Coconut Syrup!

Coconut Syrup!
Originally uploaded by Prairie Brown

Here's the first batch of Hawaii pictures! You'll notice that I didn't take any pictures while we were at the resort. It just wasn't our sort of thing. The morning after the wedding, we went to the Kona airport to drop my dad off so he could head home. After that, we were faced with the decision to go back to the resort to eat breakfast at the huge buffet (for $30 per person) or to explore Kona a bit and find someplace for breakfast there. We chose to explore, thinking we'd eventually find a Denny's and get a reasonably priced breakfast.

We drove around for a while without any luck. Then, by random chance, while we were in an industrial park looking for a place to turn around, we saw a sign for the Blue Sky Cafe. Since we were hungry and sort of lost, we decided to give it a try. When we pulled up in front of the tiny restaurant surrounded by warehouses, we almost didn't go in. It looked like sort of a dive.

But we were hungry, and we hadn't seen anything else (other than Starbucks) that looked like it might have something for breakfast. We decided to give it a try. We opened the door and gaped in surprise. A small, gorgeous restaurant, beautifully decorated with tropical plants greeted us. After being greeted by a cheerful waitress, we chose seats next to the indoor waterfall and proceeded to order the best French toast either of us had ever eaten, served on a plate with an orchid.

The toast was made from Hawaiian sweet bread, which we both know that we like, and is difficult to find in Seattle. We later learned, when we found a Safeway to get the groceries for our camping trip, that in Hawaii, the bread aisle has a supplemental row, almost as long as the regular aisle, for this Hawaiian treat. Along with the toast came three pitchers of syrup: maple, strawberry, and coconut. Coconut? We were intrigued. We tried it on the corner of one piece of toast in case we didn't like it. It was so delicious that we were soon pouring it on the rest of our toast and devouring it. We asked the waitress where we could find it, and she replied that any grocery store in Hawaii would have it. (We found a bottle at Safeway, and it's tucked into our as yet unpacked luggage, waiting for us to decide to recreate our Hawaiian French toast.)

To anyone considering a trip to Hawaii, here's our advice: get off the beaten path! Avoid the big resorts. You'll have a better time, and you'll get much better food!