ILLINOIS

ILLINOIS - Land of Lincoln, January 24-27

We arrived Thursday afternoon and were met at the airport by our escorts and longtime friends from Committee on Judiciary, Jerry and Jan Shapiro, State President Larry and Karen Smith, Charlie and Jan Campbell, Tony Dardano, Coy Cockrum and Dennis Gerleman. Lou Sulsberger, PGER, joined us a bit later after attending a funeral for a dear friend.  Beth joined us the next day after getting in at 03:00 following a long day at work and a long trip to the convention site.  What a trooper!

Upon exiting the airport, we found ourselves in a personal tour bus, complete with a local wine tasting and video slide show of all the lodges in Illinois.  The wine was excellent, as was the company.  It was a great way to travel to our hotel, where we were greeted by the rest of the officers and spouses of the Illinois Elks State Association.  That evening we had dinner upstairs in the State hospitality suite. (The hotel had actually closed their restaurant and turned the room over to the Illinois Elks.)  We dined on smoked pork loin, turkey, salad and lots of hand-made chocolates and macaroons for dessert.

Friday morning the guys went to Charlie Parker's restaurant for breakfast. Set in a Quonset hut and a local favorite, they had a great and plentiful breakfast followed by a visit to Lincoln's grave site. While it was a little bit chilly, the tomb is set in a beautiful location and no one minded the walk.

Meanwhile, the ladies treated Venita to breakfast in the State President's suite, after which they rendezvoused with the gentlemen for a tour of the Lincoln Library and Museum. True to presidential tradition, the museum was wonderful.  The two featured movies, “Ghost in the Library” and “Lincoln’s Eyes” made use of amazing technology and graphics.  Of special note was that one of the three remaining stovepipe hats that Lincoln wore during his years as president was on display in the “Treasures” Room.  It was fascinating to see this great piece of history, all the way down to his finger prints on the brim of the hat.

After touring the museum, the gentlemen returned to the hotel for meetings, but not before they stopped at Jerry’s favorite Italian restaurant, Sapudo’s, for lunch.  Not to be outdone, the ladies took Venita to "The Feed Store," a soup and sandwich shop located next to the old capitol building and down the street from Lincoln's original law office.  Given the cold weather, soup was a welcome menu choice.

Friday evening we went to the Past State President's dinner at the hotel.  The PSPs are a very social group of people and we very much enjoyed their company. Much to our delight, they have a tradition of making and flying paper airplanes during dinner.  We jumped right in and sent a couple soaring ourselves. After dinner, we spent time in several of the hospitality suites, signing cards, handing out pins and visiting with the Illinois Elks.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and they appreciated having us visit with them.

Saturday morning Tom went with Jerry and Lou to the various committee meetings. They then joined the ladies at the Ladies Luncheon.  Each year, Illinois elects a “Lady of the Year,” someone who is not an Elk and yet works for the betterment of the Order and their community.  Venita and Karen were at the head table with the eight District winners and Venita had the pleasure of presenting plaques to each of the District winners and then announcing the overall winner.  For a change of pace, Tom was able to be there to hear Venita’s speech!

After lunch we helped pack “S.O.S.” boxes with donated foods and toiletries to be sent to the troops overseas.  Last year, the Illinois Elks donated over 500 boxes for this program. Tom also gave a radio interviews while we were packing things up.  Afterward, Venita headed out with the ladies to a local quilt shop to see if there was anything she couldn't live without. Of course there was.

The Saturday evening banquet started with music played by the Illinois Pipe and Drum Corps, including the most frequently requested bagpipe song, “Amazing Grace.”  All of the Illinois Elks State Officers and their spouses then enter, couple by couple, accompanied by music specifically selected for them. They were followed by the Grand Lodge Officers in attendance.  When it was our turn, we walked through the tables to the rocking beat of "Born to be Wild."   Perfect selection!

We then enjoyed an excellent dinner, after which Tom shared his concerns and vision for our Order with those in attendance.  The Illinois Elks presented us with several gifts including an Illinois state charm for Venita’s bracelet, a beautiful quilt block for her memory quilt, a book about Lincoln, and a beautiful pen with a pen display case for Tom.  In honor of our love of motorcycling, Jerry and Jan gave us a 100^th Anniversary Harley-Davidson bear, complete with bandanna and leather vest.  Of special note was the presentation of a hinged-frame plaque with a commendation on one half and our photo on the other, all done in metal. It was truly unique and something we will forever treasure. 

