Hawaii ... Day 7 ... Kailua- Kona

Day 7 ... Friday
February 28, 2014

Friday was our final day in Hawaii. I had had a wonderful time but I missed my babies & my husband terribly & was ready to get home & see them!

I wanted to go to the beach one more time before leaving though & so that's how we started our day! A friend of Susan's had told her that the prettiest beach on the island was the one at the Mauna Kia Resort, which was just a couple of miles north of where we were staying. So we decided to go there. And it really was a beautiful beach!
(But I still think Hapuna Beach is the best!)

We spent about 45 minutes at the beach & then we had to head back to the condo to finish packing & check out.

We had about 5 hours between check out & when we had to be at the airport, so we decided to spend the day in Kailua-Kona, which is a town just south of the airport.

 The first thing we did in Kailua-Kona was eat lunch at a place called Splashers Grill. The restaurant had a great view of the harbor

and the food was delicious! 

I had a teriyaki burger with pineapple on it & the biggest onion rings ever!

And after lunch, we found a great Hawaiian shaved ice place.

Not only did this shaved ice have the Tahitian vanilla ice cream in it like my last one, but it also had sweetened condensed milk on top. It might sound gross, but it's not, it's delicious!

We took our shaved ices over to a little park on the boardwalk & sat & ate them while looking at the water.

Here's a view of the park.

And another one.

After we finished our shaved ices, we walked around the boardwalk & shopped. There were lots of little touristy mom & pop stores & of course there were a couple of the infamous ABC stores!

Before we knew it, it was time to leave the boardwalk & make our way towards the airport. We did stop at a few places along the way though, at the Salvation Army & at the Kona Hawaii Temple.

We arrived at the airport around 3pm, turned in the rental car & then said goodbye to the Big Island of Hawaii & this wonderful vacation as we hopped aboard our Hawaiian Airlines flight back to Oahu.

I watched the island disappear as we ascended into & then above the clouds. And then as I looked back one last time, I spotted the peak of Mauna Loa looming there above the clouds! How awesome is that!

Our flight back to Houston was pretty awful. When we got to the Honolulu airport we found out that it had been delayed by 3 hours. (And it really ended up being more like 4!) But we survived & made it home & even though the flight was terrible, the vacation all but made up for it! 

I'm so happy that I was able to go on this trip. Not only was it to one of the most amazing places on Earth but it was with 3 of the most amazing women on Earth & it was so nice to get to spend this time with them! I love you ladies! Let's do it again sometime. And by sometime, I mean soon!