Hawai'i Pt. 3 - Fish Poop, A Place Of Refuge, And Green Sand

Day 6: Connor and I left Kona and started our drive towards Volcano. On the way the way we stopped by a well known snorkeling place called Two Step. We heard that there are sometimes turtles there. We saw one on the shore later, but not in the water. We did however see a bunch of fish, including the Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, or the Reef Triggerfish, which is Hawai'i's state fish. I noted to Connor that the Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa is probably personally responsible for Hawai'i's beaches. It seemed the with every swish of its tail, it let out a sandy poop. Who knows how many other beaches are created with not just erosion, but with fish poop.

You can't snorkel in Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau (pictured), but just to the right of it is a different road that leads to Two Step

Two Step was right by our next destination: Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau. This national historic park is the last place of refuge that is possible to see in Hawai'i. By the old laws, if you broke kapu (or the law), you could be killed unless you managed to make it to a place of refuge to have your sins absolved.

We strolled around the royal grounds and place of refuge while following the self guided tour. It was a pleasant way to start the day.

From Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau, we headed even more south. Using our guidebook, we reached the true southernmost point of the USA. Just two years ago we had reached the southernmost point in the continental USA. Unlike that point in Florida, there was no marker. We got a compass out and consulted the book to find the right spot. (Probably)

The fishing is good off of the southern point, but the currents are quite strong. Nearby there was a hole cut into the cliff where ancient Hawaiians once tied their boats to prevent from being swept all the way to Antarctica.

We found the hole just to the right of the boat launch by the cliff

From there we headed to Papakōlea, or the green sand beach. You can get to a parking lot, but the actual road (if you want to call it that) is so terrible, it is better to either hike it or hire a local to drive you out to it with their 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle. I had read an overwhelming number of reviews encouraging hiring a local as even the trail is pretty rough. We weren't sure how easy it would be to get a ride, but we had hardly parked when a man asked us if we wanted a ride. Yes we did! It was $15/ a person, but it was money well spent. He said he'd been doing this for 7 years. We wondered how many trucks he had gone through.

There are a maze of roads to the green sand beach. This was the only flat section. The rest of it was full of deep grooves and terrifying angles.

After a dusty ride, we made it to the beach. It is indeed green! There are olivine crystals that have been eroding from a nearby cliff into the beach.

After getting a few pictures, Connor rushed into the water. I told him I didn't want to get in. While trying to convince me to join him, he told me he hoped he made it look fun. I told him he made it look funny. He frolicked for a bit before shouting out, "Look! A Turtle." Nothing can get me into the water faster than seeing a turtle. He wasn't lying, there was indeed a turtle. It didn't stick around too long. I was wet by then, so we body surfed a bit before going back.

We only stayed about 50 minutes because our driver waited for us before taking us back. The group of us who were shuttled collectively agreed on the time.

On the way back, Iwaya (I'm sure I have butchered his name), took us to a smaller, greener, beach.

Many of the rock in the area have larger olivine crystals embedded in them

We got some pictures before heading back to the parking lot. It was getting late, so Connor and I stopped by Hana Hou Restaurant in Naalehu before finishing the drive to Aloha Happy Place in Volcano.

In The Florida Keys - Pt.1

A strange sequence of events lead me to visiting Florida and the Florida Keys last week. Connor and I had planned to go to the Keys for our honeymoon. (It was a place full of vacation memories for him that he wanted to share with me.) It ended up being too overwhelming to plan around wedding, so we started looking into what it would take to go at our 1 year anniversary. But after learning that: 

1. He had previously gone only in May or August, which would guarantee warm water

2. His family was going to be there this August 

3. I had promised to see his family again sometime this year (Which would have been to Kentucky)

I told Connor, "I have this crazy idea."

The beginning of the trip was full of issues. (I've just deleted my long rant about what happened, but Expedia's customer service is non existent and we won't be using the service again. We felt taken advantage of and lied to. Jet Blue, however, was awesome even though it wasn't their problem to fix. We will be using them again.) We took a red eye out and upon landing I got teary and said, "I want to go home." Connor took me to a breakfast place at Miami Beach and my attitude improved. Then we walked out and I touched the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. I had never seen the Atlantic before and I was skeptical that an ocean even could be warm. I wanted to stay in it.

A wave hit my leg and went up underneath my shorts. But it was a warm wave, so I was ok with it.

From Miami Beach, we drove to the Everglades and took a fan boat tour at Buffalo Tiger's. Buffalo Tiger was the chief and as such, this tour company has more rights as to how deep into the Everglades they can go. He passed away this year at the age of 95, but we were told he was one of the last to be born on the tree filled islands that are in the everglades.
Our tour was 30 mins as opposed to the usual 60 mins due to low water, but that was more than enough for me. Our guide was wonderful. He also was able to give a demonstration with one of the male gators that swam out to meet us.

He told us he was keeping an eye on this guy's tail because the tail would tell him about the gator's intentions

We drove to Big Cypress before doubling back and going to the Biscayne visitor center. It had close a few minutes before we arrived. Luckily we weren't far from our hotel in Homestead. We popped out to a Cuban restaurant two doors down and Connor asked the waitress what she recommended. Connor likes fish, but he wasn't expecting to have it still look like one. I got a steak. It didn't still look like a cow.

How will I eat this?

The next day we got up bright and early and headed back to the Biscayne visitor center to grab a patch and walk around. It was beautiful out there, but most of the park can only be accessed by boat. I hope we get to visit there again in the future.
Much of this day was spent in the car as we took the Overseas Highway to Key West. We got caught in some traffic though, so we started singing silly songs to the tune of the Beach Boy's "Kokomo." My favorite was:

In the Florida Keys

There's a place we'd like to go

But the traffic's really slow

It's not moving at all

7 mile bridge towards Marathon Key

We skipped a bunch of what we had planned to see on our way down in order to get catch a late tour at the Hemingway House. It was worth it. Our guide was informative and entertaining. The house is full of cats descended from Hemingway's polydactyl cat. All of them have the gene, but only about half have the extra toes. Our guide also had a pocket full of cat treats, so some of the less shy cats followed us around. He also let every lady on the tour feed the cats, much to Connor's disappointment.

Me: "If you want to feed that cat, ask him for a treat." Connor: "I don't want to break the tradition."

After the tour we walked all around Key West. First we got me fitted for a snorkel mask. I had never been snorkeling and would be trying for the first time the next day. We decided that it was worth the investment because the best way to ruin a snorkel experience is to have an ill-fitted, leaky mask. As we passed by Key Lime Pie Co. Connor insisted on going in. I am not a pie person, but I was more game after I saw that they had a gluten free version. (Being gluten free is pretty trendy these days. I, unfortunately, am not doing it to be trendy....) The pie was amazing. After my first bite, I said, "Oh no!" then preceded to consume the rest of the pie in an unladylike fashion.

They marked by pie with extra whipped cream so we wouldn't mix the two slices up

We wandered around a bit while looking for a few more landmarks. Here is mile marker 0 at the beginning of US Route 1. (Not to be confused with California's Highway 1.)

Then we waited in an enormous line to take a picture by the Southernmost point in the continental USA. I have to admit, I'm a big fan of cheesy tourist destinations. 

After the picture, went to a nearby cafe that touted itself as the "Southermost" and watched the sunset while eating tasty seafood. After filling ourselves to the brim, we waddled back to the inn and passed out.
(A big shoutout to Chris at the Cabana Inn. He prepared us a breakfast to take to our room because we were going to leave before breakfast was served the next day.)