, just below Puu Ualakaa State Wayside park, that overlooks Manoa Valley and the University of  Hawaii campus along the way.  The map has this spot marked as well.  This is a good spot to view the city lights from since the park closes at dusk.  The view is not as spectacular because the hillside permits viewing east only and blocks 2/3rds of the city.

An added bonus of this location at night is the hillside opposite the viewing area.  There are hundreds of Night-Blooming Cereus plants clinging to the rocks and, as the name implies, they only blossom at night.  The whole side of the hill is covered in these beautiful flowers.

My #2 Pick for a Scenic View of Honolulu

A second choice would be the view from the Punchbowl National Cemetery lookout, located beyond the gravesites.  Its vantage point is a little lower than Puu Ualakaa State Wayside park area, but its also much easier to get to.

Map to Punchbowl National Cemetary

Once you’re on Pensacola Street, there will be signs directing you to Punchbowl Cemetery.

Don’t forget to take your camera!

Punaluu

In an earlier post, I talked about my favorite place on the Big Island, South Point.  In it, I mentioned Papakolea, the green-sand beach.  I thought I should probably make you aware of a much more  accessible black-sand beach.  (If you remember, reaching Papakolea required a 2.5 mile hike each way or a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get there.)

Punaluu Beach State Park is located about 20 miles from South Point, toward Hilo.   You simply take a short drive off of Mamalahoa Highway, between the towns of Naalehu and Pahala, and you can just about drive onto the beach.  Do not attempt to do so, as this is also a favorite resting spot of the Hawaiian green sea turtle, a protected species.

Punaluu is a great spot to take a break from the long drive between Hilo and Kailua-Kona.  There is a protected inlet located behind the picnic pavilions that usually provides a calm, shallow, sandy bottomed area that’s just great for the little ones.  (My granddaughter was a year old when we took her there and she was as happy as can be walking around this safe haven.)

There are other black sand beaches on the Big Island, specifically on the eastern shores, south of Hilo.  This is a very lightly visited area of the Big Island, simply because it requires veering off of Mamalahoa Highway on the around-the-island drive that many undertake to make in a day…a big mistake.  (See Drive Around the Big Island posts #2 of 3.)

You take Highway 130 South at Kea’au, go down to the town of Pahoa and can take Highway 130 to the beach or take one of the many side roads that all end up at the water’s edge.  Be sure to pick up a map.

Punaluu remains my favorite black sand beach, although except for the kiddie area, its really not the best swimming beach.  But, it is a great spot to observe the many sea turtles that frequent the area, except for mating season when they head to the islands of the French Frigate Shoals, part of the Hawaiian Island Archipelago, where 90% of the green sea turtles lay their eggs.

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you know that as a general rule, Hawaii resorts reviews are not my thing.   However, I must admit, I just came across an article in WestsideToday.com, a California e-magazine, that I thought I would refer people to who might be interested in some of the resorts on Maui.

Maui Resorts Review

In this resorts review, the author, Pearson Brown, stayed at and gives his reactions to:

• Fairmont Kea Lani, in south Maui
• Makena Beach and Golf Resort (formerly the Maui Prince), also in south Maui
• Napili Kai Beach Resort, in west Maui

Although more noted for its golf and tennis packages, Mr. Brown manages to not focus his review of the Makena Beach and Golf Resort on these athletic endeavors, but rather on those amenities that everyone in the family could enjoy.  He traveled with a close friend and his pre-school aged son, so does take the time to mention some kid-focused activities available at these resorts, as well.

Beyond the resorts review…

More than just a resorts review, this article also reviews a handful of attractions that anyone who visits Maui might enjoy visiting as well.  Links to previous blog posts here have been given for further information, and links are also provided for those I haven’t.

Mixed in with the resorts review are some observations about the Maui Theatre’s Ulalena  and the Grand Luau at Honua’ula (www.honuaula-luau.com) at the Grand Wailea resort.  He makes stops at Surfing Goat Dairy (www.surfinggoatdairy.com), Ali’i Kula Lavender Gardens, and the Maui Ocean Center, the Hawaiian Aquarium, (www.mauioceancenter.com), making this more than your typical resorts review, and reminding you that even in Hawaii, its more than just the beaches.

So, if your travel plans involve finding a nice resort on Maui, I think you will find the resorts review provided in  “A Near Escape To Maui” (WestsideToday.com) of  interest.  But, even if you don’t plan on staying at a resort, you may still find the author’s take on some of the activities worth your read.