Sunday morning, Jerry and Jan did yeoman’s duty and took us to the airport at 5:30 a.m.  Jerry commented that he didn’t know there was a 5:30 with an “a.m.” after it.  But then he recalled once before when he had been up that early!  We bid them a fond farewell at the airport and boarded our plane for home.  We thoroughly enjoyed the Land of Lincoln and vowed to come back when we could spend more time exploring the home of this great President

ALABAMA

ALABAMA - White Sands and Blue Angels, January 17-20

We arrived without incident for our visitation to the Gulf Coast of Alabama and were met at the airport by PGER and State Sponsor Val Bates, State President Russell and Judy Vice, SDGER Ron and Gale Creamer and GL Committeeman Andy Milwid and Ruth.  Venita had received a call previously from Claudia Bates to apologize for not being able to join us in Alabama since she had to attend a flower judging re-certification in Tampa this weekend.

That evening we all went to dinner at Wintzell's Oyster House in Orange Beach.  The menu featured excellent seafood and, of course, oysters!  We indulged in traditional gumbo, and Venita ordered one of her southern favorites - shrimp and grits. Happy dance!  After dinner we headed for the Perdido Beach Resort.  We had a lovely suite overlooking the white sands beach and the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

Friday morning the guys departed for Pensacola and the Naval Air Museum. Upon arriving, they were greeted by Will, an Elk and docent for the Naval Air Museum.  Over the next four hours, he gave them a detailed tour of Hangar Bay One, the museum for the most historic naval planes in existence.  Will and Tom frequently stopped to talk about the various planes and the heritage of Naval Aviation.  The museum at Pensacola was an absolute marvel of static displays coupled with the scream of naval aviation in action today as jets shot across the field. What made this truly memorable was Will's knowledge of Navy aviation, from its inception in 1908 to the present.  He is a proud naval aviator who took the time to introduce us to the wonderful aircraft on display and explain their history in a way that made their history as real as today. Will is above at right.  This was a visit I will never forget. 

During a morning reception and coffee, the ladies presented Venita with some lovely gifts to remember her visitation.  Claudia had sent a beautiful jewelry box containing a stunning pearl and turquoise necklace that she had made.  Other gifts included a jeweled purse hook, drawer sachets, an air freshener/diffuser, and a votive candle holder.

After marveling over the generosity of these wonderful ladies, we loaded up the van to do some local sightseeing, shopping and then had lunch at the Gift Horse Restaurant. The Gift Horse features traditional Southern cuisine including Cheesy Apples, Fried Biscuits and Praline Sweet Potatoes.  Even though everyone only took a small spoonful of all the goodies, we all ended up with a very full plate!  After a little more shopping, we all stopped for an adult beverage LuLu's.  LuLu's is a wonderful restaurant located on the inland waterway and owned by Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett's sister.  We enjoyed watching the boats come and go.

Friday evening we had another wonderful dinner, this time at The Oyster House. We finished up the evening visiting with the convention attendees in their communal hospitality suite.  As a special surprise for us, they had decorated the entire room with a motorcycle theme and everyone was sporting their motorcycle gear.  Lots of black leather and warm welcomes.  The band was vintage Lennard Skinner and it was impossible not to dance. 

Saturday morning we attended the business meeting for the Alabama Elks Association.  It was an excellent meeting with focus on their outstanding results for the previous year.  Much of what they emphasized duplicated what Tom had planned to cover in his speech at the luncheon.  But since important topics bear repeating, Tom joked about how his speech would now be 30 seconds and proceeded to share his information with the guests.

After the luncheon, the Alabama Elks presented Tom with a leather motorcycle vest sporting the Elks logo.  Venita received a beautiful set of black and white pearl earrings.  The Alabama State President for Emblem presented Venita with an autographed cookbook from LuLu's titled "Crazy Sista Cooking.”  After lunch, there was a rap session with the GER where Tom answered questions from the floor.

 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of relaxing with our escorts and other state officials upstairs in the suite, overlooking the beautiful Gulf and enjoying the company.  Dinner that evening was at a waterside restaurant called Cobalt.  We all enjoyed excellent ribs, catfish and other assorted foods.

