Reminders:
- 9 days left until Christmas – check out my gift recommendations.
- Don’t forget about the contest! Share your memories of The Real Aloha Airlines for your chance to win a $10 Starbucks gift card. Contest ends December 18th at 6 pm.
And for the Main Attraction:
As regular readers know, I went to Hilo on Friday, a personal trip just to visit friends and get some goodies. So as I’ve done with Kona and Maui, I’d like to share some of my recommendations. You know I love food, so I will definitely share those. But Hilo is a little different in that I also like to shop there, so I will have some other recommendations as well.
PLACES TO EAT
- Ken’s House of Pancakes (1730 Kamehameha Ave.): To me, no trip to Hilo is complete without a trip to Ken’s. I personally love their macadamia nut or banana pancakes. If you can’t decide between the two, they’ll combine them into a banana macadamia nut pancake. And try some of the three syrups they bring to you: coconut, lilikoi (passionfruit), and guava.
- Big Island Candies (585 Hinano St.): They’ll give you a free sample and coffee, but you’ll definitely want to pick-up some of their famous macadamia nut shortbread cookies. My personal favorite are the chocolate dipped ones. But they have all sorts of sizes and assortments to fit your budget and tastes. Great feature: they have a special carrier box that makes it easy to take your goodies on the plane. And don’t forget to watch as they make, bake, and hand-dip the cookies and other treats right behind a glass case for all to see. Full disclosure: my friend. another Emeritus Regent, is the owner – but I loved them well before I knew him personally!
- Two Ladies Kitchen (274 Kilauea Ave.): Strawberry mochi! That’s all you need to know. It’s a whole strawberry, with a little sweet bean filling around it, and wrapped in sweet rice. They have some funky days of operation, so you might want to make sure they are open on the day you go. And I’m putting it on this list because everyone else I know loves the strawberry mochi. It’s not my favorite thing, but it’s still a pretty good treat – and everyone else can’t be wrong/
- Cafe 100 (969 Kilauea Ave): Get the loco moco, or any variation of it. I once had a whole meal of fried rice, meats, fruit, and a drink – all for under five bucks.
- Cafe Pesto (308 Kamehameha Ave): This is where I go for a “classier” joint. An Italian restaurant, it also has some great seafood selections. And lots of people love their build-your-own pizza.
THINGS TO DO
- Sig Zane (122 Kamehameha Ave.): Now this is my favorite place to go in Hilo. I love, love, love Sig Zane shirts! I’ve probably got 20 or more! And they aren’t cheap, but they are distinctive. Sig embodies the “island elegant” attire that is required at the Hawaii-based inaugural ball that will be held in Honolulu. While he is Chinese, he is the son-in-law of Aunty Edith Kanakaole and his son Kuhao also helps out with the business and creative side. They are a favorite of musicians and hula halau alike.
- Na Makua (107 Waianuenue Ave.): A father-son duo are the designers behind this more casual design outfit. Their claim to fame is that they have designed the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival posters for the last several years.
- Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii (600 `Imiloa Place): After years of wanting to go, I finally did. And I should have done this a long time ago. It’s especially good for someone visiting Hilo for the first time or out-of-town guests, but locals will love it, too. They have discounts for UH students, so take your ID if you are one.
- Visit the Edith Kanakaole Multi-Purpose Stadium best known as the site of the annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. My cousin really loved checking it out. One of the things that surprises most people is how small it is in real life; it looks much larger on TV. So this does explain why tickets to the festival are always at a premium.
Hope you’ll stop by some of these places on your next or first trip to Hilo.
Mahalo!
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