The Harbor House restaurant sits on the shore next to Honokohau Harbor in Kailua Kona. The restaurant is open to the outdoors and has a wall of mirrors behind the serving counter. This is one reflection I saw in that wall.
Abstracts: Reflections
Tag Archives: Kailua Kona
I’m a Celebrity
One doesn’t have to make much effort to see whether a cruise ship is in town. It’s impossible to miss. The ship dwarfs the downtown buildings.
I’m used to seeing a cruise ship at Kailua Kona on Wednesdays, but this was a Sunday so it took me a bit by surprise. The Wednesday ships are operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines. This one was the Celebrity Eclipse operated by Celebrity Cruises. The ‘X’ on the funnel and stern is the company logo, don’t ask me ‘Y.’
Signs: Gone fishin’ and divin’ and …
Honokohau Harbor, on the north end of Kailua Kona, is home to a good number of small boats, many of which are used for a variety of tour activities from deep sea fishing to whale watching, to snorkeling. Signs on shore advertise what tours are available on the different boats.
In addition, smaller boats are trailered in and out each day, and launched on one of the two boat ramps at the harbor.
Signs: Kona Brewing
Kona Brewing is a local brewery, founded in 1994. They’ve changed hands a couple of times since then, most recently being hived off to PV Brewing Partners by previous owners, Craft Brew Alliance, so that entity could be swallowed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch. PV Brewing Partners is based in Kansas City, which is probably not the first place to spring to mind when thinking of white sand beaches and surfing.
But never mind. The point is that their beer is pretty good and their Castaway IPA is generally my beer of choice when I’m out and about, which isn’t often. And, like all beer companies, they have neon signs which they distribute to stores, bars, and restaurants. These are a couple of the signs.
I prefer the top one. When I look at the red and green one, I always think the creature is an alligator, something to do with the head being the wrong shape and the lack of toes. In the top version, the gecko is more recognizable and the addition of the islands makes it a winner with me!
Signs: Corona
One of the many neon signs at the Harbor House Restaurant located at Honokohau Marina just north of Kailua Kona.
Posted in response to Becky’s July Squares challenge theme of ‘Trees.’ See more responses here.
Surfing at Pine Trees
Pine Trees is a popular surf break north of Kailua Kona. In these photos, a pair of surfers head out, another surfer rides a wave, and a surfer coasts back to shore.
Posted in response to Becky’s July Squares challenge theme of ‘Trees.’ See more responses here.
Cool bus
I wasn’t paying too much attention to this vehicle as I drove behind it in Kailua Kona. It had typical school bus shape, colors, and lettering, a bit rougher looking than most perhaps, but then some are. But it finally dawned on me that the lettering wasn’t in poor shape; it was deliberate. That’s when I looked closer and saw what was in the back windows.
A converted school bus, someone’s RV or mobile home, and not that cool to be honest.
Before and after
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘In Transit.’ See more responses here.
Here in Hawaii, tourism is our number one industry. In normal years, more than 30,000 visitors arrive in Hawaii every day. Currently, the number of daily arrivals is around 1,500. In this topsy-turvy world that precipitous decline is a good thing.
In the U.S., states don’t have the authority to regulate flights; that’s a federal matter. But Hawaii was able to require that people arriving in the state had to quarantine for 14 days. This effectively killed tourism. Why visit Hawaii for two weeks if you have to spend every day of that visit confined to your hotel room? This 14-day quarantine even applied to inter-island travel. Because of these restrictions, Hawaii has had a very low infection rate and very few deaths. Here on the Big Island, there have been less than 100 cases and zero deaths. Next week, the inter-island quarantine requirement will be lifted, but it will be retained until at least the end of July for visitors from out of state and abroad.
So the reason for the similar-looking photos? The top one is from a previous year and shows one of a procession of planes landing at Kona airport. The photo below shows a recent photo of a plane flying overhead, which was noteworthy because it was unusual. The planes aren’t there. The skies are quiet. Currently, the daily number of passenger flights arriving at Kona airport can be counted on one hand. The number of visitors is in the 20s or 30s. When and if those numbers return to previous levels is anybody’s guess.
Graham's Island 