Sunday morning, Ron and Gale took us to breakfast at Hazel's, a hangout for locals.  After breakfast, they dropped us off at the Pensacola airport with a promise to see us in a couple of weeks in Florida.  We both felt that our visit was too short and that we could have stayed much longer.

That being said, we turned out attention to our trip home.  Upon checking with the agent at our gate, we discovered that Houston was completely fogged in and we were not going to make our connection to San Jose.  After working with the United ticket counter, we were able to catch a flight to Atlanta and then on home to San Jose, arriving about an hour and a half after we were originally due in.  Not too bad, all in all, but still a long day.  See?  We should have stayed in Alabama!

WYOMING

WYOMING – COLD TEMPS, WARM RECEPTION, January 11-13

Our trip to Wyoming started out just fine.  We flew out of San Francisco to Denver to make our connection to Worland, the site of the Wyoming Winter Convention.  We met up with State Sponsor PGER Dwayne and Sandy Rumney at the gate for our flight on Great Lakes Airlines.  Our first indication that we were going to have some travel challenges was when they cancelled our flight.  After some discussion, we decided we would take the 1:50 to Sheridan (about two hours from Worland by car) and the folks from Worland would come get us.  Done!  Let’s have lunch.  But Mother Nature was not done with us yet.  Unfortunately, the 1:50 flight was delayed several times due to weather, both in Denver and Wyoming, and did not finally get in the air until about 5:30 pm.  With an outside temperature of -40 degrees, the heater in our little plane did not stand a chance.  I believe it was piloted by about a 13 year-old girl, with a co-pilot that had not yet started shaving.  We launched into some horrific weather which required the plane to be through the de-ice device twice.  That did not take long as the plane was only about 20 feet long with two rows of seven seats each.  But the crew did a great job of plowing on through a very turbulent night with absolutely no visibility.  Nobody barfed but we did get awfully cold. 

Upon arriving in Sheridan, we were warmly greeted by SDGER Mike Pettigrew and 1st Vice President Larry Christy who had made the drive over to pick us up in their 4-wheel-drive vehicles.  After a quick stop for sandwiches, we headed out into the snowy night for the return trip.  It was only then that we discovered that the road between Worland and Sheridan goes over a 9,666 foot pass . . . in the snow.  No snow plows here - these are rugged individualists that reserve snow plows for real weather and not just a foot or two of snow!  Mike and Larry were both excellent drivers and we eventually pulled into our hotel at about 10:30 Friday night.  We thanked them both profusely and headed for bed.  The sun will come out tomorrow!

Saturday morning, Tom headed over to the Worland Elks Lodge #1908 for their conference meetings.  Venita joined several of the ladies for breakfast.  At Noon, they had the Ladies Luncheon at the Lodge and Venita had a chance to hand out her pin and talk to the ladies about our travels and the Elks.  After lunch, we had some time to visit with our friends Charlie and Vera Cole.  Charlie is a PER from Monterey Lodge #1285, now retired and living in Sheridan.

Saturday evening we made a stop and had our photo taken next to a banner that the Elks had erected in the center of downtown Worland.  We then headed for the Lodge for the banquet.  While they normally have a reception for the GER prior to the dinner, we found that the playoff game between the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens was commanding everyone’s attention.  So we sat down, joined in the cheering and considered it time well spent.

Dinner that evening was very nicely done.  Tom spoke with the attendees and shared his vision for the Order.   The Wyoming Elks presented Venita with a beautiful necklace featuring the bronco rider that is the emblem of Wyoming.  Tom received a handsome knife with a bone handle and a stand for display.  But the most treasured gift of all was the 35^th presentation of the “jackalope.”  We know it will have a special place of honor in Tom’s office.

Before the night was finished, Tom handed out the Ritual Competition awards to both the winning state team that will represent Wyoming at Grand Lodge as well as to the teams that had competed in their “DDGER Team Tournament.”  We were tickled to find that our friend Charlie had been ER for his  DDGER team and not only did they win, but he won the award for Most Impressive Exalted Ruler.  Congrats, Charlie, you still have it!

Sunday morning, we walked out of the hotel to a temperature of -13 degrees.  But our gracious hosts were there to make sure we were given warm hugs and a royal send-off.  Thank you for everything, Wyoming Elks.  You made our trip special and we will definitely be back . . . in the summer! 

