She covered a wide variety of songs at Boston Basils—mostly jazz standards, plus a little Aretha Franklin to get the audience and crowds of people on the sidewalk of Alii Drive excited! Keep your eyes open, we think she may be making a comeback in Japan sometime soon…

Oh, and we enjoyed our orders of lasagna and cheese ravioli, although another one of the other guests at our table, thought her spaghetti was a little over-cooked. The atmosphere of the live music was fantastic, the open air lounge upstairs had a great view of the water, and overall our visit there made life a little bit more fun. Cheers!

Our family on the mainland can’t imagine any reason for buying a $16 hamburger, but they haven’t been to the Hale Kai, or the Ocean Grill Restaurant at the Mauna Lani (which is our usual favorite spot for a burger along the coast). It’s all about the atmosphere. The resorts provide such gorgeous surroundings, and having dinner while the sun sets over the ocean with palm trees swaying all around you makes you feel like royalty, and this makes life a little bit more fun.

That leads us to the food. We shared two different meals because we both wanted a little bit of each. First up was the Longboard Ale Battered Snapper which came with Preserved Papaya and Lemon Tartar Sauce, Green Papaya Coleslaw and French Fries. The second meal we shared was the Hale Kai Da Kine Surfer Burger which was “Grilled Ground Sirloin Topped with Cheddar Cheese, Sundried Tomato Aioli, Smoked Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion on an Onion Parmesan Kaiser” and was also served with Papaya Coleslaw and French Fries.

Did I mention that it was really windy? That comes into play a bit here as it cooled down the fish considerably before I could fully enjoy it. It was tasty, but I would have preferred a little more crispness to the batter, as it all seemed a little soggy by the time I ate it. The coleslaw (very unique) and french fries however were excellent. And the burger was fantastic; cooked perfectly, really tasty bun, and the sundried tomato aioli—yummy! We were really pleased with the service, although there was quite a waiting list by 6:30pm, so get there early if you want to eat during the sunset.

If you are a Hawaii resident, don’t forget to show your license for 10% off your bill. The reason they even offered for us was because Jim pronounced the “Hale Kai Da Kine” so well! If you are not staying in the resort you’ll also want to get  your parking validated by the valet (keep your receipt) to avoid the $17 parking fee that they recently instituted.

She didn’t stop there. Trisha took us to swim with the dolphins in Kealakekua Bay, to explore caves at Hapuna Beach, to jump off cliffs along the coastline in front of our home, and she gave me surfing lessons. She made “fun” a permanent and essential part of our day, and we certainly have her to thank for reminding us of all the simple things you can do to make life a little bit more fun.

Pardon the sand, but Trisha was encouraging me to so somersaults on the beach!

Trisha has left the islands on an adventure and I wanted to give her mission a plug. She is spending this year traveling the globe with an intention of volunteerism, fundraising for charitable causes, and spreading love and joy. Her travels will take her to Guam, India, the Middle East, Spain and Western Europe, and the United States.

Check out her blog, follow her travels, and join her band of 25,000 optimists—I just did—by donating one dollar at http://trishapatton.com/. Long live optimism, volunteerism, and fun!

As part of our anniversary getaway to the south of Kona, we decided to tour a coffee farm. It was time to fuel my coffee addiction a little more by gaining a true appreciation of how that little bean gets into my cup every morning. We chose Greenwell Farms, because our trusty travel bible The Big Island Revealed said good things about them and we were so pleased that we did.

We were essentially the only visitors when we arrived, so we go a private tour of the farm— tours are free by the way, although we would recommend giving a nice donation. Our guide was well informed, passionate about the process of growing coffee, and very enthusiastic about having us touch every stage of the coffee “cherry” or “bean”. I learned so much about coffee! (And being well-informed about the things you love can make life a little bit more fun.)

