Hawaii Day 6: we run out of steam

We started the morning back at the beach where two days before we had seen dolphins. It was cloudy when we were there before and visibility is better for snorkeling when the sun shines through the water so we were ready to try again. The snorkeling was great and we continued until my seasickness, as always instructed us when to get out. We also drove to checkout a place that rented kayaks for the next day, though Marc was very nervous about us kayaking in open sea with my propensity to vomit.

This was the first day when we did not have a specific agenda-- we had seen all of the island we wanted to see, and we were at loose ends today. We were also really tired, and Marc was near starved after several days of not meeting his caloric needs. We wildly considered driving back to Hilo (two hours each way) to finally get homemade mochi and to get more of the mysterious tangerine fruits we'd bought at the farmers market-- these fruits were full of juice and edible seeds. You peel off the top and suck the juice and seeds out. I couldn't remember what they were called, so we referred to them as "pop tops" and had run out the previous day. We had a silly fight about where to eat lunch and ended up getting on the road without eating anything which was a terrible plan, as we both got crankier and Marc started to get dizzy. We stopped half way to Hilo where the book said a good restaurant for burgers was (which is what Marc had wanted for days). I couldn't find the restaurant, but there was a burger stand there so I ordered him one and crossed the street to the grocery store where I cobbed together a strange lunch for myself of a small salad with processed turkey (yuck) and salad dressing that I was afraid to use because I wasn't sure what was in it. I also bought edamame and gluten free cookies. Marc's burger finally arrived around the time I finished shopping, and he said it was really good. We ended up spending a fair amount of time sitting outside in that plaza, as he needed a second burger and since they were making them from scratch this took awhile. (We were in ranching country so I was hoping that the beef was local and grass fed but I'll never know). After eating I decided I really did not want to spend my second to last day in a car and we headed to the resort area of Kohola instead.

Our first stop was the Hilton, which had it's own kind of contrived man-made swimming bay, which was partly fed by the ocean. In on area there was a dolphin encounter, where parents could pay $200 for their kids to spend 20 minutes interacting with dolphins. The irony, is that the dolphins are Atlantic Bottle Nosed dolphins, rather than the local Hawaiian spinner dolphins, because, according to the book, the local dolphins need deeper water. We sat on the grass and watched the kids with the dolphins for awhile and I had fun people watching-- the Hilton runs $700-1000 a night and I was fascinated by who would possibly pay that much to stay at a hotel. It was hot and I got bored with the kid show so we moved on up the road to the Four Seasons Resort, where I found heaven.

The Four seasons was very uncrowded. They had multiple pools, free fruit infused water (ahem...for guests) and lounge chairs right on the beach. We sat in chairs and read our books while drinking pineapple infused water until the sun started going down. At last, relaxation.

Back in Kona we found a cafe with internet access and I drank a smoothie while Marc checked his email. I noticed the menu was organic greens and wonderful salads and made a note of it for later. We stopped at the farmer's market to stock up on more papaya and to get an avocado for the tacos I was making for dinner.

By the time we got back to the condo I felt like I was sleep walking. I made tacos in a haze and fell asleep by 8pm.