A nice way to kick off our sojourn on Hawai'i. At the diminutive open-air Kona Airport, I waited outside the single set of glass doors for Red to come through them. My smartphone told me that her flight on Alaska from Portland was a bit late. There had been "weird winds" (as Red's pilot announced) over the eastern Pacific, against the normal direction of the Trade Winds.
The contrarian winds were due to an abnormal Low north of the Hawaiian Islands, abnormal in that it was both very large and had been sitting in place in the open ocean for days without moving eastward. It was camped south of the Aleutians all the time I was on Oahu, and was forcing the Jet Stream in a kink far the south. This hand the effect of sending a strong belt of bumpy air and clouds from south of Hawai'i up towards the West Coast. I'd been tracking the satellite of it for several days, having been alerted to it while I was still in Oakland by a youtuber that I follow.
While waiting for her (my flight from Honolulu having arrived about a hour before), I bought a couple live flower leis from the booth-sized florist outside the security doors. Later I told Red that I'd grown up assuming that everyone who flies to Hawaii gets such welcoming treatment on the tarmac.
After picking up our rental, we drove straight into Kona, but it was a bit early to check in, so we had lunch at an open air restaurant right along the water---Humpy's. I amused Red by imitating the gravel-voiced announced on Bar Rescue, while talking about the bar. We both agreed that Humpy's (the logo was a whale) actually worked as is, and was in no need of renovation.
The Marriot was a nice place---one could tell from the lobby. At the check-in, the clerk barely had to twist my arm much to get me to upgrade to a room with a partial ocean view. I was in mood to be open to such suggestions, and the upgrade was barely a fraction of the room price.
The room was in the fifth floor of the East Tower. Upon exiting one could smell fresh paint, the way in smells in an old apartment building, as if it is straining to cover up many previous coats. The carpets were nicely room. The room had a period feel from the 1970s but with more recent fixtures and decor. I liked the feeling of, especially outside looking at the cove. It made me feel like Jack Lord standing on the balcony at the beginning of Hawaii Five-O.
The cove happens to be the location of a one-time residence of Kamehameha after his conquest of the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. In recent years the state created a history park there. They built a recreation of a small temple of worship based on descriptions of missionaries. It's now a quaint little "living history" experience, and the site of resort-sponsored luaus on the patio nearby. We enjoyed the sounds of one such event from afar through the warm night air as we lounged in our room with the patio doors open.
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