I wish I had taken a few notes, but my basic understanding is that Greenwell Farms has been doing this for a LONG time (mid 1800′s) and that they were one of the first (if not the first) farm to begin exporting coffee to Europe and the Americas. It was founded by Henry Nicholas Greenwell and his wife Elizabeth Caroline. The farm is located on the Hawaii Belt Highway (State Highway 11) between mile marker 112 and 111 (oceanside). For more info, you might want to visit their web site at http://www.greenwellfarms.com/

I don’t know what it is about their coffee, but it far surpasses any other coffee that we’ve had across the islands. Perhaps it is the heart-shaped foam. Perhaps it is because we are always on vacation when we have it, since we have to fly to Oahu to partake.  Perhaps it is because the farmers they buy the coffee from hand deliver it to them in the mornings. I don’t know if that’s a fact across the board, but on one of the mornings that we were there, Jim was nearly run over by one of the coffee farmers bringing in his delivery. The tub that he was carrying the coffee in, caught Jim’s arm and cut it open. It was an accident of course, but if we hadn’t already been so well caffeinated we might have pressed for a free coffee.

On the occasion when this photo was taken (isn’t it a cool photo?) we were at the Waikiki location next to the Moana Surfrider Resort. This is simply our favorite Honolulu Coffee Company location. Get your coffee in a ceramic mug, take a seat by the window, and watch the morning scene in Honolulu—it’s fascinating. I am a relatively new convert to drinking coffee—I used to chastise my husband for doing so—but I must say that coffee definitely makes life a little bit more fun, and so does the Honolulu Coffee Company.

As a side-note, I did get kicked off one time at the Mauna Kea years ago on a really windy day where there were no tourists whatsoever on the beach, just me and their nice comfortable recliners. Lying on the beach kicked up so much sand in my mouth and eyes that I thought maybe they would be gracious with me and allow me to stay on the chair, but to my horror the man with the orange shorts came along, asked me to get off the chair, so I stood up and sat back down one foot from the chair on the sand, while ALL of the other chairs were lined up on the beach without any occupants. Can you say, “second-class citizen”? Yeah, I know, I didn’t pay to stay at the hotel, but how about a little sympathy for the sand in my eyes?

We parked in a new spot, which allowed us to scope out the park on the coast, which turns out to be a stellar place for a picnic with picnic tables or even a BBQ as they have grills. The spot is just south of Puako, so there is tons of coral there which makes for a neat (albeit rocky) coastline, and great snorkeling. We’ll give the BBQ thing a shot and let you know how it works. Incidentally our good friends Kelly and Scott got married on this beach December 2007.

Anyway, as we walked along the coast in front of the Fairmont Orchid on our adventure today, I discovered a new favorite spot on the island. It was beneath a shade tree on a grassy patch north of the resort overlooking the waves. We saw a honu (sea turtle) from our perch, and then took a relaxing nap on the grass. I think Jim got bitten by ants, but I soaked the whole thing up, excited to find not only green grass but a patch of shade to escape the sun. Sometimes the little escapes are what matter, especially when all you really need is a nap.

I learned a very important lesson from doing somersaults on the beach- they are fun! And it’s really not all that bad to be covered everywhere with sand, even when it’s all around your eyes and mouth.  As painful as it is to look at someone who has sand all over, because you are assuming they are miserable, you don’t even notice the sand when you’re the one who is covered. Of course I was scraping sand out of my long hair for days, but I’d say it was well worth it.

We should clue in a little more to the things that kids do that make us say “They’re crazy”, and instead give them a try.

The cool refreshing water was the prize for all that work and we enjoyed splashing around and climbing behind the waterfall (where you could hardly open your eyes because of the water pouring down all around you).

A while back we were crossing a different river on a different island and our friend Matt lost his flip-flop (slippah) in the current, and he wasn’t fast enough to catch it. He decided to keep hiking in his bare-feet and I remember thinking how crazy he was. But today my sandals were so wet and slippery from the mud they had accumulated that I thought I would try out the bare-foot thing and see if it I could endure.

The entire hike back (about 45 minutes) I hiked without any shoes and it was actually easier to walk without them because my toes could grip the earth. Not only that but the ground on this trail was soft and soothing on my feet. I loved it! I don’t think I’ll be hiking across any lava fields like the ancient Hawaiians did, but I’m quite pleased with my bare-footed hike.