Day 8 - Our last full day on the Big Island

We started our day at Rainbow Falls. It lives up to its name and it is the first time on this trip that we've actually seen a rainbow. We've had plenty of rain but no rainbows.

Since we were in Hilo, we decided to take in the Lyman Museum. We got a parking space right in front of the museum and as soon as we stepped out of our car we were struck by a strong sweet scent that made us both hungry. Obviously there was a bakery nearby and now we wanted to visit it more than the museum. We went into the museum and asked if they knew what we were smelling. The clerk did not seem at all surprised by our question. She must get it all the time. Thankfully, she knew the source of the divine scent -- eclair bakery. To our complete amusement, she knew the bakery was on Waianaeue Street but when I asked her how to spell the bakery's name she said, "I have no idea." For a brief bit I thought the Hawaiians might find our language as daunting as we haoles consider their language. We used great restraint and took a tour of Lyman House before hunting down the bakery. It is actually called "E-Claire's Bakery" -- a clever name but tricky to spell for almost anyone. Claire told us that we must have smelled the baklava they were making for a wedding. We shared a piece and bought an eclair as well. They were both so good I don't know which I liked better. The baklava was made with a twist -- mac nuts, cloves and lemon. Good stuff! Claire recommended Naung Mai Thai for lunch so we followed her advice and had a very authentic meal. Mother said it tasted like nothing she's ever had before and ate nearly every bite. It was a fine meal but we agreed that we don't really have authentic taste buds.

After lunch and the museum we had a decision to make: Mauna Kea or black sand beaches. I really wanted to go star gazing at Mauna Kea but when we were in Waimea it was 20 degrees and there was hail on the mountain top so we skipped it. When we got to Hilo, it was rainy and cloudy all night long so we skipped it. Tonight was our last opportunity. I really debated about which to do then decided that this is Hawaii and I can see stars anywhere but black sand beaches are rare. We headed down to Hakuma Point and took Kaimu-Kapoho Road all the way to Kapoho Point. I was hoping to snorkel but there was a severe surf warning and the waves were thrashing the shoreline. We watched from afar. Even though we swore off Mexican food we found ourselves at Luquin's in Pahoa where we shared nachos for dinner. I would have tried a lilikoi margarita but our waitress had disappeared.


Mother's Highlight: I enjoyed touring the missionaries' house, the Lyman House. The guide was very good.

Julia's Highlight: When we first got back to our B&B I would have said my highlight was the amazing beach views along Kea'au-Pahoa Bypass; however, after I showered I drove up to the caldera to see if there was any lava glow. It was hard to focus on the smoldering volcano because I was so distracted by all the stars. For a brief second I wished I'd gone to Mauna Kea but then I thought about how it is 55 degrees by the Kilauea volcano which is close to 4,000 feet in elevation. It would have been COLD on Mauna Kea which is 13,500 feet up. No regrets -- I saw amazing beaches, old hardened lava flows AND more stars than I've ever seen before.