Hawaii 2019: Hilton Waikoloa Village

I’m playing catch-up with my long over due series of vacation reports from our 2019 family trip to Hawaii. We spent nearly two weeks on the Big Island with my step kids: Zoe turned twelve on our trip and Felix was nearly ten. It was the most perfect, magical family vacation ever, and I can’t believe that I’m about to admit this, but it was even better than our Walt Disney World trip.

The flight was a long, five hour-ish trip from Los Angeles. Since we were living up in Big Bear Lake at the time, we added a night stay near LAX, so that we wouldn’t feel rushed for our flight.

My aunt and uncle were co-owners of a condo in Maui, so I grew up with annual summer Hawaiian vacations. However, as an adult, I had only been once in 2007, which was also our last family vacation before my mom passed in 2008. At the time, we didn’t know that she had cancer, but she was diagnosed a few months after our trip, and in retrospect, the signs were clear during that family vacation.

I wanted this trip to be perfect. I needed to create happy memories in Hawaii, plus this was Dan, Zoe, and Felix’s first trip to the “Aloha State.” It’s certainly not a nearby or inexpensive vacation, so it needed to be absolutely amazing. I kicked it off by arranging to have a traditional lei greeting at the airport. It’s touristy and cheesy, but you can’t help but be in the vacation mood with a lei around your neck!

Everyone was surprised by the small size of the Kona International Airport. It is mostly open air with a central courtyard. I’m sure this could not be true, but it appeared that they only had one restroom in the whole airport! It’s a very different experience than anywhere else we have traveled.

At the car rental, Dan splurged on an upgrade to a four-door Jeep Wrangler, so we really felt like we were on an adventure.

As we pulled up to our hotel, the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort, we were greeted with an expansive palm-tree lined drive and sculptures of seahorses. It felt quite grand.

Although we had looked at a million pictures of the property, it was more spectacular than we could have imagined. The Hilton Waikoloa Village is massive, and not only does it have stunning views of the ocean, but it also has several pools and a man-made snorkeling lagoon. After checking-in we walked over to the lagoon and we were greeted by sea turtles. They swam right up to the edge, as if to give us a personal welcome. See how Disney can’t compete?

The resort is so huge, that we had to refer to a map to get our bearings.

Our room was in the Palace Tower, right in the middle of the resort. I’ve looked through all of our pictures and it is so unlike me, but it appears that I didn’t take any shots of our room.

We shared a single room with two queen beds. I was worried that it might not be big enough, but it was very spacious. It even had a large, walk-in closet that allowed us to store all of our luggage without cluttering the room. We appreciated that we had a refrigerator, as we preferred to eat cereal in the room for breakfast. My favorite part was the balcony, which allowed me to escape for quiet reading time, while everyone else enjoyed watching television. In retrospect, we wish we had gone for an ocean view room, but the golf course view was relaxing.

A few exterior pictures of the Palace Tower.

The Hilton Waikoloa Village has both a boat taxi and a tram to transport guests through the resort. We tried them both out and they were a fun way to get around, however, they could also get crowded. I’m fairly certain that the hotel was at or near capacity during our stay. We found ourselves walking most of the time.

The time that we were really grateful for the tram was when we had to take our laundry over to the coin-operated machines in a different tower. I only did laundry one time during our trip and it had really piled up. I did three loads! I appreciated that the hotel offered a coin-op laundry, because it would have broken the bank to do it through the hotel’s services.

One of the first things that the kids did was to explore the snorkeling lagoon on a aqua-cycle water trike. They had a great time. I wanted to try a stand-up paddleboard, but I spotted eels in the water and I changed my mind. I’m not fearful of many animals, but eels are an exception! The lagoon, with its calm water and curated sea life, is a great place to try-out snorkeling, before hitting the ocean.

The pools throughout the property were amazing. They had waterfalls, hidden grottos, waterslides and rope bridges. We staggered our vacation so that we had an adventurous activity outside of the hotel about every-other-day, so there was plenty of time to relax around the pool. The resort does not offer direct beach access, but a pristine beach was just a short drive down the road.

My favorite part of the pool was sprawling out on a lounge chair and taking in the views of the pacific ocean. It was never difficult to find an unoccupied lounge chair by the pool.

It was out of our budget for our family vacation, but if Dan and I return here for a romantic getaway, we will definitely go for the seaside massages! I feel relaxed just looking at the picture.

While everyone was chilling in the room, I walked around the Hilton Waikoloa Village to take pictures. One of the prettiest buildings was a small non-denominational chapel that overlooks the ocean. I’m not religious, but I even considered attending Sunday services for the experience.

There used to be a plumeria tree outside of my aunt and uncle’s condo and it had the most lovely fragrance. To me, plumeria is the smell of Hawaii.

I was quite surprised by this leafy plant with bumpy leaves. I had completely forgotten about them, but this plant, not sure of its name, was also a reminder of my childhood summers. It grows everywhere on the islands.

The Hilton Waikoloa Village is home to many animals, including my nemesis- the flamingo! The picture of the sea turtle is actually from our last evening, when I was by myself. Much like the turtles that greeted us when we arrived, I felt like this guy was saying “See you next time.”

More pictures of the gorgeous hotel.

And some sunset shots. You can’t beat a Hawaiian sunset.

We didn’t dine in any of the on-property restaurants. We looked at the Big Island Breakfast, which is a buffet held in a multi-story building with beautiful lagoon views, but it was absolutely jammed with people. JAMMED! It was simply too crowded for us and a bit spendy too.

For Zoe’s birthday, we made reservations at Nui Italian restaurant, but when we arrived, the poor service was immediately apparent and we aborted our plans, heading to a nearby Macaroni Grill- which was a perfect choice. The hotel has a lovely steak/seafood restaurant with ocean views, called Kamuela Provision Company, but it would not have been a great choice with the kids.