NEW YEAR'S IN PASADENA

NEW YEAR’S IN PASADENA - Horses, Floats and Football - Oh My!

December 30-January 1

Our visit to Pasadena started Sunday evening, December 30th with a kick-off dinner at the Pasadena Elks Lodge #672.  This beautiful old lodge is situated at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena.  (For those of you who might have watched the Rose Parade, that is the prime corner where all of the bands and floats make the right turn and is a major viewing point for the network television stations.)  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Tom Lang, Exalted Ruler of Pasadena Lodge, PGER Jim and Lucia Grillo and our Administrative Aide Les and Nancy Yeffa.  The lodge was handsomely decorated for Christmas and reminded us of an old colonial mansion.  It was truly beautiful.

Monday morning we headed out to visit one of the float building sites.  We were met by Steve, one of the members of the Tournament of Roses Committee who gave us a personal tour of the floats in his facility.  We were amazed to learn that every surface of every float must be covered with some natural flower, vegetable or plant.  Steve told us that they draw materials from around the world to complete the floats, and the process starts well over a year in advance.  We thoroughly enjoyed this inside look at the floats up close and personal.

After the float tour, we were taken to Santa Anita Race Track for lunch and the horse races.  We were pleased to discover that the third race was dedicated to the Pasadena Elks Lodge and we were escorted trackside to watch the running.  At the end of the race, we were privileged to stand with the winning horse and have our photos taken with the owners.  After finishing our lunch and several more races, we adjourned to the hotel to prepare for the evening celebration.

New Year’s Eve at the Pasadena Elks Lodge was a lovely affair.  It started with drinks and appetizers and was followed by a filet mignon/lobster tail dinner that was delicious.  Many of the guests that evening were skilled ballroom dancers and we enjoyed watching them as they showed off their dance steps.  At 11:00 o’clock, all of the guests joined hands and shared the Eleven O’clock Toast.  Knowing that we would be getting up very early the next morning to come back to the Lodge for the parade, we opted not to wait for the midnight salute and headed for our hotel.  And when the alarm went off at 4:00 am, we were very glad we had!

Aron and Cheryl picked us up at 5:15 and we made our way past crowds of overnight campers to the Lodge parking lot.  After a wonderful breakfast and eye-opening coffee, we found our seats – front row center in the bleachers outside the Pasadena Lodge on Colorado Boulevard.  We could not have had a better vantage point to view the parade!  As the floats, marching bands and horses passed, we marveled at the beauty and pageantry of the Rose Parade.  It was a very special morning.

After an early lunch, we loaded up in the vans and drove over to the Rose Bowl to cheer for our home team, the Stanford Cardinal as they went up against the Wisconsin Badgers.  Since both teams have red as their school color, the crowd was a sea of red everywhere you looked.  While Stanford won the football game, we decided that Wisconsin won the battle of the bands.  It was a memorable event and one we were thrilled to attend.

Our final evening in Pasadena was a quiet dinner at the famous Derby restaurant.  Closely affiliated with the Santa Anita Racetrack, the walls of the restaurant were lined with photos of horses, owners, and jockeys.  We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to spend time with our hosts and escorts recapping our wonderful experience and all of their gracious hospitality.   This will truly be one of the most memorable New Year’s celebrations we will ever have . . . and what a start to 2013!

GLENDALE LODGE - 100th ANNIVERSARY

100th Anniversary of the Glendale Elks Lodge #1289 - December 28th

Friday evening, December 28th, we were privileged to attend the 100th Anniversary celebration for Glendale Elks Lodge #1289, instituted October, 1912.  Celebration Chairman, PSP Hugh Scanlon escorted us to the Lodge where we were met by Exalted Ruler Richard Adams as well as the other officers of the Lodge.  We had the opportunity to view much of their memorabilia, including officer jewels rescued from a fire, various medallions and coins and a rare silver elk sculpture done by Tiffany.

As we entered the dining room, we were greeted by many of our friends and fellow Elks from southern California and we felt very much at home.  The room was beautifully decorated with purple and gold balloons, gold 100th anniversary centerpieces and beautiful etched wine glasses and commemorative coins at each place setting.  Dinner itself was an amazing culinary experience with bacon-wrapped filet mignon and lobster as the main course.  The finishing touches included a champagne toast and flaming Baked Alaska for dessert.  No one went home hungry, to say the least.

