Escape to Extraordinary! » Everything Else

The Best Places to Relax on the Big Island

admin — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:34:41 +0000

This category was suggested by Sue Kellam who recommended:

“Old Airport for picnic lunch, Manini Beach, Pahoehoe Park”.

So let us know your favorite spots–don’t be shy!

CAK

Best places to eat

admin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:02:10 +0000

In this blog, list your favorite meal or place to eat on the Big Island of Hawaii. Click on the numbered tab on the left of this blog to add your comment.

Click on this link for a list of our favorites: Big Island Ono Grinz.

We have recently enjoyed the Macaroni Grill and Splasher’s.

The newly opened Romano’s Macaroni Grill is located in the new Queens’ Marketplace at Waikoloa Beach Resort. We’ve been there twice already and the food’s great! They opened November 24th and have been very busy, catering to families as well as couples.

If you love a good burger (and, be honest, who doesn’t really?) be sure to try Splasher’s, located near the pier on Ali’i Drive in Kailua-Kona. It’s not fancy, but the food is really good and the service friendly. Be sure to go early during your stay here because I guarantee you’ll want to go back!

Kona Coffee

admin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:33:28 +0000

We live on a coffee farm in Makalei Estates in the north Kona district. In 2008, we’ve already picked over 25,000 pounds of cherry on two acres and are in the process of roasting it for sale. We feel that our farm produces the best coffee in all of Kona (of course, ALL of the farmers feel that way, but our cherry certainly looks the best!).

Most of the world-renowned coffee grown in the Kona district comes from 2-3 acre farms such as ours. The farmers usually take the freshly picked coffee cherry (within 24 hours) to a nearby processing plant where the cherry is sold. In 2008, the going price paid per pound of cherry was $1.10. Deducted from this is the cost of picking labor ($0.45 to 0.60 per pound), fertilizer (as much as $35 per bag x 45 bags total for us this year!), weed killer, and pruning costs. To keep some or all of the coffee ourselves, we pay a processing fee of $0.35 per pound. So, it’s not really a money making operation. (At least I still have a day job!). “Estate Grown” coffee refers to farms who sell only coffee that they have grown and processed. Typically, we get about 1 pound of roasted coffee for every 7-8 pounds of cherry picked.

Our Coffee Label

2008 Coffee Cherry