Day Two - Paniolo Country

Today we got up around 7 and had our breakfast at the Waters Edge Ballroom on the Aloha passport again. Afterward, we visited the towns of Waimea and Kamuela, Hawaii.

These towns are practically on top of each other about a half hour inland from the Hilton Waikoloa. Kamuela is the site of the historical Parker Ranch which is still a working cattle ranch. Paniolos, or Hawaiian Cowboys, were actually the "original cowboys" predating the "Wild West" of the mainland. This ranch has beef cows and is situated on the hills of Waimea and Kamuela.

The town of Waimea  is also home to a bunch of galleries and wonderful local-craft stores. We hit up a few stores and bought a lot of beautiful things to add to, well - MY,  house :)

We ate lunch at the Paniolo Country Inn which serves locally-grown beef hamburgers and wonderful fresh caught fish. This restaurant was one we frequented on our previous trips, and it was still great! I had a cheese burger, and Andrew had a Mahi Mahi fish sandwich and Baba had a burger as well. Even the ranch dressing was home-made! :)

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. Baba wanted to watch the Packer game - which I won't go into details on, I'm sure those of you who care have already heard the bad news... and Andrew and I went to the Lagoon again to play more water sports. We rented a two person kayak again and had a lovely hour rowing around the Lagoon. Andrew did most of the rowing... :) We saw another Green Sea Turtle, a lot of Malolo, and even an eel. After seeing the eel, I kept my hands and feet inside the kayak at all times, but all in all it was an enjoyable afternoon.

For dinner this evening, Andrew and I ate at the Boat Landing Pavilion which is right in our tower. Good food and free Mai Tais (with the Aloha Passport) cannot be beat!

Now, it is time to pack our day-trip bag for tomorrow we WHALE WATCH!!! I am really looking forward to this, as I've never seen a whale and I cannot let C.T.  and the crew of the Mimi have all the fun! :) (If you need help with that great reference, let me know :) )

Aloha!