PSP Hugh Scanlon recapped some of the history of the Glendale Lodge and the changes they had experienced over their 100 years.  The Mayor of Glendale presented ER Rick with a proclamation for the Lodge on behalf of the City of Glendale.  The County of Los Angeles also presented the Lodge with a commendation for their service to the community.  Finally, Tom presented them with their 100th Anniversary plaque from the Elks and congratulated them on their wonderful history of service to the Order and their members.  As the evening concluded, we thanked Hugh and his committee for their gracious hospitality and commended them on a job well done.  It was a celebration to remember!

HAWAII - OAHU

HAWAII – Oahu, Coming Full Circle, December 11-15

Tuesday morning we all flew from Kona to Honolulu.  Honolulu has special significance for Venita since it is the city where she was born.  We were greeted at the airport by PSP Wayne and Colleen Howard, PDDGER John and Colette Brown, DDGER Chuck Minnick and Exalted Ruler of Pearl City Elks Lodge, Richard Williams.  After gathering the luggage, we headed out for lunch at Sam Choy’s at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham.  DDGER Chuck is a retired submariner and still works as a contractor for the Navy.  Since most of his time was spent at Pearl Harbor, he was a great tour guide and shared his considerable knowledge of the Base.

 

After lunch, we took some time to drive over to Kaneohe Bay and the Marine Corp Station there.  We made a stop to see the church building where the Kailua Lodge #2230 holds their meetings and had a quick tour of the facility.  We then headed for the Sheraton Waikiki to get checked in and unpacked.  Dinner that evening was at the Mariposa Restaurant which is part of the Neiman Marcus store in the Ala Moana Center.  It was a lovely restaurant and the excellent dinner was made even more enjoyable since it was shared with Jim, Lucia, Chuck, Wayne, Richard and his wife, Rachel.

Wednesday morning Chuck took us to the Swap Meet at the Aloha Stadium.  More an artisans’ market than an actual flea market, it was amazing to see the things we brought back even though we didn’t think we needed anything!  Of course, after walking the market we needed lunch.  Chuck obliged by taking us to the Seven Palms Navy-Marine Golf Course followed by a stop at the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Shop for the required souvenir t-shirts.  That evening, we were treated to a reception by the members of Honolulu Elks Lodge #616.  Located at the foot of Diamond Head on Waikiki Beach, the Honolulu Lodge is a beautiful facility and we enjoyed their hospitality very much.  Of special note were the “ER Sliders” named in honor of their Exalted Ruler Robert Kekuna, Jr.  Thanks, Bob!

Thursday started with a tour of the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu.  The official residence of Hawaii’s monarchy, this National Historic Landmark was started in 1879 and was occupied in 1882 by King Kalākaua and his family as well as his sister and successor, Queen Lili‘uokalani.  It is a beautiful building and is the only Palace in the United States.  After our tour, we went to the Honolulu Memorial and Punchbowl National Cemetery where we placed a wreath at the Elks commemorative plaque.  Thursday evening, we had a formal reception and dinner for the Hawaii Elks at the Pearl City Elks Lodge #2669. They presented Venita with a beautiful koa wood box engraved with honu (turtles) and Tom a koa wood clock of the Hawaiian Islands.  They also presented Venita with a necklace and earrings representing the plumeria flower.

Friday morning we went to Ford Island for a tour of the Pacific Air Museum.  We had a wonderful docent and spent several hours wandering through the displays and the hangars that were part of the history of the December 7^th attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

After lunch at the Museum, we went to the Submarine Memorial.  This memorial is dedicated to the 52 submarines and 3,700 submariners who were lost during WWII.  We placed a lei on the plaque commemorating the loss of the U.S.S. Seawolf and then took a tour of the Bowfin, one of the surviving submarines of WWII.  After our tour, we met the officers of the Kailua Elks Lodge #2230 for appetizers and drinks at Schooner's Restaurant at the Marina.  We enjoyed our time with these folks very much and complimented them on all of the hard work they are doing to promote Elkdom in their area.  After leaving our hosts, we boarded a launch and took a night tour of Pearl Harbor. This is a special tour done during the holiday season to show off the lights on the various ships in the harbor.  As the holiday music rang out over Pearl Harbor, we had an up close look at these beautiful light displays.