We did experience the hotel’s Legends of Hawaii Luau, which I will cover in my next post!

Overall, we were thrilled with our stay, so much so, that it might be difficult to return to Hawaii without staying here again.

November 2020 Road Trip: Roswell, New Mexico

When we realized that Roswell was just a short detour on our way home to Colorado, we decided to make it a night-stop. Roswell might be the most heavily themed small town in America. It seemed like every business played along with the alien theme.

My favorite was the Dunkin’ Donuts Alien- we ate breakfast hat Dunkin’ after spending a night at a local Hilton Home2 Suites.

Since we were really trying to get home by the evening, we had just enough time for a quick visit to the International UFO Museum. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we could not take a more extensive tour of the Roswell crash site, however, the museum proved to be quite entertaining.

It started in the parking lot…

and continued to the front of the building…

Inside we were greeted by an alien with a gentle reminder that masks are mandatory. We really appreciate the businesses that enforce mask policies and other safety measures during this pandemic.

Tickets were only five dollars, which makes the International UFO Museum one of the best value for money places that we have ever visited. We definitely got our five dollars out of this place.

As a side note, we learned that emotional support animals are welcome when the woman in front of us enquired about her very adorable support rat. Hey, anything goes here, just keep that mask on! I adore rats, so I was happy to see a cute critter at 9am.

One of my favorite pictures of the road trip!

I’m not into conspiracy theories and I’m not obsessed with aliens. I do believe that we are not alone in the Universe, but I’m not sure how much I’m willing to accept the reality of what was proposed at the museum. That said, it was all very entertaining and the exhibits were professional. We spent about an hour and could have easily spent longer, if we had the time.

The exhibits included witness accounts of the incident in Roswell, other alien encounters, how aliens are shown in pop-culture and the alien autopsy. Remember back to the late 90’s when the “Alien Autopsy Video” was all the rage? I remember buying a copy for one of my friends who was obsessed with it!

I get really excited when I see mention of my hometown of Glendale, California. This guy, Andres Gil, had a UFO sighting in the 60’s, and not only is he from Glendale, but I realized that based on the dates there is a possibility that he knew my parents or my aunt. I need to look through their school yearbooks.

I’m glad that we visited Roswell, but this will likely be a one-time experience. It was a detour and although the alien aspect was entertaining, the town has little else to attract us. If you’re big into aliens or near Roswell on your travels, it is worth a quick visit.

Book Review- Cecily Von Ziegesar's Cobble Hill

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with a copy of Cecily Von Ziegesar’s latest novel, Cobble Hill, in exchange for an honest review.

In tony NYC neighborhood of Cobble Hill, four very different middle-age couples find their lives intersecting.

Stuart is a has-been rockstar who is struggling with his wife Mandy, a former groupie, who has become mysteriously ill. When a lice outbreak happens at his son’s elementary school, Stuart meets Peaches, the attractive nurse. Peaches is stunned by Stuart, whom she has been obsessed with for years. Even Peaches’ husband, Greg, a mild-mannered music teacher, has a man-crush on Stuart, although this turns complicated when he suspects that his wife has been cheating with her crush. Best-selling British author, Roy and his magazine editor wife, Wendy, are recent additions to the neighborhood. Roy meets Peaches at a local bar that is owned by the eccentric, and often MIA, avant garde artist Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s husband Tupper is an inventor, who feels disconnected from his wife and is having trouble coming up with a new product.

Von Ziegesar is famous for the Gossip Girl books. I never read the Gossip Girl books, but I was a fan of the television series, and I was pleased to see the same type of humor in Cobble Hill. Much like Gossip Girl, Cobble Hill makes New York City another character and I love how the story has such a strong sense of place. Who doesn’t adore New York City?

Cobble Hill explores adults in a mid-life crisis. Three of the main couples are raising children, yet often the lines are blurred between adult and teenage behavior. The adults unleash their inhibitions, acting-out as if they have nothing to lose. It very much reminded me of the 1997 film, The Ice Storm, where a massive storm prevents travel, keeping several parents overnight at their “key party",” where they let loose, while the teenagers are stuck with their friends. Von Ziegesar shows us teenagers who witness aspects of their parent’s behavior, such as using marijuana, excessive drinking, and kissing other people, and how this impacts them. At one point a child’s life is in immediate danger due to poor parental choices. It’s horrific.

Overall, I enjoyed Cobble Hill. Being a similar age to the adult characters, I could relate to the feeling of wanting to have the freedom to make reckless choices, like a teenager, but I could also definitely see the enormous consequences of some of their actions. I liked living vicariously through them, until it became obviously harmful.

The ending wrapped up a little too neatly, maybe a little too sweet as well. It ended with a theme of everyone loving the eccentricities and imperfections of their neighbors. It’s a nice idea, but I’m not sure it fit with the overall tone of the novel. Although there was plenty of humor, I felt the negative behavior of the adults became increasingly dark and less humorous as the story progressed. I’m not sure that the message in the end was the big take-away from the story. Cobble Hill was much heavier than the ending conveyed. I think Von Ziegesar sold herself short with the ending, which minimized the meat of the story.

One more minor thing that bothered me was this running situation regarding a serial killer. A serial killer was on the loose and the news story captivated the imagination of several characters. I kept anticipating this to actually impact the story, but it was never bigger than something on the news. I felt this was akin to Chekhov’s Gun. I kept waiting for it to go off and was disappointed when nothing happened.

These issues are small, as I definitely enjoyed Cobble Hill. Von Ziegesar has crafted intriguing characters and plonked them down in one of my favorite cities. I was game for Cobble Hill and I look forward to her next novel.