Our visit to Hawaii ended with lunch at a wonderful sushi restaurant, Ynagi’s courtesy of DDGER Chuck.  We could not have had a more perfect ending to our time in this beautiful state.  Thank you, Hawaii Elks, and aloha!

HAWAII - THE BIG ISLAND

HAWAII – Aloha to The Big Island, December 7-11

We arrived in Kona on Friday, December 7 and were met at the airport by PDDGER and DL Vern Ungerecht and Exalted Ruler of the Kona Lodge, Ron Cole.  We were greeted with beautiful orchid leis and hugs all around.  We then made the short drive to our hotel, the Marriott Kamehameha Beach Hotel which is located right on the ocean in downtown Kona.  That evening, we went out to dinner at the Fish Hopper with PGER Jim and Lucia Grillo, Vern and Ron.

Saturday morning, we got up in time to have coffee and watch the sunrise on the lanai (patio) outside our room.  After breakfast at the hotel, we started out around the southern part of the island headed for Hilo.  Along the way we went through Kona coffee country, old lava flows from Mauna Loa, past the most southern point in the United States and then stopped for a mid-morning snack at the southernmost bakery in the United States, Punalu’u at latitude 19 degrees, 4 minutes north of the Equator.

We arrived at Volcano National Park and went to the Jarvis Observation Site where we could look down into the Kilauea caldera.  At that site, the volcano is quiet, although there were quite a few steam vents that reminded you of the power right below your feet.  After paying our proper respects, we moved on to Hilo.

We arrived at the Hilo Lodge #759 and were greeted by Exalted Ruler Bob Shimamoto and his officers.  After a tour of this beautiful old lodge, we were treated to “puupuus” (appetizers) and some wonderful Hawaiian hula dances by a group of local ladies.  Congratulations to the folks who brought all of the puupuus – they were wonderful!  We also found out that it was ER Bob’s birthday, and we all treated him to a group rendition of “Happy Birthday to you” over birthday cake!

We left the Hilo Lodge to return to Kona over the Saddle Road that cuts through Hawaii between its two volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  This road has been expanded and resurfaced in recent years and made our trip home scenic and enjoyable.  We joined Jim and Lucia for a casual dinner at a local restaurant, Boston Basil’s, before falling into bed after a very full day.

Sunday morning we attended Mass at a local church, St. Michael’s.  Their venue, however, was a little unusual.  Their physical church is located one block from our hotel.  However, this old historic church had been so damaged during the Japan tsunami that they had to tear it down and are rebuilding.  So Mass was held under a massive tent a couple of miles north of town.

In the late morning, we were all picked up and after a stop to pick up some Spam sushi to share with everyone drove north along the Kona coast to Anaehoomalu or as it is known locally, “A” Beach.  “A” Beach is where we were married during Thanksgiving ten years ago.  We took a few minutes to recreate our “wedding” picture while we were there, followed by lunch at a new restaurant right on the beach, the Lava Lava Club.  Late that afternoon, we went to the Kona Elks Lodge #2616 for drinks and appetizers with their officers and members.  The Kona Elks Lodge has expanded their facility and it is now almost twice the size it was when we were there ten years ago.  We had a wonderful time with they and thoroughly enjoyed seeing what they had done in recent years.

Monday morning we toured the northern end of the Big Island.  We made a stop at Pu’ukohola Heiau National Park where King Kamehameha dedicated a temple.  It was at this site that he eliminated a chief rival, the King of Maui by inviting him to visit the temple dedication and then sacrificing him during the ceremony.

We then drove on up to Hawi where one of the two original King Kamehameha statutes stands.  After stopping for some shopping, we continued to the end of the road where we could look out over the beautiful valleys of the north end of the Big Island.  After backtracking a little, we turned east to the town of Wilea and lunch at Merriman’s restaurant.  After an excellent lunch featuring local produce and cuisine, we returned to Kona knowing that we had truly seen the best the Big Island had to offer.

Monday evening, we were able to make contact with two old friends from the Mainland, PER Claude and Joanne Barnett from Monterey.  After drinks at the hotel, we walked across the street to Quinn’s Almost By-The-Sea restaurant where we all had some of the best fish and chips ever.  It was a wonderful conclusion to the first part of our stay in the beautiful state of Hawaii.